This midterm election has not
only spent a whopping $4 billion, the highest yet; it also witnessed the lowest
voter turnout. Given these two facts, I would deduce voters are fed up with the
blatant corruption endemic to U.S. electoral politics.
It’s clear to me that in
practice, Democrats and Republicans comprise one capitalist party with a Left
and Right wing. Republicrats, as
Mumia dubbed them. I simply call them
fascists, meaning they are in bed with big business and the military with no
regard for the lives of the U.S. majority, everyday working people, employed
and unemployed.
BTW, Congress members, who can vote themselves pay raises, now earn from $174,000 - $223.500 (plus millions in perks).
Please note that almost none of the candidates advocated for the victims of this unrighteous, undemocratic order, the low-waged, unemployed, homeless, or imprisoned human beings who have no human rights under this system.
The politicians are not
concerned with people who have no big bucks to contribute to their campaign
coffers; they are beholden to the superPACs, so-called “dark money” (secret
donations), and billionaires like the Koch Brothers who pour hundreds of
millions into the campaigns.
Mainstream media moguls are
laughing all the way to the bank. What a bonanza!
Kentucky Rep. Sen. Mitch McConnell
raised over $73 million to win back his Senate seat, according to a recent FEC
report. That’s a lot of spaghetti!
In fact, that much money
could save the lives of millions of refugees, displaced, and homeless people
here and abroad; build desperately needed housing, provide child care and
education, fight ebola and other diseases; reduce infant morbidity and
mortality; fund support for prisoners released to their communities and those still
incarcerated, as well as prevention of violence against women and suicide among
veterans (22 per day!).
These elections are little
more than big money games played on the American people. They’re not only replete with bribery, fraud,
mendacity, trickery, and racism, they create the illusion of democracy, which,
as Malcolm noted, is nothing but “hypocrisy.”
One of the leading culprits
in buying candidates and elections is AIPAC, the American Israeli Political
Action Committee. Over the years, this
lobby has raised and spent hundreds of millions of dollars on its political
activities. Through the recent recession, AIPAC’s cash flow still reached
almost $200 million. It raises additional hundreds of millions with the help of
some of its wealthiest donors, and through its AIPAC Tomorrow Campaign, asking
members to donate parts of their estates to the organization.
The pro-Israel lobby also has
an affiliate called the American Israel Education Foundation that pays to take
congressmen on lavish trips to Israel, among other things. A one-week trip can
cost up to $28,000
for an elected official and his or her spouse. The American Israel Education
Foundation raises and spends about $25 million a year, according to IRS
filings.
Although AIPAC cannot make
direct campaign contributions under the law, political insiders say there are
about 30 political action committees linked with it. That’s nearly all the
pro-Israel PACs that exist. The organization also encourages its 100,000-member
base to give to pro-Israel causes and campaigns.
Edward Tivnan, author of THE
LOBBY: Jewish Political Power and American Foreign Policy, noted,
"Indeed,...the Jewish lobby had become primarily a pro-Israel lobby, one
so aggressive, omnipresent and influential...that the denizens of Capitol Hill
refer to it simply as 'the lobby,'...Before Israel existed as a state, it
existed as a political lobby first in the capitals of Europe and then in
Washington."
No members of Congress can
keep their seats without the support of AIPAC, and no presidential candidate
will be elected without it. Hence,
there’s no tangible opposition to any of the atrocities and war crimes committed
by Israel (the U.S. military surrogate) in occupied Palestine and elsewhere
– in our name.
Now that we know who Barack
Obama really is – just another bought politician – we should let him be the
last political mercenary we elect. We
should start now (really yesterday!) to build a revolutionary united front, a
movement to transform -- not just reform -- this government into a people’s
government with a brand new platform of human
rights and equal rights for
all. That means we must begin to think
outside the box.
Remember what Jamil Al-Amin
(H. Rap Brown) said, “If voting could change the system, they would make it
illegal.”
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