Posted on 06/28/2015 7:03:08 AM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
Welcome to the age of vanity politics and campaigns-for-hire. What would our founders make of this nightmare?
Four qualities have distinguished republican government from ancient Athens forward: the sovereignty of the people; a sense of the common good; government dedicated to the commonwealth; and resistance to corruption. Measured against the standards established for republics from ancient times, the American Republic is massively corrupt.
From Plato and Aristotle forward, corruption was meant to describe actions and decisions that put a narrow, special, or personal interest ahead of the interest of the public or commonwealth. Corruption did not have to stoop to money under the table, vote buying, or even renting out the Lincoln bedroom. In the governing of a republic, corruption was self-interest placed above the interest of all—the public interest.
By that standard, can anyone seriously doubt that our republic, our government, is corrupt? There have been Teapot Domes and financial scandals of one kind or another throughout our nation’s history. There has never been a time, however, when the government of the United States was so perversely and systematically dedicated to special interests, earmarks, side deals, log-rolling, vote-trading, and sweetheart deals of one kind or another.
What brought us to this? A sinister system combining staggering campaign costs, political contributions, political action committees, special interest payments for access, and, most of all, the rise of the lobbying class. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
And to think that this would come from Gary Hart....
Gary who?
This, the Gary Hart of Donna Rice fame? What was the name of the boat again?
the American Republic is massively corrupt
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Understatement of the year (so far).
Do you think Gary’s engaging in some monkey business here?
Ah yes! I remember now.....the “Monkey Business!”
Frankly, I’d have thought he’d be dead by now.
Surprising, yes, but he couldn’t be righter.
Expect the crony-media to give this a good leaving alone.
Good for Gary. Perhaps he would have been good for the US — but we will never know.
Hart is right. Crony Capitalists, for the most part global corporations with global, rather than American interests, are corrupting the electoral process. Invariably they bankroll incumbents as the best bet on their “investment”, and frequently contribute to both parties so regardless of who is elected, they continue to influence policy.
That went out the window Friday with the heavy lobbying by Big Gay.
What a genius!
349 corporations were lobbying for same sex marriage.
That doesn’t sound very capitalist to me.
—the federal government is in everybody’s business, therefore everybody in business needs to be “in” the federal government-—
Monkey business. Blow me down with a feather.
There are many kinds of corruption and the corruption of money in politics might be the least concern. I think guys like Hart just believe the liberal party shoul win every election.
When government at all levels is spending 40+ % of GDP then the government will be corrupt, this isn’t a campaign finance issue it is simply dividing the spoils of corruption.
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