To read Marty Kaplan's
latest article on the subtle stirrings of billionaires hijacking the American
political process, one would think that Joseph Goebbels had risen from the dead
and joined the GOP Brain Trust, along with the Ghost of Richard Nixon and
Posters of Big Brother brandished in every swing-sate.
However, I do not accept the latent, blatant line of reasoning, first
proposed by the late and political unaffluent Kenneth Galbraith, which
smugly assumes that the average consumer — and thus voter — is so stupid,
that he would be easily swayed by the persuasive glitz of political
campaigns.
Ebay
CEO Meg Whitman sunk $100 million dollars in the 2010 California Governor's
race, and lost by 10 points. Senator-turned-Governor (and now disgraced CEO)
Jon Corzine
sunk million of his own fortune into a statewide race in 2009,
all with the help of recently elected President Barack Obama, yet he lost the
governor's race in New Jersey to Chris Christie, a red-blood Tea Party
favorite. Newt Gingrich was a favored front-runner assaulted mercilessly with
Super-Pac
money, only to surge to victory by double-digits in South Carolina. Governor
Mitt Romney has endured a host of detractions and discrimination from the
media and conservative lights to the right of the Republican establishment. His
ascent to his party's nomination has slowed considerably, but that has not
prevented him from honing his message and zero-ing on
the failed incumbents incapacity to bring the promised hope and change that
this county needs.
Despite the rise in propaganda, this nation has grown weary and wary of the
growing waves of political advertising, less of which has swayed the minds of
individual citizens, armed with easier and quicker access to up-to-date
information on candidates, their positions, and their foibles. If the political
process has been hijacked, we should not demonize the Tea Party, Occupy
Everywhere, or even the billionaires with lots of money to burn. Instead, let
us hold ourselves accountable for tolerating an entitlement culture which has
looked to government as the solution to our problems as opposed to providing a
limited level playing field according the simple mandates enumerated in the
Constitution.
On a side note, rather than directing and limiting who can say what through
public media, Let us also focus on improving the crass and
crumbling education system, which is now beholden to standardized testing and un-rigorous
standards, along with the over-influence of school boards and teachers' unions
at the expense of parents and communities. Pushing students through to graduation
has followed from the intense and building pressure from administrators on
teachers. The lack of competition and accountability in our public school
system has deprived our youth of the capacity to judge and discern properly
beyond sound-bytes, mixed metaphors, and hazy slogans.
Campaign Finance reform will only buttress more regulation, more government,
and ultimately more corruption. Super-Pacs are doing a fine job decimating
their own rhetoric, neutralizing their effect on voters and viewers across the
country. Big Money cannot buy Campaigns, although Big Business in league with
Big Government is bankrupting our country and leaving us a legacy of waste and
debt.