Food for Thought
What power for mischief is there in the short interval of an imperial presidency? What power for mischief is there in a small cabal of appointed executives who capture the offices of our government and plot to bend their weakened franchise to the realization of their narrow corporate agenda? These preoccupied courts of equity that are the instruments of our democracy were, in their infancy, forced to bend to the will of the governed by war, and tempered by a compact in which a united people reluctantly bestowed the force of their lives and labor to a handful of managers. From that compact, a nation was born. And from that compact, generations of Americans would give their faith and their lifeblood to defend the principles and morality which cosseted every sacrifice of their freedom and well-being that they entrusted to those they elected, for the benefit and furtherance of the common good. These same Americans would demand that those who profess to lead us would wield the power of our collective faith and struggle with a selfless spirit, and be humbled by the source of the awesome power that is effectively bequeathed to them with our vote. But through our nation's faith, and in the trust we place in our representatives that they would be humbled to serve the will of the people, and by their good judgement lead, we have been betrayed by a ruling-class oligarchy which has perpetuated its role and influence in our governance; not by the quality of their service, but through the advantages of patronage and association. This Republican administration is a reflection of that tiny percentage of the nation's citizens who have maintained their wealth and influence through the last century. Despite the persistent poverty of generations of Americans who work and struggle with no guarantee of success or survival, this same working-class of people routinely elevate these power-brokers to the cadre of the privileged few who would lord over their wealth in the offices of our government. With our votes, cast for hollow promises of representation in the division and disposition of our contributions of blood and sacrifice, we get no more than spattered remains of precious meal from a pig's trough. And in turn, we assure their ascendency to that two-percent confederation of corporate interests who routinely divide the fruits of our labor for their own benefit and purpose. What is the power for mischief in the short interval of an imperial presidency? It is in the executive looting of our tax dollars and the bankrupting of our government to further enrich that ruling class oligarchy. To enrich that two-percent confederation of corporate interests in our government who perpetuate their class in and out of office by manipulating our precious contributions to democracy; from federal appropriations; to corporate tax breaks; and through sly deregulation schemes that allow them to slough off their responsibilities to worker safety, or to the protection of the community and the environment. The power for mischief is in the unelected, unchecked executive appointments gifted by this two-percent confederation to their power-driven lackeys, to lord over our regulatory agencies; to infect and obstruct the very institutions which are there to protect and assist the common citizen; by under-funding them and intimidating the public servants; barely allowing the emasculated institutions to survive; giving them a reluctance to respond to any but the entrenched, monied interests. The power for mischief is in the systematic targeting and suppression by the forces of our executive government, of groups and individuals who raise their voices in disagreement with its practices or policies. And the mischief is in the arbitrary expulsion, without due process, of those who would immigrate to America and dare to criticize their benefactor. What is the power for mischief in the short interval of an imperial presidency? The power for mischief is in an unelected, star-chamber Supreme Court whose life-appointed justices huddle to decide whether to halt the counting of the votes in a presidential election. The power for mischief is in the ascendence of a counterfeit loser who would govern with the approval of less than half of those who actually voted. The power for mischief is a chastened electorate, who rightly believe that their government has turned its back on their interests and concerns and intends to hijack their labor and their fortunes to assist a shallow set of corporate interests; to effect the dismantling of our compact, and the usurping of our democracy. The mischief is in a dwindling participation in the political process by the nation's disenfranchised majority who are too afraid, or too disillusioned to dislodge these monied usurpers; or too busy in their own struggle to involve themselves in a close examination of the deliberate tangle of legislation. The power for mischief is a cynical electorate who turns away from the political process and leaves the division of the product of our labor and sacrifice to those who have the least needs or merit. The mischief is in a manipulated foreign policy which exploits the resources of the defenseless around the world for the benefit of a minority of industry leeches. The power for mischief is in a trumped-up, bloody invasion of a sovereign country and in the theft of its oil and its resources. The power is in the occupation and auctioning of the vanquished country's industry away from its citizens. And it's in the shackling of countless generations of Americans to a corporate agenda of U.S. world domination, supported by the perpetual sacrifice of the lives and blood of generations of our sons and daughters in a continuous world war. This book is an outsider's accounting of the individuals in government who promote war and conquest, in and out of public office, for the furtherance and consolidation of their monied empire; at the expense of our lives and the product of our sacrifices; to our country's detriment, and to the instability and insecurity of the entire world. |
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