Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
By J.M. Hamilton 12-8-13
Sorry.
I was away for a while: Fighting the State, and surprise, the State won.
That story however, about the fabulously corrupt State of Massachusetts’
Probate System, we will save for another day, when I can give the topic the
full treatment and attention it deserves.
In
keeping with theme of government, and unchecked government power, corruption,
malfeasance, and fraud…. We launch into this week’s piece.
Liberals
and progressives look to the State to provide solutions that go unaddressed by
the private sector, to the smooth out the rough anti-humanist edges of
capitalism, and to set the rules of the road for our “free-market system.”
The GOP in its present incarnation does everything in its power to obstruct
government, play upon America's fears of big government, and pass legislation providing government
largess to the 1%. In short, the GOP hates government, unless it
handing out welfare to it core constituency, the plutocracy. As such, as
this blog has foretold, the GOP would appear doomed, unless it
learns to embrace the middle-class, becomes more tolerant and inclusive, and
dumps the septuagenarian and octogenarian radicals
who make up its current base.
This
piece is not about bashing the GOP, but rather, it’s about challenging liberals
and populist democrats, who often have the reflexive reaction to defend
anything the government or Democratic Party does. The political pendulum
is just beginning to swing left, finally and again, in this country; and even
the major corporations can see the writing on the wall. Unlike the GOP,
their corporate sponsors cannot afford to live in a world of fantasy, and must
plan for the future, witness Exxon’s acknowledgement of global
warming and the inevitability of taxes on carbon.
As the pendulum begins to angle left,
demographic trends pull away from GOP policies, and jobs continue to run scarce
because our government’s official policy favors free trade agreements and
globalization that are inimical to U.S. job creation, the citizens of the
United States are increasingly looking for government to fill the void/vacuum
left behind by our crony capitalist system, and an economy dominated by cartels and
monopolies.
Now
more than ever, Dems, Liberals and Progressives must hold all branches of
government, it’s bureaus and bureaucracies, and government contractors
accountable. Failure to hold government and politicians accountable will
ultimately mean that just as the political pendulum is presently swinging Left
(beyond the reach of today’s GOP, indeed even past Clintonian Democrats, who
support monopolistic and cartel run economic
sectors), it will turn back even more sharply and rapidly - Right.
All of this is to say, the worst tendencies of the Party in power tend to
materialize, once power is obtained. Witness the creation of Romneycare by a
Democratic administration, at the Federal level, at a time of record
unemployment in this country, circa 2008; or witness President Bush (W)/Mr.
Cheney starting up two major wars, with dubious results and specious national
security claims, in the last decade, with their crippling and debilitating
impact upon the Federal budget and our military.
Tenured politicians
and tenured judges, in short, unchecked power…. As often as not, have a
deleterious impact upon good government, because they are vested in:
maintaining the status quo; handing out government largess to wealthy campaign
contributors, prospective clients and future employers; and have no incentive
to run government efficiently, effectively, and for the betterment of the 99%.
Absolutely critical then to good government and good democracy, are term limits
on all politicians and all judges, limits on campaign contributions and fund raising,
and limits on the duration of the political/campaign season. These
reforms would not challenge free speech or political debate, but rather,
enhance them. Progressives and liberals should champion term limits and
campaign finance reform as the cornerstone of good government.
Transparency too, is absolutely critical to the ideals of good government, and
here, neither party has done a good job of supporting this cause. Some of
the worst excesses in government, under a Democratic administration, which ran
on a campaign of greater transparency, have occurred because of a total lack of
transparency, accountability, and a fount of misinformation, if not outright
lies, surrounding certain government programs and agencies.
Two
recent examples come immediately to mind: Romney/Obama-Care, and the NSA. The failure of the
government on the rollout of new medical care program is hard to conceive when
one considers the technological prowess of the U.S., and the Democratic Party’s
political links to the Silicon Valley and the technological sector (and the
failure gave additional fuel and fodder to the GOP and America’s innate fear of
big government). As such, it’s not Republicans who should be hammering
the Administration, but rather, Progressives themselves, who should be leading
the charge to correct this colossal blunder. Agency/Administration heads
should have been terminated, tenured government employees demoted, and if
necessary, private sector contractors brought in to see the job through, or to
further enhance the efforts of same.
The revelations about an opaque and
disingenuous NSA have been equally damaging and damning to Progressive
efforts to champion good government, and only served to further deepen the
majority of Americans distrust. Not only has the NSA damaged the U.S.
internationally, in terms of relations with its allies and
pending trade agreements, but it has revealed for the all the world to see U.S. hypocrisy. That is, the
champion of freedom, democracy, and liberal values, spies on its citizens 24/7,
preconceived notions of privacy are shredded, and the surveillance state is
flirting with totalitarianism on a scale that would of heretofore been
unimaginable.
By way of quick
digression, it’s interesting to note that Nations and democracies, sometimes
have an awful way adopting some of the worst characteristics of their enemies
over time. Benny Morris, an Israeli citizen and a champion of Zionism,
and the author of Righteous Victims,
noted that the State of Israel had adopted some of the worst attributes and
methods of the European countries Jews fled, in the persecution, occupation and
containment of Palestinian citizens. In this country, after the U.S.
fought WWII to eliminate an authoritarian thug, and fought a multi-decade cold
war to eliminate a totalitarian cancer of global import… the U.S. increasingly seems to be adopting
some of the worst characteristics and policies of the Stasi and the KGB.
Even uber hawk, Senator Mc Cain believes General Alexander should beat
it, "resign or be fired."
It’s not just our world standing, however,
that is taking a hit, but multi-nationals in the technological sector are
paying a dear financial price for expressly, or tacitly, allowing the NSA to
use them as a tool to spy upon Americans, indeed all citizens of the world.
The hit to their bottom line will not only be domestic in nature, but almost certainly international in
scope, with new entrants in the market place to help insure the privacy of
internet users and social networking sites. Let’s not shed too many
tears for our internet, telecommunications, and social network providers
(almost all of whom are monopolies). Heh, you lay in bed with the devil,
and your bound to suffer physically, mentally, spiritually and financially; but
we’ll leave analogies between the NSA and my first marriage out of this, at
least for now.
Among
the key questions are: why did it take Mr. Snowden and Ms. Manning to the blow
the whistle, before Senator Feinstein – recalling her liberal
and freedom championing credentials – demanded an investigation into NSA
activities? Senator Feinstein should have been way out in front of
this issue years ago, but she’s long been a champion of the MIC, surveillance,
and unfettered government spending on same. As such, the Democratic
Senator from California is about as right-wing as they come. This is a
classic example of where the terms limits imposed upon the executive branch,
would work wonders within the U.S. Senate. But why stop there? Perhaps
Progressives should champion true government reform, and government cost
containment, by supporting an Amendment to the Constitution establishing an unicameral government, and dispensing
with the gerrymandered House of Representatives, altogether. If it works
in Nebraska, why not Washington D.C.?
This of course, leads us past this
President, who all the sudden has gotten on board - albeit a little late - with
the populist trend in Democratic politics. The next President will almost
assuredly be from the Democratic Party, despite the Party’s fumbling of the
ball on healthcare reform. The question we have to ask ourselves leading
up to 2016 is do we want more of the same, in the form of the ultimate insider,
Ms. Clinton, or do want somebody who will champion the middle-class and
American values of honesty, truth and transparency, in the incarnation of
Senator Elizabeth Warren?
For
me, it’s a no brainer… I’ll take the highly ethical Ms. Warren any day. Let’s hope her recent assurances to
Massachusetts’ constituents that she plans to serve out her full Senate term,
are the one promise she does not keep.
Not
everything that comes from Massachusetts is veiled in lies and half-truths… Ms.
Warren is proof of that, and she would make an outstanding President. Ms.
Warren would restore our standing in the world, and she – more so than any
other candidate – would do a great deal to rein in the worst excesses of
government agencies and private sector cartels, both of which often crush freedom,
democracy, and the American ideal at nearly every turn.
Every government dollar that progressives
and liberals see wasted, or that goes uncollected in the form of tax
dodges, is a dollar that could be spent on our children, paying down the
national debt, or afforded to future generations.
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