What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

When you turn an economic philosophy into a system of government, you're just looking for trouble.  Ask the Soviets how it worked out for them.

In his 2010 Citizens United opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, "The appearance of influence or access ... will not cause the electorate to lose faith in our democracy." He further stated, "Ingratiation and access, in any event, are not corruption."

I'll believe it when it happens, but apparently there's a fair probability that the Repubs will win enough seats to take over the majority in the US Senate, and that they'll pad their lead in the House, and even more important, that they'll continue to hold commanding majorities in 25 - 35 state legislatures, plus a shitload of county boards.

You can pass it off as the typical losses that the party in the White House always suffers in midterm elections.  You can also say it's because the GOP has a higher nutball density (and a much lower paranoia threshold), and those nutballs never fail to turn out, and they never vote for anybody but Republicans.

Meanwhile, it seems like the Dems are about as sharp and focused as a bagful of wet yarn - as usual.

Anyway, this is supposed to be a post about yet another example of a Coin-Operated Politician who's been busted for influence peddling - which makes it impossible for me to ignore the simple fact that sometimes even the really smart guys like Anthony Kennedy say some of the stoopidest fucking things.

So, here ya go - Meet Mr Leland Yee:

Desperate for funds to repay $70,000 in debt owed by his failed 2011 San Francisco mayoral campaign, Yee repeatedly begged, prodded and pressed undercover agents acting as businessmen to make campaign contributions. In exchange, he often did what many politicians do every day: connect donors up with other influential lawmakers, sing their praises to bureaucratic agencies and write letters of support. While the alleged illegal acts in Yee's case go well beyond that kind of access -- prosecutors charge he helped to coordinate an international arms deal -- access was a large part of how he pitched his donors. He opened his door and regularly stated his intent to keep his door open, especially if he ascended to higher office.

We know that big donors get access for their money. Just look at the White House visitor logs, the goings-on at political fundraisers or the Republican presidential aspirants heading to Las Vegas to kiss the ring of billionaire donor Sheldon Adelson. But what we rarely hear is those behind-the-scenes conversations.

The point here is that under the "rules" of unfettered capitalism, everything is a commodity.  Everything is for sale.  Everything and everybody has a price.  And anything goes in the marketplace.  Ya get what ya pay for and ya pay for what ya get.

When we set it all up to sell a candidate like we sell cars and hamburgers and remedies for anal itch, why would anybody think we wouldn't see the kind of auction we've got going on now where power goes to the highest bidder?  If I can throw several tens of millions of dollars at a politician while you and 200 of your closest friends can managed maybe a hundred bucks each - then my voice gets really loud relative to your voice.  And it should be obvious to anybody with a living thinking brain in their skull that - all of a sudden, and gosh, for no apparent reason that Mr Justice Kennedy can think of - my single vote counts for more than your vote plus the votes of your 200 buddies.

So how confident are we s'posed to be about that whole democracy thing now?