BILL MOYERS: We are so close to losing our democracy to the mercenary class

[kpete]

Bill Moyers Essay: The End Game for Democracy
Bill Moyers says the parody and satire of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert pay Washington the disrespect it deserves, but in the end it’s the city’s predatory mercenaries who have the last laugh.



BILL MOYERS: We are so close to losing our democracy to the mercenary class, it’s as if we are leaning way over the rim of the Grand Canyon and all that’s needed is a swift kick in the pants. Look out below.

The predators in Washington are only this far from monopoly control of our government. They have bought the political system, lock, stock and pork barrel, making change from within impossible. That’s the real joke.

Sometimes I long for the wit of a Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. They treat this town as burlesque, and with satire and parody show it the disrespect it deserves. We laugh, and punch each other on the arm, and tweet that the rascals got their just dessert. Still, the last laugh always seems to go to the boldface names that populate this town. To them belong the spoils of a looted city. They get the tax breaks, the loopholes, the contracts, the payoffs.

They fix the system so multimillionaire hedge fund managers and private equity tycoons pay less of a tax rate on their income than school teachers, police and fire fighters, secretaries and janitors. They give subsidies to rich corporate farms and cut food stamps for working people facing hunger. They remove oversight of the wall street casinos, bail out the bankers who torpedo the economy, fight the modest reforms of Dodd-Frank, prolong tax havens for multinationals, and stick it to consumers while rewarding corporations.

We pay. We pay at the grocery store. We pay at the gas pump. We pay the taxes they write off. Our low-wage workers pay with sweat and deprivation because this town – aloof, self-obsessed, bought off and doing very well, thank you – feels no pain.

..............................



the rest:
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-the-end-game-for-democracy/

[cantbeserious]

1. America's Gilded Capital

http://vimeo.com/72980504

[zeemike]

22. Thank you for posting the whole thing.

I love Bill Moyer and his coverage of things but only get to see him one line.
But that whole interview was interesting.

[Cryptoad]

33. He is the Democrats

Wm F Buckley. !!!!

[kardonb]

37. Moyers

the modern-day Nostradamus .Always seeing gloom and doom . Lets buy the guy a pair of rose colored glasses , and a pint of optimism , for Pete's sake . I am getting mighty sick of all this whining and chest-beating around here !

[Vinnie From Indy]

41. Spoken like a true 1%'er!

They love guys like you!!!!

[cantbeserious]

44. We See - Rose Colored Reality Versus Clear Lens Reality - I'll Take The Clear Lens Reality Any Day

eom

[cui bono]

45. People with attitudes like yours are exactly who the 1% depends on to

make this happen.

Open your eyes.

[Squinch]

50. Seriously? You wrote that and then hit the "Post" button?

[WCLinolVir]

51. Are you a professional writer?

[SammyWinstonJack]

61. ...

[Phlem]

62. Dude, you got that shit on me, now I have to

-p

[nikto]

72. kardonb: YOU...

Last edited Mon Aug 26, 2013, 01:23 PM - Edit history (3)

...need more misfortune and heartbreak in your life.

It might do you some good.


I'll pray for some.

[Scuba]

73. Snort.

[Bradical79]

78. Find reasons why you think he's wrong

and post that. Right now all you have is an insulting reactionary response that looks more like the thoughts of someone who is burying their head in the sand.

[Jackpine Radical]

79. Interesting comment.

If your post count were a little higher, I would automatically assume you are being sarcastic. However, I know that about 50% of the American population would could agree with your statement with a straight face, so…

[deutsey]

80. I might understand your comments if they were directed at Chris Hedges

(and I do like Hedges, btw, but he can be a real bummer). I'm not sure where you're coming from regarding Moyers, though.

[Jakes Progress]

84. Amazing way to show ignorance

and complete moral vacuum.

Now if this were neo-con.com, I could see this being posted. And you announced yourself completely in less than 50 words. Wow.

[Coyotl]

85. Your reasoning is as profound as your punctuation.

and equally puzzling

[corkhead]

91. You don't post here much

You might not be familiar with the thingy. It's a way to make sure everyone else knows you are merely displaying your sardonic wit.

[saidsimplesimon]

99. Moyers is an investigative reporter, philosopher and all around

Renaissance man. Sometimes the truthful message of "gloom and doom" is all there is.

kardonb, if you don't like the Moyers' message, start an inspirational thread instead of trying to crash the party.

[closeupready]

64. Thank you! Must watch for later.

[rusty fender]

2. I thin of politicians, in my state and in DC, as

the Politburo.

No paid vacations for you, but they have a dacha, paid for by you.

No pension for you, but they have a great one, paid for by you.

Well, you get the idea...

[Thinkingabout]

3. All of this is accomplished by those who are supposed to be smart. Ted Cruz is trying

To repeal Obamacare and continues to repeat this over and over while he enjoys health care coverage with most of the expense falling on taxpayers backs. What is the likelihood of Obamacare being repealed, probably nil, he needs two thirds in both sides of Congress. I can't see this happening. Does he do this because the GOP and TP doesn't have an agenda which canget the support of voters enough to keep them in power. He should be a poster child for immigration reform showing how his father worked hard after coming to the USA but he is not going to give up his bully mike for sensible reasons.

[maddiemom]

76. "Bully Mike!" Great, appropo update.

[libdem4life]

4. Kleptocracy?

Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, from κλέπτης (thieve) and κράτος (rule), is a term applied to a government that takes advantage of governmental corruption to extend the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleptocracy

[Flatulo]

39. That sounds about right. nt

[malaise]

5. K & R

Tell them Bill Moyers

[Chuuku Davis]

6. They already have it

Revolution needed NOW

[BlueJazz]

42. Be careful what you say here. I put forward the same thought and was ripped apart for it.

I understand what you mean and WHY you mean it.
People here think they can fight many, many billionaires the "nice" way and win.

[840high]

58. Just vote with your head. Be smart.

[Lint Head]

7. We are already there. Now they just need to keep us in line with propaganda bubble gum.

"It's OK. Just keep your eyes on the shiny objects of happiness. Don't make waves so we all don't drown."

I always believed that if you're not making waves you're not swimming.

[Supersedeas]

47. Reminds me of Tweety Matthews & Co.

[Overseas]

8. K&R. -- Moyers & Co interview w Mark Liebovich about lobbying growth history was shocking

Depressing how many have participated in the revolving door from government to lobbying. Liberal icons included.

[xiamiam]

15. how do we disassemble this monstrosity?

I watched this am. This interview is the at the core of so many problems. Everyone in America needs to watch it.

[Overseas]

18. I wish I knew. There is a lot of lobbying to defeat campaign finance reform!

[Cryptoad]

36. Dis-empower the GOP to start with...

Dis-empower the GOP to start with... we have got to hold the White House for the next 10 years to prevent anymore GOP appointments of Judges !!!!!

[Volaris]

54. the only thing i can suggest is that we are just going to have to do it ourselves...

Run for office, on the twin stances of Publically-Funded Federal Elections, and making PAID lobbying an outlawed profession. (also, some kind of limitiations on Terms Served would help--and yes, I know that as a general rule it's a GOP talking point, but it may be a potent weapon if we can turn it into something actually USEFUL) You want to lobby Congress? Then you have to to it the way the rest of us all have to, and pay for your own train ticket.

Watch how fast the pigs start screaming, and then fleeing the city of DC for more lucrative pastures. But make NO MISTAKE, these people swing a big fucking hammer, be ready to defend yourself lol.

[LiberalElite]

49. The very troubled and extreme liberal WBAI

warned about this very same revolving door years ago.

[WillyT]

9. HUGE K & R !!!

[BlueJac]

10. Sick as hell

I have had it for a long, long time. When will all the sheeple wake up to the facts?

[Warpy]

11. We already have lost it at least for the time being

It has been lost before in the country's history when people got too used to good times and got complacent about everything.

We've gotten it back before. It is possible we'll get it back again this time, but I don't see it happening while we still have billionaires.

Once the derivatives casino finally collapses for good, we'll have a lot fewer of them and then perhaps we will be in a mood to act. Derivatives trading will take everything else with it when it goes. 2008 was just a rehearsal.

[99th_Monkey]

12. "Mercenary Class" <-- I like this, because the words capture something important

as to what is really going on w/ Amerika's Zappa End-Game.

Endless wars w/ Slaves v. Slaves <-- Just like Jay Gould (RR tychoon) said well over
100 years ago: "I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half"

[Triana]

13. Where's the link? n/t

[Octafish]

14. That's why I vote Democratic. My Party stands for democracy, justice, equality and the common man...

Peace, Prosperity for All, Main Street over Wall Street.... Oh. Wait a second.

[russspeakeasy]

20. You had me worried for the first 20 words...

[Octafish]

32. It's so weird, seeing the sea change.

The way things have gone through the looking glass makes me feel like a tipsy tourist at the Bay of Fundy.

[L0oniX]

52. Ok ...I'm going to LMFAO anyway. We are however required to zombie vote for dems...

just for the hell of it.

[bvar22]

16. Moyers is an optomist.

Our Democracy was lost in 1992 when the "Mercenary Class" was successful in buying the Democratic Party masquerading as the DLC (funded by the Koch Bros.)
It has been steadily downhill for the Working Class (95%) and a viable Government OF the People FOR The People since then.
The "hope" of an Opposition Party was GONE.

I DO like Moyer's coining of "The Mercenary Class".
I will steal that from him and use it here.



[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center] [center] [center] [/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]

[Amonester]

59. In reality, it started in 1980 with Reagan and his Teheran theatre coup.

Many Liberals got duped and started believing his BS.

Then they got Rich too...

[bvar22]

88. Nope. No "Liberals" were duped by Reagan.

Wishy-Washy, Issue-less "Centrists"...yes. They got "duped".... or not.
You can STILL hear them at DU parroting Reagan Blame-the-Poor nonsense.


No Liberals ever bought into the Reagan, NeoLiberal, Privatized, Trickle Down Economics, or Blame the Poor "Welfare Cadillac BS.
Liberals didn't even "BUY IT" when Bill Clinton repackaged it in 92.

[MichiganVote]

17. The mafia is cleaner than DC

[Volaris]

56. Well, at least it's more honest...

the Mafia will never tell you where the bodies are buried, but they make no bones (usually) about admiting that what they do is sure as hell illegal (it's why its such a lucrative business lol).

Try getting a Wall Street lobbyist OR the Congressional Office-holder they are sitting in to cop to THAT ONE. They will lie their asses off trying to play sweet and innocent.

Fuckers.

[Buns_of_Fire]

19. We can all be, as he puts it, "safely ignored".

William Greider, one of our craft’s finest reporters, fierce and unbought, despite a long life in Washington once said that no one can hope to understand what is driving political behavior without asking the kind of gut-level questions politicians ask themselves in private: “Who are the winners in this matter and who are the losers? Who gets the money and who has to pay? Who must be heard on this question and who can be safely ignored?”

Perhaps they don’t ask these questions because they fear banishment from the parties and perks, from the access that passes as seduction in this town.

Or perhaps they do not tell us these things because they fear that if the system were exposed for what it is, outraged citizens would descend on this town, and tear it apart with their bare hands.

And so it shall remain until we, as a country, care more about our collective survival than we do about watching the episode of Honey Boo Boo that we missed. My great fear is that the United States is collectively too damned stupid to survive.

[CrispyQ]

81. We Feed All

This weekend someone posted an article about how DC is the richest community in the country, & that people move there to get rich. I've said for a few years now, that your best bet is to position yourself as well as you can under the banquet table. Of course, you have to have a certain amount of economic status to even get those positions, but that is my strategy - find the best place to get crumbs.

I maintain that if we could take out the "We Fool You" tier we could change everything.

[RagAss]

21. What he says so eloquently....I boiled down to a sig line years ago ....

[RitchieRich]

94. niiiiiice

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

23. And the question is, can we do anything effectively about it?

This didn't just just start, it's been going on for more than a half a century.
I once thought Occupy might be a starting point, but you can't run a general strike without leaders and you need well thought out strategic planning.
Any thoughts out there?

[Dustlawyer]

40. K&R! I believe that we need a spark to start the protests again, but this time we need leaders and

only 1 issue, COMPLETE CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM!!! Insist on Publicly Funded Elections and come out with such overwhelming numbers that we can force them to support our cause or be replaced. This is the same deal they get with the 1% except we do it with actual votes and they do it with money that is supposed to sway us to vote the way the 1% want! This way we are attacking the ROOT CAUSE of our problems. We must spread the word!!!!!!!!!!!

[ReasonableToo]

53. Yes on getting money out ... And ...

Get instant run-off elections so people can vote for their first and second choice. That way a third party can really represent the 99% rather than split one side and give it to the other.

So tired of a choice of lesser of two evils. So many don't vote anymore because there are no good candidates.

[dougolat]

67. +++ nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. But when one asks if there is more to any scandal than just the surface

of course not.

[DirkGently]

25. KNR for truth.

[woo me with science]

26. "Close"?

The United States of America is now a SURVEILLANCE STATE, for god's sake.

No disrespect to Moyers. He is a national treasure...but that was an absurd choice of words.

"Close," my ass.

[HooptieWagon]

35. Yep.

The 1% doesn't want any peasant revolts by the 99% when we figure out what's going on. WE are the "terrorists" they fear.

[hootinholler]

27. Bless Bill Moyers!

May you ever speak loudly and live long.

[ZRT2209]

28. V for Vendetta is on right now

[Dawson Leery]

29. kick

[Civilization2]

30. I wish this last thought where so,.

The journalists who could tell us these things rarely do – and some, never. They aren’t blind, simply bedazzled. Watch the evening news – any evening news – or the Sunday talk shows. Listen to the chit-chat of the early risers on morning TV -- and ask yourself if you are learning anything about how this town actually works.

William Greider, one of our craft’s finest reporters, fierce and unbought, despite a long life in Washington once said that no one can hope to understand what is driving political behavior without asking the kind of gut-level questions politicians ask themselves in private: “Who are the winners in this matter and who are the losers? Who gets the money and who has to pay? Who must be heard on this question and who can be safely ignored?”

Perhaps they don’t ask these questions because they fear banishment from the parties and perks, from the access that passes as seduction in this town.

Or perhaps they do not tell us these things because they fear that if the system were exposed for what it is, outraged citizens would descend on this town, and tear it apart with their bare hands.

Sadly, it is exposed over and over, and on many levels, and still the bulk of the people just don't have time to do a damn thing about it. No decent on Washington, no pitchforks and torches, just more of the same.

It appears the system is perfect, in keeping opposition at bay. Perhaps this has something to do with the NSA and the corporate-mercenary system that squashes all real opposition. Bill should be careful, I have seen him grow increasingly truth based in his commentary, I see a car wreck or sudden death by "natural" causes in his sort term future. Like I said they have this system worked out to the 9s.

[blackspade]

34. Moyers speaks the truth

About this new gilded age.

[handmade34]

38. rec

[washnwmn]

43. DC's bi-partisan party

I watched this Moyers program and felt wholly disgusted with the notion that our elected reps sell us out and join 1 big DC party, then forget why they were sent there and forget we even exist. KUDOs to Mark Leibovich and his book for having the guts to appear on Bill Moyers and put it out there!

[gopiscrap]

46. The tragedy is that nobody is paying fucking attention!

[leftyladyfrommo]

74. I think a lot of people are paying attetion

but nobody knows how to stop this.

What do you do when everybody is bought off?

Grass roots movements that end up in huge gatherings of people all around the capital and in all the big cities might help get the point across.

I have no idea how you stop this kind of monster.

[gopiscrap]

87. Revolution and the disruption

of business as usual as much as possible

[leftyladyfrommo]

93. That doesn't work.

That has been tried over and over again down thru history.

And look where we are today. Over the long haul it didn't make any difference. Just a lot of innocent people killed.

I like Gandhi's way better.

[gopiscrap]

97. I didn't say be violent

revolution and disruption can be accomplished through non violent means!

[kelliekat44]

48. Bill Moyers is THE MAN!!!!!! Love him!!! nt

[forestpath]

55. Close to? It's long gone.

[rurallib]

57. thank you wanted to bookmark but almost forgot til now

thanks!

[4dsc]

60. What do you expect from weak democratic party leadership

A parade? Lets face it, without weak leadership we don't allow this kind of crap to happen. But atlas it does and our leaders don't do a thing about it.

[niyad]

63. k and r

[spanone]

65. once they eliminate the poor and minority votes, all bets are off & they're working tirelessly

[limpyhobbler]

66. "They have bought the political system ... making change from within impossible."

wow strong words.

[colsohlibgal]

68. Both Parties Are Owned These Days, Legalized Bribery Rules

Moyers is a national treasure and he's dead on. Increasingly we don't vote for a party, we vote against a party who does cause a little more harm.

If magically we had a filibuster proof Senate and a solid majority on the House to go with a democratic president do we really think they would go after Wall Street? End the war machine and the obscenely bloated defense budget? Quit going all NAFTA and SHAFTA? I highly doubt it in this day and age, in fact I think that would be the DNC's worst nightmare.

That situation would be good for Blacks, Latinos, and GLBT because that's where most democrats are truly liberal in 2013.

[felix_numinous]

69. K&R people ridiculing

Moyers are creeping me out.

[Solly Mack]

70. K&R

[defacto7]

71. kick kick kick

[DissidentVoice]

75. We are already a plutocracy and have been for some time.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/04/01/plutocracy-in-america/

The Republican Party started it, and the Democratic Party have either been complicit or haven't had the guts to stand up and say anything.

[Faygo Kid]

77. Bill Moyers is a national treasure

He speaks the truth. Always.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

82. Well said but isn't this been obvious?

Now what do we do about it?
We can lament about our condition all day, year, all election cycle.

Now what do we do?

All politicians are bought off. Corporations rule us. There is no taking money out of politics, that's how you get elected.

What do we do?

Grassroots? Local? All bought off.

Come on DU, what do we do?

We need a secure way to communicate. That's just a given. But how? I'm not smart enough to figure it out, but someone here probably could.

Instead of dissing each other lets come together and fight this beast.

[merrily]

83. We already have lost a lot of our power. TPP will finish the job.

[Coyotl]

86. Rec # 219!!!!

[Dan de Lyons]

89. Any online alternatives to K-Street in sight?

K-Street money buys TV time. Suppose politicians didn't need TV time? Suppose something online stole that market out from under K-Street?

Could Microsoft huddle with the League of Women Voters? They've got the data. All that's needed is a delivery system.

If there were a way also of slowly moving the ongoing dialogue between lower level contenders onto the internet, then the delivery system could become a content generation stream.

[ctsnowman]

90. K & R

[moondust]

92. How about a national strike

to last until Washington officially removes the big money from politics?

[renate]

95. "We pay the taxes they write off."

Isn't that the kind of slogan that might persuade the unpersuaded?

I don't think I've ever seen a key difference between the 1% and the 99% presented so simply and clearly before.

[me b zola]

96. K&R

[Uncle Joe]

98. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[mrdmk]

100. K and R for the latter crowd!

A must watch!