[GPSCC-chat] Supreme Court Nominations--Romney v. Obama

[Gerry Gras]

FWIW, I think if we could get MANY more people to read CommonDreams
(or listen to KPFA?) every day, we'd see big changes.

Gerry


Spencer Graves wrote:
> Lawrence Lessig's 2011 book "Republic, Lost" explains how the US
> political system is so corrupt that few if any can survive in office
> without playing their part in this corrupt system. Lessig says the
> corrosive influence of money in government is "the gateway problem"
> facing the US today in the sense that we must solve this problem before
> we can make progress against any of the other problems facing the nation.
>
>
> My reaction is summarized in my essay on "Gateway Problems in US
> Politics & Economics"
> (http://occupy.pbworks.com/w/page/52167684/Gateway%20Problems): To raise
> the massive amounts of money required to get reelected, congress extorts
> (Lessig's term) money from big business by passing legislation with
> special privileges for a few years at a time. As each one expires, it
> provides another excuse to shake down the big businesses for more money.
> Since the 1990s, the masters of this game are the bankers, which is why
> the world economy is in such terrible shape. For me, the gateway problem
> is the failure of the US public to seek out and support substantive
> investigative journalism, especially about how this corrupt system
> works: In the 1980s and 1990s, a massive wave of media consolidation
> produced a media oligopoly with more power than at any time in US
> history. In the 1990s, the media companies all but eliminated their
> previously anemic investigative journalism function, because no matter
> how it's managed, it's a losing proposition. If they find anything, they
> don't dare run a story for very long or they'll lose advertising.
> Similarly, if they publish any serious information about politics, it
> would increase the chances that someone could win an election without so
> much advertising -- in addition to the money they'd lose from offended
> advertisers taking their business elsewhere.
>
>
> My bottom line, in a phrase similar to yours but I think with a little
> broader appeal is that voting for any candidate or initiative that can
> afford television advertising is voting for bribery. I refuse to vote
> for bribery.
>
>
> I agree with your position, but I think it's harder to convince people
> that Obama is a war criminal. Besides, if Obama actually abided by the
> law, the media would work hard to find something to cripple his
> presidency. I think Obama knows this, which is why he does what he does.
>
>
> Spencer
>
>
> On 5/31/2012 10:32 PM, Brian Good wrote:
>> http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/6571/scotusromneyobama260dpi.jpg
>>
>> I first heard this argument from a Occupy Redwood City guy--that if Romney
>> wins, he'll pack the Supreme Court with neocons, My own position is
>> that as
>> a matter of principle I refuse to vote for the war criminal Obama,
>> lest I be
>> seen as complicit in his crimes.
>>
>> We need a counterargument with wider appeal than mine.
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Spencer Graves, PE, PhD
> President and Chief Technology Officer
> Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc.
> 751 Emerson Ct.
> San José, CA 95126
> ph:  408-655-4567
> web:www.structuremonitoring.com
>
>
>
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