Inconvenient Truth

Bob Herbert (une des rares voix de la raison au NYT) via DK:

Bob Herbert directs our attention to a sad truth: even as we are celebrating the growth of democracy elsewhere, we are facing the diminishment of the idea in the United States.

While millions of ordinary Americans are struggling with unemployment and declining standards of living, the levers of real power have been all but completely commandeered by the financial and corporate elite. It doesn’t really matter what ordinary people want. The wealthy call the tune, and the politicians dance. ... Ordinary Americans have no real access to the corridors of power, but you can bet your last Lotto ticket that your elected officials are listening when the corporate money speaks.

When the game is rigged in your favor, you win. So despite the worst economic downturn since the Depression, the big corporations are sitting on mountains of cash, the stock markets are up and all is well among the plutocrats.