Don’t Drink the Kool Aid…
August 3, 2008
Don’t Drink the Kool Aid: The Republican Party is the Largest Special Interest Group in the World!
corporatism: control of a state or organization by large [special] interest groups
When I was in 10th grade I had a debate teacher who told me that “perception is reality.” How right Ms. Braverman was. Oh perspective is a mighty, mighty thing.
A couple of days ago you may have heard that the Republicans held a little pro-oil company protest by refusing to leave the floor of the House. Well depending upon your perspective they were either standing up for the little guy or doing what Republicans do best, doing the bidding of the elite and the monied special interests.
For those of you who actually fell for the Republicans ruse maybe I can change your perspective of things with a little enlightening dose of reality.
I won’t get into how more drilling would offer absolutely NO benefit to gas prices in the short term and very little in the 5 to 10 year span it requires to get oil from the ground to market - you can figure it out for yourself: (Energy Dept. Study: ANWR oil would have little impact - “perhaps reducing the price by 30 to 50 cents a barrel”)(Logic of off-coast oil drilling deeply flawed)
What I do want to talk about is an interesting quote in a report from RawStory:
“Urging drilling, House GOP members refuse to leave floor for recess”
“As members of Congress pull a stunt today on the floor of the House regarding oil drilling… Campaign Money Watch urges all voters and reporters to go to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics’ website, OpenSecrets.org, and review how much each member of Congress received from the oil and gas industry over their careers. These contributions from Big Oil, more than anything else, will tell you what you need to know about today’s circus,” said David Donnelly, Director of Campaign Money Watch.
So I took Mr. Donnelly up on his challenge and this is what I came up with:
PDf of Campaign Contributions to Pro-Oil Company Republican Protestors
These 22 Republicans, who staged their little pro-oil company rally, had actually accepted $6,357,214.00 (Six-million, three hundred and fifty-seven thousand, two-hundred and fourteen dollars) in total campaign contributions from the oil, gas and energy natural resources industries.
The best part of their whole little stunt was when they attempted to feign concern for the plight of the little man affected by the recent rise in gas prices by, you guessed it, blaming it on the Democrats!
If not for the obviousness of their actions I’d have to give them an “A” for political maneuvering. I mean what could be better than fooling the American people into believing that you actually stand with them by paying back your very large campaign contributors, all the while blaming the Democrats for a problem you did nothing about for years.
My hat is off to those clever fascist in the Republican Party; well done.
What a great way to generate millions of people who are beyond cynical about politics and politicians, and a phenomenal way to make the jobs of people on the Left who continually battle for human, environmental, civil and labor rights so damn difficult.
Bravo, bravo!
(A special thanks to those unfortunate souls over at Red State that have obviously overdosed on the Kool-Aid but were kind enough to compile a list of all the nice Republican fascists.)
Hustler Publisher Larry Flynt Offering $1,000,000 Reward
June 4, 2007
Always the consumate business man, Larry Flynt offers a million dollar reward for anyone able to prove that they’ve had illicit sexual relations with a member of Congress. Talk about cost effectiveness, just imagine how much he’d have to pay out if the Republicans were still in the majority!
Politico Headlines:
