Corporate America

I just HAD to reprint this great post by LeftCoaster (and not because he mentions my name):

The Corporations had their way with us during the Cold War, with little questioning by a grateful public, protected by our mighty M-I-C. Life was good then, Ma Bell ran the phones, what was good for GM was good for the country. Flush with cash and relatively undamaged from WWII, excess capacity went into rebuilding the rest of the war and cementing our victories. That was then. During the Cold War we had that Enemy intent on our destruction and enslavement to, gasp, collectivism, Borgism, Communism, or worse, Socialism (shrieks of horror rend the air, hands clutch futilely at chests) to worry about, and defend ourselves from. If the Army wanted a fancy new gun, the Air Force a shiny new plane, well, hey presto, the Corporations were there for us. They spun the Vietnam War that way, damn commies; they ran McCarthyism that way, casting doubt and shame and destruction on those who questioned the American Way, the American Methods. But towards the end of the Nixon Vietnam years, their way had a bit of a setback. Kind of. Sure, they could get a little payback from exploding Pinto's and poisoned Love Canals, but things were a bit tougher, we had one of those malaises, remember. And then, the Wall came down, the Mask was removed, and it took more ingenuity and resources to bring back the good ole days. But bring them back they have. Now they’ve got a two pronged assault to bring America back under seamless and unquestioned control. Corporations and their unwitting stooges, Fundamentalists. There’s the Corporations conducting operations directly, and there’s the Corporate Welfare funding them. Take the Farm Bill passed by Congress last year. Please. Take the budget bill passed this year. Look at all of the reconstruction work in Iraq. They're just kiddies in the candy store. My favorite company, wal mart, works to pass laws directly advantageous to them, there’s giveaways like this for building a road for easier access to the Corp HQ, at taxpayers expense, or the ever present wal mart drain on local government services. Not only do the Corporations get to suckle at the Government teat the republicans loudly decry against, the very process sucks the government of resources, piles on debt to unmanageable levels, until the pressure forces government to take measures that guarantee Corporations that longed for free hand. Is that the Invisible Hand of the market forces? Oh, sorry, just somebody picking through my wallet, no problem, help yourself! Then there's the Fundies. Little Green Fruitcakes. They’re shock troops attacking governance in a whole different manner. Not new, but not corporations (although corporations are building their own military type forces) either. As seen on teevee, their brownshirt tactics are meant to delegitimize government decisions, agencies, branches, in order to build support for their own rapturous, un-Constitutional views. Of course, the corporations don’t mind using them to further weaken the government, but hey, it’s just business Mike, nothing personal. Life must be protected, they wail, with much gnashing of teeth. Their hypocrisy and raging inconsistencies don’t matter, are, in fact, irrelevant. Their accuracy only matters if, taken out of context, they sound reasonable or possible. It is, after all, possible that they really do care about life. Especially white American life. And women, the fundies love women, in their proper places, of course. That said, if they sound half way reasonable, it furthers their assault on, in this case, judges. If the judges can’t be trusted, then their judgments can’t be trusted. And if you can’t trust the government, who can you trust? Why, wal mart of course. halliburton, natch. mbna, undoubtedly.