The Russian elections did not escape the critical review expected from official Washington and the public press in general. All were in agreement that the election in Russia was nothing but a sham and is an extension of elections under dictatorship. All gave the impression that only in American there is fair and free election. Of course no one speak about the sham elections we have here in the USA.Over the last 40 years or so, national elections in particular presidential and senatorial elections are nothing but money, more of it than any thing else. Issues are drowned in a sea of money raised by candidates from special interest groups and from very rich individuals whose love for their own agenda far exceed their dedication and commitment to America and the exercise of the First Amendment Rights of free speech. The Supreme Court justified the billions of dollars raised every election cycle as part of the exercise of free speech. I am sure if this happens in another country, every one in Washington dares to claim that money corrupts the elections.

Elections in America are big business and the hundreds of millions if not billions raised usually goes to consultants, pollsters, 30 seconds ads and media, with very little money going to where it suppose to go, to free and open debate.

We fault Russia and Mr. Putin for orchestrated elections when our elections are no different, short on issues, long on campaigns and raising of money and Hollywood production. Ideas and citizen’s issues do not win elections in America, money does.

Just think about it. Presidential candidates have to spend almost two years campaigning and raising money so they can get on the national ballots in November. Candidates have to raise hundreds of millions to have a chance of public exposure, more personal exposure and less exposure of ideas and issues.

In France, UK and all of Western Europe, even in Russia, there are no long drawn out elections that exhaust the public before they exhausts candidates and of course burning hundreds of millions of cash in the process. That is why our elections and campaigns have nothing to do with democracy and have nothing to do with the best interests of the nations and have every thing to do with power, influence, greed and what contributors can get back from candidates. The public does not count for anything. Those who donate and raise millions wants something in return and they get it.

Few years back the Republican Party of Virginia decided to nominate a convicted felon by the name of Oliver North to be its candidates for the US Senate. Oliver North a discredited Marine officer, without much of credentials other than the fact that he lied to Congress and the American public and that he carried a “cake and a bible” to the Ayyatollah was able to raise more than $25 millions from all over the country to wage his campaign putting himself forward as a “patriot” without having much substance to his campaign. Of course he lost the elections because Virginia voters, especially in Northern Virginian where not impressed with all the ribbons that he has on his uniform, and did not buy the fraud that was Oliver North.

Money makes all of the difference. Charles Percy lost the elections because an Israeli in California decided to spend over a million dollars the day before and the day of the election discrediting Percy commitment to “even handed policy in the Middle East”.

One only needs to look at the presidential candidates these days. The Democrats at least have some issues to debate the Republican candidates have nothing important to debate other than what to do about “immigrants” and whether to build a fence all around America. No candidates talk about the tens of millions who are uninsured or the hundreds of thousands of run down schools, or public transportation that is becoming less and less affordable to the public. No one talks of the trillion dollars our axis of evils spent on the War on Iraq or the hundreds of billions handed over to “security contractors” by our Home Land Security to make us feel safe, when such a government agency could not even manage the evacuation people out of New Orleans after Katrina struck. God help us if there is real terror attack in the magnitude that took place on September 11th. If the past is an indication of the future then we are in deep, deep trouble, since the money went to business corporations.

Take a look at the national debate and see how silly our presidential candidates are and see how silly and insignificant the issues they talk about. No one talks of the greedy billionaires of Wall Street who have a habit of taking the country and the public for a ride every few years starting with the saving and loan association mess to the sub prime scandal. No candidates talk about campaign reforms and the needs to bring policies and issues to the debate rather than money. No one talks of the need to shorten the cycle of campaigning and with it reducing the public exposure to the ugly face of American politics.

No one talks of the need to have an overhauling of our entire elections process starting with presidential elections with limits on money and time and the need to have national primaries so that the general public makes the decision rather than small caucuses determining the fait of the nation. No one talks of the need to limit out of state money to come in and determine state and local elections and undermine the very idea of participatory democracy and citizenship. No one talks of the need to give citizens the real power to vote and make their votes counts. Let us not fault the Russian elections when we have nothing to be proud of. Real democracy is not here in the US but in Europe, where money plays less of decision in winning elections.

More important, no one talks of “term limits” where members of Senate and Congress seem to serve for ever and ever, way beyond their mental and psychical capacities. How can a democracy thrive if we continue to have a “royalty” with families passing down the mantle of house and senate seats to their off spring, their wives or husbands? Yes, American democracy is not what we thing it is. It is as corrupt as any thing out there. We certainly have nothing to be too proud of.

Share This

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...