From Iowa to New Hampshire

After the Iowa caucus concluded the headlines were that Barak Obama and Mike Huckabee won but the real story in Yova’s world was the role that mainstream corporate media played in perpetuating the myth of democracy to protect a threatened plutocracy here at home where the political process is disproportionately influenced by the wealthy and the widening gap between the rich Americans who own one or more homes, have diversified financial portfolios and get the big tax breaks and those in the dwindling middle class and below can no longer be concealed.

Chief among democracy’s common characteristics are those of majority rule, competitive elections, a free press, rule of law, and freedom of speech. It’s no secret that in order to run a successful campaign for high office one must have the required financial largesse to secure and take advantage of the maximum amount of exposure to a consumerist society conditioned by Madison Ave to buy some product convinced “by Madison Ave” that they need.

In simple terms the candidates with the most money get the most coverage, perhaps the top 3 or 4 candidates from each of the two indistinguishable major political parties. The rest get marginalized or ignored just ask Ralph Nader, Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, Cynthia McKinney et al while the media profits from increased advertising revenues and the public is given pre-selected choices of people representing wealth from which to choose. So much for majority rule and competitive elections conducted in our so-called classless society – wink/wink. Nod/nod.

Given the stark economic realities of recession in a 21st century plutocratic society like ours where the power of wealth rules and only the wealthy can afford to realistically run for political office the role of the free press then is to generate unquestionable acceptance of an election process as a legitimate method which secures the peoples consent for a government that the people no longer trust and with good reason – too much inbreeding, time for a change.

A majority of Americans are dissatisfied with our present state of affairs at home and abroad. At home the housing market is in a free fall people are losing their homes, their jobs, and their hope for the future which is encumbered by more credit card debt. Our infrastructure is falling apart. A gallon of gas will easily exceed $4.00 some time this year causing an increase in the cost of most consumer goods. Heating oil costs will soar, average wages aren’t and won’t be keeping up and many more Americans will be threatened with bankruptcy by the economic realities of a “recession” which the media dare not admit exists.

Our safety nets, those social programs which were in created in response to the great depression are under funded because we are spending 2 billion plus to wage war in Iraq that was supposed to pay for itself meanwhile our government is giving tax breaks to the already more than well off while those in the middle class who can’t afford an education get to “volunteer” to fight for our freedom and their possibility of a college degree. If in fact our troops are really fighting for our freedom here it seems ironic that those who have the most to lose at home are those who sacrifice the least.

It is no longer possible to ignore the fact that most Americans are dissatisfied with an executive branch that waged a costly unnecessary and illegal war nor is possible to ignore the fact that most Americans are dissatisfied with the Congress which rubber stamped the high crimes and misdemeanors or looked the other way when they were committed during the first six years of this corrupt, criminal and incompetent administration and the fact is that most Americans are dissatisfied with and disappointed in the Congress that was elected to change course and hold this administration accountable for the damage done but instead still finances the crime.

It should come as no surprise that those who benefit the most from the prevailing political order have no rationale basis to give their consent to a decrease in the excessive lifestyle to which they are accustomed thus the roll of the press now becomes one of generating sufficient interest in superficiality in order to distract suspicious minds from further scrutiny of a suspect process.

The punditocracy presents the so-called political experts to analyze election results of an event that in reality is meaningless and they conclude that Sen. Barak Obama won the Iowa caucus by presenting himself as “the change candidate” appealing to those who know we need a change and as such the illusion is created that this election will be about “change” setting off a frenzy among the other well financed contenders claiming ownership of qualities more closely approximating change.

Indeed Barak Obama presented himself as “the change candidate”. His speeches included words like hope and optimism. He is optimistic that he is the only Democratic candidate who can reach across the aisle and hope to circumvent the usual gridlock created by partisan politics that ensnares official Washington since the magic bullet brought down Camelot in Dallas.

We need more substantive “change” in the way we govern ourselves for we will a life that requires a new way of living and without real change in pursuit of political freedom, social justice, and economic equality we can only continue to expect further social, political, and economic unrest and instability and increased dissatisfaction and disillusion with the status quo and their staged elections which confers legitimacy on of all things – the status quo.

That Sen. Clinton won the New Hampshire primary is a strong indication that just reaching across the aisle is a stretch for a plutocratic political system in a state of decline while pretending to be a democracy. Mainstream media’s credibility is shattered. The election is no longer about “change” it’s no longer about “hope” or “optimism” no matter how nebulous. The election is now about “fear”, “uncertainty” and “experience” i.e. “experience in perpetuating politics as usual” for another 4 years regardless of who wins another primary. In the end the rhetoric of “experience” too will be as distorted, empty, and shallow as “change” was in the “live free or die” state of denial.