America is drowning in corruption.

[kentuck]

The sad truth is that our government is corrupt to the core. We are up to our eyeballs in corruption.

The question is: Are we in too deep to save ourselves?

When we reach the point where we can no longer trust that our votes will count, then it is too late.

When the justice system is too weak to confront the criminals that attack it, then it is too late.

When money and power reign supreme over the will of the people, then maybe it is too late?

I have always believed that if the people have the knowledge and the will, it is never too late. But, if we cannot see this horrific corruption around us, then we may have lost the battle?

What can we do about it? What should we do about it? I ask that, not as a member of any political Party, but as an American citizen.

I think the corruption may have begun when the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are "people" and that money is "free speech"?

Now, the Executive Branch is selling access and influence to the highest bidder. The Legislative Branch is obsessed with maintaining power, and is complicit in assisting the Executive Branch in corrupting our institutions. Their greed knows no bounds. The Judicial Branch is being replenished with right-wing judges that are willing to rule in favor of their masters.

The corruption is real.

===================

I apologize for this "downer" of a post but with this latest episode, with China's phone company and their contribution of $500,000,000 to a Trump business in Indonesia, I am wondering, when will it end?

Where are the profiles in courage?

[get the red out]

1. I am right there with you!

This is all I have been thinking about for a few days, can anything be done? Are we too far gone, thanks for years of Republican media propaganda?

[shraby]

2. The big time corruption began when JFK, RFK, MK were assassinated.

Took a step forward with Nixon, another step with Reagan, another with Bush II when the Supremes put him in office, another when they refused to seat Obama's pick for the Supremes, and came full bloom with the Donald.

[shanny]

15. Yep. We have been working toward a corrupt oligarchy for decades

and now we have arrived. Only good thing is that donnie boy is so bad at hiding his motives and corruption, and he has dragged the other creeps into the light as well. The mask is off.

What happens next? We will either turn into a full-blown kleptocracy like Russia where the government = the oligarchs = the mafia, or we will have a democratic revival. One thing I don't think we will have anymore is a lot of influence around the world. We've lost that.

[TheMastersNemesis]

26. There Was More To Those Assassinations Then The Public Knows.

I believe those assassinations were more than coincidence looking back. I remember seeing JFK go by in his motorcade when I was in Junior College in Springfield, Illinois in the spring of 1962 or 1963, And I was in Vietnam when Bobbie was assassinated. When you look at the assassinations and demise of all the public figures black and white that part of history looks suspicious.

We have incomplete and flawed answers concerning events surrounding all those killings. Plus when you see what is happening to blacks and hispanics who might be leaders with the mass incarcerations it all looks planned by the likes of super rich of a former era and now we have their off spring like the Kochs, Adhesions, Sinclairs, Petersons, etc etc.

[ck4829]

3. Honestly, we need to start working to soften the aftermath

I think it is time to likening the political situation in the US to worsening dementia... the environment is becoming more and more toxic.

Quite simply, it's like this presented:

"A. Vote for corruption, vote for thieves, vote for a government that is not accountable to you, vote for a government that works against you, vote for nepotism, vote for a government that will go to war against you, vote for a government that says the fundamentals of the economy are strong because the Dow broke a new record even as you are hungry, vote for a government that perverts things like health care, vote against your interests...

B. Vote for a liberal Democrat. Ewwww. Really? What's wrong with you?!"

This is what talk radio, Fox News, Breitbart, pundits, etc. have normalized. This is an absolutely 'normal' thought process in America today.

I don't think we can untwist/detoxify this even as I am working to elect more Democrats. Either way, we need to start working for the post-US political situation, making sure it is a tolerable environment.

[BSdetect]

4. And we think an election in Nov will fall our way?

[Funtatlaguy]

5. When will enuf be enuf

Tar and feathers and pitchforks?
It’s too late....we are all too married to our phones and posting on social media to be bothered to actually do anything about it.
Evil has won.
America as a beacon of good, if it ever existed, is over.

[kentuck]

6. Godspeed.

May the Force be with You.

[beachbum bob]

7. corruption has always had a nicer look in america than elsewhere...called lobbying

and with Citizen's United, made it 10x worse.


sooner or later, the great majority of american voters will change the direction but it will take years....so go ahead and vent, but we all must plan on how you and I and all other DU members can work to change our direction.

handwringing, complaining is one thing. Actively working on a campaign, registering voters, going door to door is where and how we change the direction

[kentuck]

8. Do you mean I wasted my breath.

Everybody knows already?

[beachbum bob]

9. venting is always good....

need to express it somewhere

[TheMastersNemesis]

27. I Really Wonder If Our Time In Vietnam Was Truly A Waste Of Time.

Personally find all the political turn of events just ghastly. What do soldiers serve for now.

[kentuck]

29. Every generation has its war...

...in order to assure the PTB that their hold on power is still secure.

[Orsino]

10. Too big a GDP not to attract parasites.

The story is about more than just the flagrantly corrupt. We have to keep in mind that we are the ones who tolerate it and allow the wounds to fester, or the cancer to metastasize, or whatever favorite metaphor seems apt.

[Ferrets are Cool]

11. I'm with you. Corruption is rampant. nt

[pazzyanne]

12. I remember the day that this happened.

"I think the corruption may have begun when the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are "people" and that money is "free speech"?

I almost fell out of my car when I heard this. From that moment forward I have felt a major change in the way we do business in the USA. I still have the question: How can a thing be a person? Can someone answer that for me?

[c-rational]

19. Completely agree with your point of view. I read a good book review on this subject "We the

Corporations" by Adam Winkler. How businesses became people. It happened through law and can be undone through law. When people exist paycheck to paycheck it is difficult to get them to understand the importance of getting this right. When politicians jobs require that they not understand this it is doubly difficult. Never give up...

[PatSeg]

13. We've been moving in this direction for a long time

What we are seeing is a symptom of what has declined in our society over the years. So many memories pop in my head of people acting out of greed and selfishness, have to watch out for "number one" first and foremost, "nice guys finish last". It seems like success has been measured in money and possessions for decades, only getting worse over time.

This did not happen overnight and it is not a fluke or accident. This is a reflection of what we have become, if not destructive and self-absorbed, often apathetic and oblivious. Major upheaval and change is inevitable now.

[mountain grammy]

14. Yep..

That old free market bullshit and patriotism shoved down our throats until it’s the gospel truth.. never has been a fluke or accident. The accident is that we made any progress at all.

[PatSeg]

22. Yes, good point

Some of the progress we've made is actually rather amazing, but now it is being backtracked at an alarming rate. For those of us who lived through civil rights, women's rights, etc., it is a shock to the system to see everything dismantled so quickly and with so little effort.

I know things go through cycles. Periods of profound change and upheaval are followed by calm and disinterest, as people need to "settle" and feel rooted. The Great Depression and World War II was followed by the peace and prosperity of the 1950s. The 1960s and 1970s morphed into the Reagan years, much of which is still affecting us today. This cycle feels different - bigger, scarier, and potentially more dangerous, though I suppose that was how people felt in the 1930s run up to war.

Anyone who is paying attention is in a constant state of PTSD it seems and you can't ignore it, as it is very real.

[jmbar2]

16. Honest and ethical government must become the clarion call

On our side
- Campaign on restoring democracy, which requires literacy, honesty and concern for all people- make it our brand
- Rigorously vet any candidates for dirt that would disqualify or dishonor us
- Campaign against existing corruption. Hang it around their necks, like the nasty nicknames so often put on us
- Revive original inspiring concepts of democracy, in modern language. Repeat it as much as possible.
- The original visions for our nation are still inspiring and offer the best solution to most governance problems. Find ways to update and sell an optimistic alternative.
- Emphasize the "We the People" are all different colors and religions. We will never been a white nation, and that is our strength.
- Don't just campaign against corruption, but campaign for the solutions to it.

[kentuck]

18. Are there any corrupt Democrats?

What do we do about them??

[Amishman]

24. Yes, we expose them and hold them accountable

Kathleen Kane, Leland Yee, and Rod Blagojevich are unfortunate examples of Democrats going astray. They were dealt with and we moved on.

It is important to remember a D next to the name doesn't mean they are all paragons of virtue (though I'd be willing to bet our side is cleaner overall). Our eyes need to be open.

[DemocracyMouse]

23. Fantastic solution list! People, take heed!

Thank you jmbar2!

Making "restoring democracy" our brand is a great focal point! We certainly have it in our name. This scares the R's in a certain sense – it's why they say "the Democrat Party" instead of "the Democratic Party." They don't want us to own democracy.

[ooky]

17. You have captured the essence of the problem. I am totally with you.

I'm afraid the only thing that will reverse this trend is a great awakening to occur in the next two elections, and am highly concerned for the damage that has already been done.

[Newcanuck]

20. Vote, vote, vote

I've been watching your elections for the last 2 decades and have come to the conclusion that polls that show the race "tightening" or "too close to call" really mean "close enough to flip". I think this has been going on at least since the hanging chad fiasco.

While the media focuses on ridiculous non-issues, the GOP is busy dismantling your democracy from all directions. Putin is defeating the American experiment without a shot being fired.

My tin foil hat thoughts: were the two Eastern European wives just minders for the main asset?

[kentuck]

21. "...were the two Eastern European wives just minders for the main asset?"

Interesting question.

[zentrum]

25. And the media too bought off

……and at inside cocktail parties to report it.

We're absolutely rotting from the head down, cheered on by the Robert's Supreme Court.

[Plucketeer]

28. I keep thinking

of the disgustingly wealthy den of thieves of Wall Street who've NEVER faced a judge or jury. I had neighbors forced out of their homes and into relative's basements because of those "fat" bastards. What's more maddening is that - for a "punishment - they got treated to a tour of OUR treasury and were provided with convenient tote bags as they did so. Bonnie & Clyde and the like should be national heros.

[CousinIT]

30. VOTE. DEMOCRATIC. EVERY. ELECTION. No exceptions.

That's one thing.