
According to David Corn in Mother Jones, Joe Manchin, is making noises about quitting the Democratic Party and declaring himself to be an Independent.
So Manchin is “thinking” about leaving the Dems and becoming an Independent, because his constituents are so badly misinformed and disinformed that they actually believe it’s in their best interest to have him support that which is in their worst interest by defeating Biden’s infrastructure plan which West Virginia badly needs – the State got a “D” on the Infrastructure Report Card – and if he tells them the truth he’ll be primaried out by the Trumpists, who care only about keeping their jobs? Isn’t that about it?
Somebody needs to convince me that this isn’t all a KGB plot to destroy the country. I’m being facetious, of course, but just a little, as the KGB no longer exists and the Russians would never come up with something this screwy, and the last thing I want is to be considered a conspiracy nut.
If that were the case, if I didn’t care about my reputation, I’d tell everybody that I’ve been watching the political stage for decades and almost without fail, gas prices at the pump shoot way up when the Dems seize control, and then drop way down again, once the Republicans get back in. They really can’t blame the Arabs anymore, since we now export more oil than we import.
It’s almost like we’re being punished for supporting the Democratic Party? Nah, that would be crazy. As crazy as Russian intel gaining control of a U.S. President and half the Congress, in an effort to destroy our democracy with a big assist from Russian and American oligarch billionaires, interested only in the accumulation of personal wealth. Absolutely crazy. Like a confluence of evil without any real conspiracy. Just greed and the need for power that goes with it.
Whatever the truth might be, you can be sure to get a diversity of opinion from the American media, with only six companies controlling as much as 90% of the information coming into your home. According to Wikipedia, its now down to just five. Business Insider reports that in 1983, there were fifty.
Be it the consolidation of companies resulting in an absence of free market competition started by the Reagan Revolution and its push for deregulation and tax cuts, or the ease with which unknown sources can now pump money into America’s political system following the Supreme Court’s unconscionable ruling in the “Citizens United” case, pretty much everything comes down to one thing. The necessity for campaign finance reform.
Until that happens, until unknown parties, be they American, Russian or from somewhere else can no longer pay off our politicians, none of it is going to work.