Republicans hijack America

Republican Mitch McConnell can't say a thing without claiming to speak for "American people."

To begin with, there is not one "American people." There are many people of many different views out there. Some them actually read.

Secondly, Mitch McConnell doesn't speak for the "American people." He speaks for special interests, and the Republican party. If he claims polls prove he speaks for a majority, he is lying with a truth: yes, Americans have been scared by his lies into thinking health care and banking reform is bad for them.

But that doesn't mean he is right, nor that an informed public has made a thoughtful decision. It just means that they have been lied to and are scared.

By claiming to represent "The American People," he has hijacked my voice. I want it back. He doesn't speak for me.

McConnell, and other right wing nuts like the snide Sarah Palin ("How is that hopey, changey thing working out for you?") are going to destroy the economy by advocating for greed, and the day has already come when the real voters are about to cast their ballot.

No, not voters in Florida or Pennsylvania or Massachusetts or Oregon. Voters in Beijing and Abu Dubai and Germany. Those who vote with their money. They can see clearly that the United States is riven by special interests and has entered a state of paralysis, unable to face problems honestly and undertake the voluntary hardship of fixing them. They will move their money elsewhere.

The result will be ugly for a nation addicted to debt and easy solutions. And it will hurt all of us not insulated by a life in Washington or on Wall Street. When we need statesmen and women of courage, we get hacks like McConnell, Pelosi, Palin, and others. Panderers, pundits and populists.

It is probably because the system itself is broken, that corruption always wins because special interests always triumph over public good. Doesn't matter whether it is Rome or the British Empire or America. A society becomes decrepit, lazy, content with a strong self image rather than building actual strength, or even maintaining it.

The big lie has succeeded. The goal in bringing to a halt reform that might benefit the other party because it could benefit America has probably won the day.

Despite clear warnings from the business community, victory by the right in blocking reform, and by a left that is arrogant and disconnected, the farce continues. We are now probably out of new acts to play.

We have run through most of our inherited wealth. We don't make anything. We are not at the cutting edge of new technology. And soon, people will stop lending us money.

The Chinese middle class is now larger than the entire population of the United States. They are now the largest market for cars. Brazil makes airplanes. Taiwan makes computers. India writes software. They really don't needs us much anymore, and are probably a better place for future investment.

In the mean time, the right wing tells us that everything will be just fine if we go back to what it was like four years ago when they were in charge. And most of you believe them. They have hijacked America and they will fly it into the ground.