Vivian McPeak: "Obama is accused of a government takeover, while corporations have hijacked democracy"

Vivian McPeak (seattlepi.com, op-ed):

I feel that it is actually the corporate right wing of this country that has accomplished a radical and total government takeover. The recent "Citizens United" Supreme Court ruling has essentially handed our democracy over to the highest bidder. Three billion dollars, much of it from multi-national conglomerates and covertly funneled through shell groups, has just perverted our democracy and influenced a media campaign of toxic gutter-level attack ads. Apparently a very effective strategy for influencing the minds of a pre-occupied and barely informed electorate.

And when I hear what prominent members of the republican party say about Obama, about liberals, and about the media, I feel as they are living in a parallel universe where everything is presented as the opposite of what it appears to actually be.

In classic Orwellian doublespeak the right wing accuses the corporately owned and operated mainstream media of being the mouthpiece of the liberal establishment. This makes about as much sense to me as it does when the partisan FOX news refers to itself as "fair and balanced." For every liberal radio talk show there are 10 conservative ones, for every progressive TV pundit there are scores of conservatives. I hear Tea Party members say things like "the media has given Obama a blank check and are not holding him accountable." Gee, that is exactly what I thought of the way they treated G.W. Bush's administration. MORE...