How Shy People Stole Our Elections
A big surprise from this year's elections is that American politics has become dominated by the least likely of participants: shy people.
That's strange, since running for office is an ego game, attracting those comfortable with self-promotion. But the hot new trend is to campaign anonymously, not even whispering your name to voters.
A big surprise from this year's elections is that American politics has become dominated by the least likely of participants: shy people.
That's strange, since running for office is an ego game, attracting those comfortable with self-promotion. But the hot new trend is to campaign anonymously, not even whispering your name to voters.
Of course, these aren't the campaigns of actual candidates -- in fact, the campaigners aren't even people. Rather, they're corporations, empowered by the Frankensteins on our Supreme Court to possess the political rights of us real human beings.
Using their shareholders' money, corporate entities are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to elect or defeat whomever they choose. They're funneling that money into secretive Super PACs and other outside groups that don't have to disclose their donors.
You would know these corporations, for they include major brand names from Big Oil, Big Food, Big Pharma, etc.
Normally, they're not at all bashful about promoting their corporate brands, but -- shhhh -- they want to be totally secretive about their massive spending to decide who holds office in America. They realize that their self-serving campaigns would alienate their customers, employees, and shareholders, so they're keeping their involvement hush-hush.
One agency could compel them to reveal their spending on what amounts to a corporate coup of our democratic elections: the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC is supposed to guard the right of investors to know how corporate executives are spending their money. But this watchdog isn't barking -- much less biting -- thus allowing CEOs to take unlimited amounts of other people's money, without their permission, and secretly pour it down the darkest hole in American politics.
The SEC's inaction is gutless, making it complicit in the corporate corruption of our governing system. To help make it do its duty, link up with Public Citizen: www.citizen.org.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
A big surprise from this year's elections is that American politics has become dominated by the least likely of participants: shy people.
That's strange, since running for office is an ego game, attracting those comfortable with self-promotion. But the hot new trend is to campaign anonymously, not even whispering your name to voters.
Of course, these aren't the campaigns of actual candidates -- in fact, the campaigners aren't even people. Rather, they're corporations, empowered by the Frankensteins on our Supreme Court to possess the political rights of us real human beings.
Using their shareholders' money, corporate entities are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to elect or defeat whomever they choose. They're funneling that money into secretive Super PACs and other outside groups that don't have to disclose their donors.
You would know these corporations, for they include major brand names from Big Oil, Big Food, Big Pharma, etc.
Normally, they're not at all bashful about promoting their corporate brands, but -- shhhh -- they want to be totally secretive about their massive spending to decide who holds office in America. They realize that their self-serving campaigns would alienate their customers, employees, and shareholders, so they're keeping their involvement hush-hush.
One agency could compel them to reveal their spending on what amounts to a corporate coup of our democratic elections: the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC is supposed to guard the right of investors to know how corporate executives are spending their money. But this watchdog isn't barking -- much less biting -- thus allowing CEOs to take unlimited amounts of other people's money, without their permission, and secretly pour it down the darkest hole in American politics.
The SEC's inaction is gutless, making it complicit in the corporate corruption of our governing system. To help make it do its duty, link up with Public Citizen: www.citizen.org.
A big surprise from this year's elections is that American politics has become dominated by the least likely of participants: shy people.
That's strange, since running for office is an ego game, attracting those comfortable with self-promotion. But the hot new trend is to campaign anonymously, not even whispering your name to voters.
Of course, these aren't the campaigns of actual candidates -- in fact, the campaigners aren't even people. Rather, they're corporations, empowered by the Frankensteins on our Supreme Court to possess the political rights of us real human beings.
Using their shareholders' money, corporate entities are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to elect or defeat whomever they choose. They're funneling that money into secretive Super PACs and other outside groups that don't have to disclose their donors.
You would know these corporations, for they include major brand names from Big Oil, Big Food, Big Pharma, etc.
Normally, they're not at all bashful about promoting their corporate brands, but -- shhhh -- they want to be totally secretive about their massive spending to decide who holds office in America. They realize that their self-serving campaigns would alienate their customers, employees, and shareholders, so they're keeping their involvement hush-hush.
One agency could compel them to reveal their spending on what amounts to a corporate coup of our democratic elections: the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC is supposed to guard the right of investors to know how corporate executives are spending their money. But this watchdog isn't barking -- much less biting -- thus allowing CEOs to take unlimited amounts of other people's money, without their permission, and secretly pour it down the darkest hole in American politics.
The SEC's inaction is gutless, making it complicit in the corporate corruption of our governing system. To help make it do its duty, link up with Public Citizen: www.citizen.org.