The news that one of those groups of anonymous corporate donors just dumped $1 million into my Congressional district, to buy a new Congressman for me, suddenly made this election very personal indeed.
My Congressman, Gerry Connolly, has his pluses and minuses, but he is a good Democrat and he has worked his way up through local politics and by connecting with the community. The idea that he would be put out of a job by secretive national, and very likely multinational, corporate interests, very likely with zero connection to my district, is disturbing to say the least. Clearly, these corporations are just looking to purchase a government that is not so bold as to question, let alone regulate, how they treat their employees, what pollution they produce, how much they outsource jobs to other countries, or how boldly they increase the gap between the rich and poor in America.
If the people of the 11th District, in the process of this transaction, happen to lose our right to elect a Representative of our choosing, that’s just considered so much collateral damage. Even here in the state of Virginia, where people like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and George Mason first defined what democracy is supposed to mean.
For all that conservatives crow about “original intent”, it is obvious that the Founders of this nation did not intend for the the people’s democratic rights to be subordinated to the needs of multinational corporations. “One person, one vote” does not allow for those with more money to get the equivalent of more votes.
Nor do I believe that the Founders intended for such donations to be used to pay for dishonest advertising. Not surprisingly for another election being orchestrated by the likes of Karl Rove, big money is being used to spread big lies. You can be sure that months or years after this November 2nd, there will be lots of stories about all the scandals taking place right now, in the improper funneling of unlimited dollars to promote dishonest campaigning. The media, once again, will wring their hands about why they didn’t catch all of this earlier. Meanwhile, we will be stuck with a Congress that responds to the highest bidder, not to the will of the people.
I don’t accept any of this.
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