The Murdoch scandal in the UK exploded when it was revealed that the phone of a thirteen-year-old murder victim had been hacked by his organization, pulling at people's heartstrings.
That may have caused outrage, but it's the tip of the iceberg and almost irrelevant in the great scheme of things. Yes, it was a despicable act, but ultimately, it affected a limited number of people. What emerged from the wider investigation is the level of influence Murdoch has both on politicians and the Police. Tony Blair took the country into an illegal war and it seems his narcissism, his desire to go down in history as a second Churchill, was well exploited by Murdoch, who also pushed the WMD agenda in the US very vigorously through Fox News. In the UK, he didn't need a dedicated propaganda TV channel in order to promote the invasion of Iraq, he went straight to the heart of government.
This is the story of one corporation in a country with considerably less influence in the world scene than the US.
Now we see the corporations calling the shots in the United States Congress. They don't want to pay their taxes and would prefer the old and the poor to foot the bill instead. The GOP and the Tea Party are very happily doing their bidding, even though none of it makes sense. How can they possibly justify taking from the poor to give to the rich?
The smell of corruption fills the air, but is anybody investigating how the corporations exert so much influence on so many politicians? The rhetoric about job creation is utterly unconvincing. They haven't created jobs for Americans, they have been outsourcing jobs abroad, putting many thousands of Americans out of work. Their only objective is to protect their profits, that's all there is to it. And these so-called representatives of the people are defending the corporations very ferociously, risking the derailment of the whole economy.
I can't believe these politicians are doing these things solely to oppose any of Obama's solutions, there must be some larger reward. A number of these representatives are too stupid and may be content with the transient taste of power, but I do believe some of the bigger fish are in line for future pay-offs for their efforts. They may not take the money now, but there must be something juicy in the horizon for them, when they stop being politicians.
News International rewarded many of the people who helped them through the botched investigations in the UK with well paid jobs. Other big companies have given former government ministers seats on their boards of directors after they had advanced their objectives in the House of Commons.
Are the corporations making similar promises to some politicians, both in Congress and the Senate? Are there some off-shore bank accounts getting bigger?
When a country is effectively run by the corporations, having elections and calling it a Democracy seems to be a farce of Shakespearean (or Disneyesque?) proportions.
Does anybody in the US have the power and the courage to probe and expose what kind of influence the corporations have on elected representatives of the people and on the lawmakers?
Perhaps if a thirteen-year-old murder victim was thrown into the mix, the authorities would finally become outraged and start asking questions...