November 9, 2002
Save the Pigs! (And Us)
Dear David,First, let me point you to: http://www.bartcop.com/110702otter.htm You may want to add this one to the Talion link on your page.
The letters you have shared from readers have given me hope. I can plainly see that there are at least a few good people out there that are NOT Kitty Genovese's neighbors or, to put it another way, are not so apathetic, uncaring and generally brain-dead that they meet Republican party membership qualifications. And they are right, we need to work together and we need a plan.
Several months ago you were kind enough to link to my essay at http://brutusworks.com/politics/bribe_bazaar.htm In that first foray into solving this little problem with we are having with fascism I proposed trying to get local politically active groups to force candidates to sign a contract that required them to initiate new laws making bribery illegal if they were elected with the group's support. A "tough row to hoe," I know. My basic idea is simply this: even a dumb Republican can appreciate the fact that bribery of public officials is not good public policy. That is, they can appreciate it if the label "bribery" is used. They don't seem to get the point if the same money is called a "campaign contribution." So, get the law on the books against bribery first, then point out that campaign contributions are, in fact, the very same thing through the courts. The law would have to be phrased to make the court approach viable, of course.
The ability of the oil industry and all the big donors to bribe public officials is the weak link in their power. In other words, if you can separate the corporate influence from the government then you have broken a necessary condition for fascism, and our current fascists will fall from power. Furthermore, bribery is a nasty enough charge to get attention, and the fact that bribery is exactly what it is makes the charge stick.
So, how do we get there from here. A strange thing has happened here in Florida this last November 5th? We had a series of constitutional amendments on the ballot that were the result of citizen initiatives. One was to insure the humane treatment of pregnant pigs, if you can believe that. We are fond of pigs here in Florida and passed this initiative easily, which goes a long way toward explaining the presence of Jeb Bush in the governor's office. But I digress. The vehicle of a citizens initiative is available in many states, either as a constitutional amendment as in Florida or in some similar form. Imagine an amendment such as this put before the people:
"We The People hold that those elected to represent and govern the entire body politic cannot accept bribes from individuals or organizations with special interests from within said body politic without accruing the taint of dishonor and the burden of bias; and further, that the offering of bribes to elected representatives in order to influence the specific ends of said individuals or organizations, or the accepting of said bribes by said elected representatives constitutes treason to the remaining constituents of said body politic and shall be punished as such under the felony laws of the State of Florida. For the purposes of this Amendment, the following expressions shall have the indicated definitions and may be used in the singular or plural. "Bribe" means: Anything given or serving to persuade or induce. For the purposes of this Amendment a bribe does not include information or media necessary to transmit information as long as said media has a monetary value less than $100. "Bribery" means: the act or practice of giving or accepting a bribe. "Treason" means: the betrayal of a trust or confidence; a breach of faith; treachery."
I think an amendment such as this would have a good chance of passing. How could anyone vote for bribery? But if you read it strictly, it would completely eliminate campaign contributions and, in turn, the ability of large corporations to influence politicians . . . in other words: fascism.
I know it needs work. It needs a lot of work, but it is a start and the only approach I know of that has the potential of returning democracy to our country. A reasonable first step is to set up a web site to promote this idea and to coordinate efforts so that we can work together. I bought books on programing with PHP and MySQL yesterday (web site tools). I will work my way through these books and learn how to do it, and do it. I am well aware that it will take time and a great deal of effort, and that I have little chance of ultimate success. I don't care. I will do it anyway, for the honor of my country and for MY honor, if nothing else. This I promise.
Bill Cushman
-- By David Cogswell