Dollarocracy Indeed

To the illustrious Mr. Pot:

Dollarocracy is the newest catch term of the left and, not without coincidence, the title of a darling new book specifically entitled: Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America. Bill Moyers, PBS's patron saint of all things liberal, recently devoted an entire program to the intricacies of how this leftist tome seems to be just what America needs right now.

Casual readers of this type of leftist ranting should always be advised to consider the source. In this instance, Dollarocracy is penned by John Nichols and Robert McChesney. Nichols is the Washington correspondent for The Nation, a magazine which unashamedly pronounces itself “the flagship of the left”; and McChesney is a professor of Communications and Society at the University of Illinois. Both come across initially as well intentioned and well informed individuals until their veneer of objectivity starts to dissolve with overt prodding from Moyers.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have not read Dollarocracy but I did take the time to painfully sit through the Moyers' interview. What started as a seemingly reasonable discussion of the influence of the mighty dollar in our nation's electoral process soon turned into a good old leftie bashing of our capitalist system with Mr. Moyers as the head cheerleader. When the hand wringing finally started, all three blamed big business for exercising their right to free speech, especially during the electoral process. A right, I might add, which has been upheld by our nation's highest court. Nowhere in their scholarly dissertation was there a mention of the undue influence of labor unions, the environmental lobby, or proponents of 2^nd amendment restrictions. Apparently, the hundreds of millions of dollars that the AFL-CIO pours into influence peddling through phone banks, union printed bumper stickers, and outright cash do not merit a mention in their Dollarocracy treatise on the PBS show.

At one point, Misters Nichols and McChesney actually lament the effectiveness of internet media in targeting specific audiences to sell their products and that of course includes political candidacies. No big revelation there. Politicians and their ad agencies have been doing that for centuries. In today’s world, it is much easier to reach the people you want, let them hear your message, and do it far less expensively than advertising in the New York Times or People magazine. This is merely an evolution in technology and not the fatal collusion of Big Business to destroy America as we know it. The truth of the matter is that print media has been unable or unwilling to compete with modern technology. And they are now paying the economic price. While the print media in general is failing, those publications which espouse a liberal philosophy seem to be having the hardest time staying afloat. Even in broadcast media, left leaning entities like MS-NBC and CNN consistently find themselves at the bottom of the ratings heap when compared to Fox News. One wonders why advertisers would buy time at MS-NBC when statistically, no one is watching.

Have no fear, however, for Nichols and McChesney have the answer. Ban free speech during election time and let the government (i.e. taxpayer) finance elections. They turn to models in, SURPRISE, Europe to demonstrate how government controlled elections are such a joy. Sweden and Norway of all places demonstrate what Dollarocracy advocates for the United States. Unfortunately, these two vanilla countries bear little resemblance in any way whatsoever to the United States. As far as I am concerned, they can keep their exorbitant taxes and government controlled elections, Dollarocracy notwithstanding.

Moyers broke no new ground whatsoever during this show. Dollarocracy as explained is little more than the elitist philosophy that the average Joe is just too stupid to understand negative advertising when he hears it. He needs Big Government to explain it to him, or, better yet, have Big Government filter out messages that they think Joe shouldn't hear. Dollarocracy believes individuals, (and the Supreme Court considers corporations as individuals) should not be allowed to financially support the candidates of their choice. That decision should be left to Big Broth...uh Government. Don't worry about where the money to finance campaigns will come from..... Dollarocracy has the answer (courtesy of Sweden). The government will simply confiscate your political contribution money and dole it out to the candidates they think deserve support. I didn't quite catch from Nichols and McChesney how that will be determined. Maybe they go into specific detail in their book. Perhaps one day, when I decide to abdicate my right to free speech and my right to financially support a candidate of my choice, I might get around to reading Dollarocracy.... during a trip to Sweden.

Respectfully,

Mr. Kettle