Might Makes Right?

A friend and I were what-iffing last night.  Wouldn't it be nice, we said to ourselves, if all candidates for elective office were subject to limited, fixed and equal amounts of campaign cash and time?  Literally the same for everyone.  Fair and square.

Jeez, were we ever in a dream world!  (Yes, some alcohol was involved.)

The depressing realities of our money-driven political system can easily lead to such fantasies.  The reality is that across Ohio, incumbent Republicans have over twice as much campaign cash as their the Democratic challengers.  Republican incumbents in the top five state-wide races have $11.9 million cash on hand, while their opponents have $2.3 million.  It's pretty much the same deal any place you go in the U.S.

It's just another reminder that although the D's have the numbers, the R's have the money.  And in their perversion of the Golden Rule, he with the gold rules.  Oh, ha-ha.

Most of corporate America donates heavily to the GOP, believing the party will reward them by turning back the clock and allowing to pollute and engage in unfair labor practices while enjoying lower taxes.

The Supreme Court says corporations are people and money is speech.  The Koch brothers are trying to buy the entire Republican party.  Unions, a reliable source of Democratic funding, are less influential than ever and still come under constant existential attack from the right.

                       


















     


In politics, money is power, money is might.  And Republicans are telling us, in no uncertain terms, that might makes right -- an idiom most often associated with totalitarian regimes.

Just sayin'.