Ups and Downs

Yesterday was an up day with the indictment of Tom DeLay and Bill Frist's Martha Stewart moment. Today it's a return to reality, always a bummer anymore. While my visceral hate and loathing of Tom DeLay may have been satisfied and my belief that Bill Frist is an idiot has been confirmed we are still marching down the road to a religious/fascist state. Below I quoted Richard Cranium

So, let's enjoy the moment, but let's also temper our enthusiasm with the knowledge that DeLay's woes only confirm what most Americans were feeling about congress to begin with - that it's a cesspool - irrespective of political party. There's still a lot of work ahead.

and this by Big Gav:

None of the major parties are remotely appealing these days (just ask anyone under the age of 30) - socialism is dead, liberalism is under siege (and doesn't have a party of its own) and conservatism has degenerated into a cesspool of fascism and religious fundamentalism.

So, there is a lot of work to do but who's going to do it? In the United States there has been a steady march towards fascism under both the Democrats and the Republicans. Big corporations control the media and were just as responsible for the Iraq war as the Bush administration. I remember joking about a newspaper in the old Soviet Union with a name meaning truth (Pravda). It's not a joke and it's not the Soviet Union anymore. That includes the print media, think Judith Miller, and the television "news" and I'm not just talking about FOX. The corporations control most of the money used in the pornographic political campaigns. By deciding who gets marketed they decide who gets elected. The result is corporations are represented but not the people, think bankruptcy bill.

DeLay's indictment and departure won't change anything. As Michael Crowley, posting at Talking Points Memo, said:

Blunt's organization in scope has begun to rival "DeLay Inc." -- the political fundraising committees, extensive favor-giving and alliances with Republican lobbyists that the majority leader has used to become one of the most influential leaders in memory.

In other words, Blunt, Inc. is the new DeLay, Inc. Or put another way: "The king is dead [DeLay}. Long live the king![Blunt]"

New day, new king but nothing new.