They have stolen the words: God, patriotism, 'for the good of the country', pro-life, special interests, democracy, 'jealous of our freedom', 'freedom of speech', 'right to assemble', 'free (not fair) market', et. al.
They use these words not to tell the truth but to win elections. They con religious and patriotic people by saying they stand for these words which actually stand for nothing more than mass marketing, saying what people want to hear and nothing more. They work not for the people but the corporations that benefit from your tax dollars and the lives of our soldiers.
Intellectual and intelligent are words that they have vilified to act as if they are just one of us.
Who are they?
Those in the corporate structure which allows for immoral and criminal actions to go unpunished. War is profitable for them, those that do the financing are the same people that neither pay the sacrifice nor are they held accountable. Former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine predicted that by 2054, the Defense Department will only be able to afford one aircraft. The 2008 funding for the DOD: $459.3 billion. Funding the two wars is totally separate. These profiteers are the ones that pay the politicians, that finance the candidates' election campaigns; they write the bills the legislators pass thru congress for who's benefit? These are the ones that lay-off thousands of employees and profit when the stock bounces up a dollar; these are the ones that manufacture cars that guzzle gas and destroy the air we breath. This is the pattern which continues and only increases everyday. In Eisenhower's fairwell address to congress, he original planned to say "the military/industrial/congressional complex because of the proliferation of contracts going to so many congressional districts. In the corporate structure, profit and greed replace morality and ethics. This is nothing new but it's getting kind of old.
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As John D. Rockefeller in the 1800 and early 1900's used his size to drive out competition by underselling in local markers, Duane Read did it in Manhattan in the 1990's. In certain areas they would setup stores on two consecutive blocks killing individually owned pharmacies nearby just as John D. did in the petroleum industry. In the Duane Read case, by the end of the nineties, they declared bankruptcy and were taken over by a capital finance group. What cherry picking. They now had a brand name with reduced competition. Who benefits. The consumer? Not! DR buys brand names in quantity but not the pharmaceutical drugs. The is done by a wholesale buyer who takes a profit margin paid for by the consumer. Some insurance companies have dropped from coverage such basic necessities as blood pressure medication. Price: over $300 for 30 days. Maybe you have heard of the elderly having to decide between food or prescriptions. Or of Catholic churches in Queens that organize bus tours to Canada so senior citizens can buy their medicines at affordable prices. It's worth the trip.
Funny, when G. Bush and Company passed his much heralded medicare plan for prescription drugs, it forbade buying drugs on bulk by the feds. I guess he wanted to save that for the 'free market'. Don't want the government interfering with profits taken from peoples' well being. As long as I can afford it, it's ok. Right? What happened to "for the people."