Democracy in America - “Yes Maam, It’s All Crap.”

By Columnist TRB - So you think you've got it all figured out like some short chapter in a high school civics book on the meaning of political unrest in the 1960s? Well, you don't. Everything is up in the air now. You can thank the outlaw judges on The Supreme Court who knew full well that if they gave money equal rights it would ultimately have more rights than humans, or you can congratulate the Republicans on their success in passing laws that surpress voting rights in various states where Democrat votes are most needed. President Obama could find himself out of office this coming Janurary - like a somewhat cooler version of Jimmy Carter.

Like the one-termer Carter, he doeesn't seem to be taking this very seriously. Maybe he thinks Romney doesn't have a shot, just as Carter believed a washed up movie star couldn't take his title. The problem is that, once this convention is underway, it frees up billions of unregulated political campaign dollars from approximately a dozen or so people who can outspend Obama four to one. That extra campaign money, along with the small bump Romney is expected to get out of the convention, could be just enough to put Romney right over the top and into the White House. Although the corporate-owned and censored American news media has been telling us that Obama has been giving Romney a shot for every one he has received, it is easy to see that is not the truth.

Romney, for example, has been allowed by the networks to actually lie in campaign ads.

The most blatant lie is that Obama has "stolen" $700 billion in funds from Medicare. Although, the corporate media openly admits that Romney's charge is not true, they still give the false ad air time, probably hundreds or even thousands of time a day all over America. Romney's untaxed off-shore funds were in the news for a while, or at least until the media figured they could take it off the air. Let's face it, the corporate media is most likely doing a lot more to avoid paying its fair share of taxes than Mitt Romney. The corporate media will also receive a huge tax break under the Romney administration, whose budget plans can be described as stealing from the poor to give to the rich.

This morning on an MSNBC news program the truth was actually told for several whole minutes - until some of the more senior people could shut it down. It came in the form of news commentator Chris Matthews, who hates liars and lies and won't put up with them. This admirable trait will inevitabely cut short his career at MSNBC as it has for others. It began when a high-ranking Republican told Matthews that it was "just a joke" the other day when Romney brought up the question of Obama's nationality during a press conference. Matthews wasn't buying it. He called it "racial code" and pointed out that Romney was doing it to appeal to certain white male voters. The Republican called that charge absurd.

This is when Matthews went into second gear and began reciting a litany of Republican racial smears that have been used by the Republican Party going back to when Obama was first elected. Starting with the so-called "birther movement." Obama has been called a "secret" Muslim by many Republican sources. On various occasions his "patriotism" has been questioned. High ranking Republican officals have even suggested that Obama is not familiar with America and American ways. It has been a straight-out racist campaign tactic. Matthews pointed this out in no uncertain terms and with his voice raised.

Tom Brocaw, author of "The Greatest Generation," better known as "The Clueless Generation" by those more familiar with American history, was the first to take Matthews by the arm and attempt to stifle him. This certainly had to be done. Who knows, if it had been allowed to get too out of hand, Americans might just figure out that the convention era has been over for years, that nothing of any real significance happens at these events - nothing that could not be done in any room out of the glare of TV lights? The joke is on us if we watch these conventions.

The winners are known ahead of time. What they say is known ahead of time and is probably untrue. The political convention of today is little more than a Hollywood produced gala meant to evoke a patriotic feeling in those viewers who never bother to look behind the curtain.