January 25, 2005
The trash has been swept off the streets of Washington DC (for now at least), the tuxedos have been sent to the cleaners and the tourist are on their way home, George W, Bush’s second Inauguration and freedom are now both officially part of American history. In a speech “honoring” veterans President Bush said that the grand fete surrounding the inauguration was a “testament to democracy.” Reviewing the events surrounding the inauguration and taking a sober look at America today it’s hard to argue with the Presidents assertion (or is it?).

AT&T, Bank of America Corp., Bristol-Myers Squibb, ChevronTexaco and Exxon Mobil Corp. are just some of the “donors” to our Presidents inaugural celebration that coughed up a total of $46 million for the big bash. In reality $46 million is an insignificant amount when compared to the amount these companies spend annually paying for lobbyist and congressional junkets. An overwhelming majority of the “more generous” donors to the Presidents inauguration bash were for profit companies. There is no crime in being a for profit company (in Fact it’s a good thing), but what borders on the criminal is the waste of profits in order to curry favor with the government. Lucrative contracts, lax regulation on themselves, more stringent regulations on competitors and upstarts, or favorable legislation are what these “donors” are really after (and usually get).

The inauguration itself is not in reality a “testament to democracy”, but to the ability of politicians to extract money from private for profit corporations in order to improve their bottom line or simply guarantee their existence is the testament to democracy’s dictatorial potential. Behind the pomp and circumstance of the inauguration lurks the power of the United States government, a power that has increased exponentially over the past 150 years regardless if the occupant of the White House was a Republican or Democrat and which party controlled the congress or dominated the judiciary. Halliburton today’s poster child of government lap dogs is but one example of the government’s ability to make or break private companies. Under the Clinton Administration Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates was dragged through the ringer by the Department of “Justice.” Mr. Gates real crime in the eyes of those who held political power was his lack of reverence, his company though a giant in its industry had only two full time lobbyists in Washington DC while competitors less than a quarter of his size had more than ten. This “problem” has since been corrected.

Presidents past and present are not the only one’s to blame. Congressmen, Senators, judges and bureaucrats have all taken part in the arm twisting. Congressmen and Senators are usually more than willing to “bring home the bacon” sneaking giveaways to corporate “donors” into legislation at the expense of corporate non-donors and individual taxpayers (whose money is confiscated as opposed to donated). Judges are either oblivious to the constitution (the one they are sworn to uphold) or pornographically twist its language to conform it to their personal preference or prejudices.

Yet the biggest culprits in the governments power grab are not politicians but actually corporations and individual voters themselves. Corporations have sat by silently as politicians passed unconstitutional regulations and taxes, hoping that their “donations” would lessen the impact on their industry or company and preferably have adverse effects on others. Voters have mostly voted for candidates who promised to introduce new government "programs" and or ensure them about preserving existing ones. We have reached a point today where the livelihood of most Americans depends on the decision of politicians. George Bush’s statement about the inauguration being a “testament to democracy” is actually a testament about how much we have forgotten about the founding of this once free and great nation. Originally neither Presidents nor Senators where popularly elected only congressmen were to represent “the voice of the people”, this was due to the founders well founded fear of democracy, which unchecked becomes nothing more than tyranny of the masses. The Presidents assessment was right, but not only about the inauguration; America itself has truly become a “testament to democracy"

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