Cartoons: American democracy for sale

We're back to writing about the Koch Brothers and Republicans yet again.  

Picture U.S. and state governments with only Republicans writing and enforcing legislation.

It's possible, because the big political spenders--the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson--spend Republican.  And the U.S. Supreme Court supports their spending, as shown in this article "Winners and losers from the McCutcheon v. FEC ruling."  If you're tired of seeing the Supreme Court replace democracy with rule by dollar (a plutocracy), you can show your resistance by signing Credo Action's petition to Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Anthony Kennedy.  Or you can join MoveToAmend and get into the action.

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Supreme corporate justice Scalia, Credo Action

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Here are some editorial cartoons that give more information.

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David Horsey, US News

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Marshall Ramsey, US News

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Pat Bagley, The Week

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--Marge

Defending democracy

When America was just getting started and settlers were moving into the new territories it was necessary to fight (yes, bear arms) to defend home and family.  It's time to do that again, this time to defend democracy.  To do this we must arm ourselves to vote and vote well. To do that we need good, impartial information. 

Instead of just calling Washington a black hole and broken, let's start watching what's going on there and maybe say something when things are going awry.  Roll Call, is a newspaper published in Washington, D.C. that

reports news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of congressional elections across the country. (Wikipedia/Roll Call)

There are sites that welcome your input on political issues, such as Americans for Democratic Action.  And new sites that support defending democracy are starting up, such as Votizen (renamed Brigade),  Memeorandum, and Nationbuilder, as reported in an article by Josh Constantine in TechCrunch.

One alternative is to stand by and watch the candidates make fools of themselves, as shown in this cartoon by Dana Summers, editorial cartoonist for the Orlando Sentinel:

Considering all the political vitriol exchanged in the last few years, and other evidence of a fragmented society, my best solution is to begin rebuilding the real America.  Good luck trying to find any usable information (read not partisan) on the topic online.  The closest I could come was this article by Sabrina Stevens at AlterNet.  The concept of building a village isn't new, but becoming more and more important.

Guess it's time to get out of my chair, go offline (gasp!), and reinvest in the "real world."

-- Marge