Neither
Clinton nor Trump took on the role of corporate mega-donors this election.
In
one of Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries, the key clue that solved the
whodunit wasn’t something that happened, but something that didn’t —
specifically, a dog that didn’t bark.
That
plot fits one of the great mysteries of this year’s Trump-Clinton race for
president: There was no barking at the democracy-murdering power of big
corporate money in our politics.
Record
expenditures of at least $6.6 billion flooded into this national
election, most of it from a handful of plutocratic interests blatantly buying
controlling shares of the White House and Congress.
That’s
why a phenomenal 78 percent of the public is united in support of
overturning the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision.
That ruling opened the floodgates to this corrupting torrent of cash, producing
public policies that profit corporations at the expense of the common good.
With so much at stake and such overwhelming public agreement for stopping this wholesale purchase of America’s democracy, how odd that neither major candidate barked much at Citizens United.
Of
course, what we have here is a neon example of the political cowardice created
by the politics of Big Money.
Hillary
Clinton relied heavily on Super PAC and Wall Street funding for her campaign. And The Donald, who
started out bragging about being rich enough to self-finance his run, has in
fact been backed by millions of dollars from sleazy billionaire oligarchs like
casino baron Sheldon Adelson.
Rather
than running on this fundamental issue of democratic power, the two top
candidates ran from it. But they can’t hide from it.
This
is a “We the People” moment when the grassroots bipartisan majority must take
charge from craven politicos — not only barking ferociously at them, but also
biting them. To join the effort, go to www.DemocracyIsForPeople.org.
OtherWords
columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker.
He’s the editor of the populist newsletter, The Hightower
Lowdown. Distributed by OtherWords.org.