The fact that a Republican may be elected into the late Senator Kennedy’s seat in Massachusetts is astounding to me.  When it comes to politics, there is a serious disconnect in this country between reality and what the people believe to be true.  Although neither Party is perfect, the fact of the matter is that the Republican Party is nothing more than a front organization for the wealthy, power-hungry, and big business.  If you are not wealthy or a big-time executive, voting Republican is voting against yourself.  Certainly, if you are a minority, gay, or poor, you should not be caught dead voting Republican.

Yet, in a country where the government is made up primarily of elected officials, The Republicans continue to hold their own.  How the Hell does this happen?  This is where the reality disconnect comes in.  Many, many people in this country constantly and unknowingly vote against their own self-interests.  That is because they have been fooled.  They have been hood-winked, lied to, deceived, mislead, and generally disconnected from reality.  The Republican/Conservative SPIN machine, attack machine, or whatever you want to call it, is VERY good at lying to the people.  But of course, they have a tremendous advantage – they own the mainstream media.

This is the vicious circle that drags America down into the muck.  People believe what they hear from mainstream media, mainstream media is owned by the wealthy and big business, The wealthy and big business are only concerned with money and power (at the expense of the people), Republicans are bought by the wealthy and big business, misleading the voters is the only way Republicans can stay in power, the mass media is the most effective and powerful tool for misleading the people, people believe what they hear….  You get the idea.

Yes, the right to vote comes with the responsibility to stay informed, but there is a smaller vicious circle within the larger one.  The lower down on the financial scale you are, the more of your time and energy you have to devote to making money, and the less time and energy you have to devote to becoming informed.  Some of the blame falls on the people, but not much.  The blame really belongs on the way information is disseminated in this country.  We all abhor the idea of state-run media, but is wealthy-run, conservative-run, or Republican-run media any better?  I think not.  Journalistic integrity is dead and needs to be revived.  It may be the duty of voters to stay informed, but it should also be the duty of government and the media to provide information that is truthful, unbiased, and informative.  If the FCC can regulate how much skin we see on television, why can’t it regulate how many lies are passed off as truth?

Sound like a scary concept?  Not as scary as the reality of what we have now.  The thing is, freedom of speech is not absolute.  You cannot exercise your freedom of speech in such a way that is false and harms others.  The extreme is yelling “fire” in a crowded theater.  But we also have liable and slander laws designed to prevent harmful lies from being broadcast as truth.  What can be more harmful than telling a voter lies that cause him or her to vote for someone that is going to make their lives worse?  Take health care for example.  “Research released this week in the American Journal of Public Health estimates that 45,000 deaths per year in the United States are associated with the lack of health insurance.”  We’re talking about people dying!  When Sarah Palin perpetuates this insane situation by lying about death panels in the health-care bill, why can’t the families of those 45,000 dead people sue her for wrongful death?  More importantly, how can any pundit with media access to millions be allowed to report on Palin’s statements WITHOUT pointing out that it is false?

In this country, “ government of the people, by the people, for the people” is a myth, and the “people” do not even know it.