Under the Microscope
by Glynn Wilson
Rain is falling in the hood, which is a good thing considering the heat wave and drought we’re in. But since it is keeping me from something I want to do this morning, I am going to unload one hell of a rant instead.
Let me apologize in advance if this sounds bitter and let me assure you it is not bitterness or even simple anger. To fully understand it, this should be read aloud in the thundering voice of an uncompromising statesman. If I could find such a person alive in American politics I would go to work for them and write their speeches.
As I read the headlines this morning on the best damn (yes) liberal online newspaper in America, I just want to grab some Dumbocrats by the nape of the neck and shake some sense into them.
President George W. Bush is without a doubt the dumbest and worst president at least in our lifetime, probably in American history, and his approval ratings now hover around 24 percent, according to the most recent poll on the subject.
Yet the Democrats in Congress continue to cave in to the Bush administration on one issue after another, which is why their approval ratings are right down there with Bush, the traditional, corporate news media and used car salesmen.
This morning I read that the Senate Democrats plan to cave in to Bush on the bill authorizing unlimited spying on American citizens by the telephone companies, and they are about to approve a measure that would give the phone giants immunity from lawsuits for using their networks to engage in spying on every kind of American, not just those suspected of being engaged in talking to terrorists overseas.
(The Dumbocrats are also not standing up against a plan by the F.C.C. to ease restrictions on media ownership).
By all means we need to spy on anyone who would help radical extremists kill our citizens, but that is not what is happening. The Bush administration is using the phone companies to spy on the enemies of the Republican Party, including peace groups and environmental groups and little old ladies who like Hillary Clinton but hate Bush.
And what does Hillary Clinton do about it? She compromises, trying to appear reasonable.
Well if that’s how she plans on running her presidential campaign, she will not get my vote and she will not be the next president. I will bet an entire case of Yuengling Black and Tan on that.
I got a phone call last night from a prominent Alabama Democrat who is a regular reader of this site who is now working for Hillary. And I’ve got one simple message for her and her campaign. If she wants to be the next president, she needs to go into the practice booth and work on a new, thundering voice that shows she has the courage to stand up to the corrupt fake-Christian Republicans.
Since the Dumbocrats took control of Congress in 2006, they have compromised on one issue after another, including continuing to fund the war in Iraq, which is the main reason enough swing voters swung their way to hand them that election. Now they are pissed off and may swing back in 2008.
The facts about the phone companies
My father worked his ass off for the old Southern Bell telephone company. In the end, it killed him at the age of 47.
I was not in favor of the federal breakup of the old AT&T empire in the early 1980s, since it is obvious there are certain utility industries that would simply work better for people with quasi-government monopolies.
The corrupt Southern Company has that now, including its subsidiary Alabama Power Company, and you don’t ever hear one squeak about that from Republicans, libertarians or consumers.
But once the federal courts did break up the phone companies, under the auspices of an unfair trade monopoly, what happened to phone service and phone rates? Sure, other companies entered the market and new phone products were developed. But at what price?
Is phone service any better? Is it cheaper for consumers? Is the customer service better or worse?
If you are old enough to remember Southern Bell, you remember making a phone call for a dime, the ability to get change from a quarter in a pay phone and friendly southern ladies working as operators.
Have you tried calling the phone companies lately? Not many people use pay phones anymore due to the proliferation of cell phones, but have you tried to use a pay phone lately? Why do they even keep making the phones with the change slot? It doesn’t work.
A note about lawyers
I tried to get a prominent (formerly) liberal law firm in Birmingham to sue BellSouth two years ago when the spying story first broke. This is a law firm that I used to sue a corrupt newspaper many years ago.
In those days, it was a kick ass labor law firm and truly part of the “liberal” Democratic Party establishment in the days when George Wallace was still alive, if not well.
Now, the same firm represents HealthSouth clients in Mountain Brook who lost some of their wealth when Richard Scrushy cashed in his stock options. And I’ve learning recently that they are working for the administration of Republican Governor Bob Riley.
The Dumbocrats in Washington are compromising with Bush on the issue because the new AT&T and the others are saying it will cost them millions in jury awards in civil suits. But they are making billions, and billions, and billions of dollars for charging way too much for phone service and Internet access. What’s a few million for engaging in illegal spying on innocent American citizens?
And let’s not forget. Anyone who sued the phone companies would have to prove they were being spied on and not engaged in terrorist activity.
The lawyers I talked to would not sue the phone companies, for reasons only they know, even though I can prove the spying in my case. It would be an interesting case, and just maybe we could use it to clarify some things that the American people should understand:
Criticizing the president is not terrorism.
Advocating peace in the Middle East is not terrorism.
Favoring a clean environment is not terrorism.
Now, if Hillary Clinton wants my vote or this independent media company’s endorsement, let’s see her make a speech saying that. In a thundering voice.
