You will never have democracy in
America while big business buys both parties and expects a payoff whichever one
wins – Tony Benn
This
week, we remember Tony Benn, British radical and Member of Parliament for 50
years. Benn told
filmmaker Michael Moore:
think there are two ways in which people are controlled. First of all frighten
people and secondly, demoralize them…The people in debt become hopeless, and the
hopeless people don’t vote. [Too many in power encourage such apathy and believe
that] an educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern
Bill Moyers
spoke about Benn’s pop quiz. Benn explained it in 2001, during his farewell speech to the House of Commons:
life I have developed five little democratic questions. If one meets a powerful
person — Adolf Hitler, Joe Stalin or Bill Gates — ask them five questions:
‘What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you
exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you? If you
cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic
system
RIP Tony Benn. He foresaw this Koch Brothers
board meeting:
Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro
Baptist Church, known
for its virulently anti-gay protests at public events, including military
funerals, also died. If
there is one man who can be credited for the success of the gay rights movement,
it’s him:
We continue to obsess about the
missing plane:
Putin dials heat up to 11:
Putin‘s brackets reflect different kind of March
Madness:
