CORPORATE BRIBES START FLOWING TO DEMOCRATS-- TIME TO BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE?

I have quite a few friends and allies who were cheered by the New York Times headline today that reads Democrats Get Late Donations From Business. Ugghhh. Maybe Rahm Emanuel will use it to sweep some pro-corporate shills into office, like his two favorite Florida "ex"-Republicans, Christine Jennings (FL-13) and Tim Mahoney (FL-16) both of whom he and the equally slimy Steny Hoyer inserted at the expense of actual Democrats who believe in Democratic ideals and principles.

And it's not just in Florida where Big Business-oriented/Republican-lite Democrats are being helped into office by Emanuel's crew. Charlie Taylor (R-NC) is as bad as one can be without being behind bars and I'm sure-- well that may be too strong a word; make it "suspect"-- Rahm's boy Heath will be an improvement, although he's not yet committing to vote for any "San Francisco liberal" for Speaker. And I was reading about how Mike Weaver, one of the goons calling himself a Democrat in Kentucky, is running to the right of the Republican on "the gay issue," as well as on Iraq and on abortion.

Lucky we have Rahm, isn't it? Well, I didn't really mean "we," I meant Big Business; they have him-- we're stuck with him. And, as the Times says, Corporate America is "already thinking beyond Election Day, increasing its share of last-minute donations to Democratic candidates and quietly devising strategies for how to work with Democrats... Lobbyists, some of whom had fallen out of the habit of attending Democratic events, are even talking about making their way to the Sonnenalp Resort in Vail, Colo., where Representative Nancy Pelosi of California is holding a Speaker’s Club ski getaway on Jan. 3. It is an annual affair, but the gathering’s title could be especially apt for Ms. Pelosi, the House minority leader, who will be on hand to accept $15,000 checks, and could, if everything breaks her way, become the first woman to be House speaker. 'Attendance will be high,' said Steve Elmendorf, a former Democratic Congressional aide who has a long list of business lobbying clients. 'All Democratic events will see a big increase next year, no question.'"


Almost all grassroots Democrats are using Big Pharma's massive bribes to Republicans as a campaign theme this year. Yet... "For the first nine months of the year, for example, Pfizer’s political action committee had given 67 percent of contributions to Republican candidates. But October ushered in a sudden change of fortune, according to disclosure reports, and Democrats received 59 percent of the Pfizer contributions."

Same thing with the Military-Industrial complex, the part of RepubliWorld that bribed Cunningham and Lewis and all those Republicans who are either in jail or will soon be in jail. Well, now they're getting ready for Rahm and his pals. "Until October, Lockheed Martin, the giant military contractor, had been following its pattern from recent elections of giving about 70 percent of contributions from its political action committee to Republicans. But Lockheed Martin’s generosity shifted in the first half of October, with Democrats receiving 60 percent of donations, or $127,000."

My friends tell me to STFU and worry about Rahm after "we" win November 7. Cheer for garbage piles like Mike Weaver, Tim Mahoney, Harold Ford and Ben Nelson. So what if anti-choice Bob Casey gratuitously announced he would have voted to confirm Alito if he had the chance? We need a Democratic-controlled Senate to... to... something worthy, I'm sure. And even if Casey is a "C" or even a "D," that's a lot better than Santorum, who would be far below an "F" if there was such a thing. Although... like I said to a friend of mine today, if I or someone I love gets dragged away from a defender of the Homeland and disappears into a Kafkaesque world without habeus corpus but with waterboarding... will it matter that Corker is an "F" and Ford is a "D?"

And if some vicious bigot gets inspired by Ford's overly enthusiastic homophobia and shoots me is that not as bad as if that vicious bigot had been inspired by Corker's homophobia? Meanwhile, fake-Democrats like Ford and Weaver and Lieberman and Nelson destroy the value and meaning of the Democratic brand and make millions of voters disgusted with the political process. To them both parties are the same. We know better... right?

When I ask you to donate to our campaign to put ad spots on TV for Tony Trupiano, I'm asking you to help elect a real progressive who will not be a pawn to Rahm Emanuel and who will never vote to barter away our civil rights like Harold Ford and who will never accept corporate bribes like... well, too many to list. Help elect Tony by making even a small donation to our Blue America PAC.