Can We Get A Little of That "New Moment Of Promise" Obama Promised Ghana Here Too? Or Is Corruption In America Too Ingrained For Anyone To Take It On?

Obama gave an inspiring speech to the Ghanian parliament yesterday. The guy's so eloquent and such an effective communicator. He gave the parliamentarians-- the African ruling elites throughout the continent-- a lesson in tough love.

He spoke of his grandfather, a cook for the British in Kenya called "boy'' by his employers. He spoke of his father herding goats in a tiny village, and he spoke of the problems that have persisted across the African continent.

"It is easy to point fingers, and to pin the blame for these problems on others,'' he said. "Yes, a colonial map that made little sense bred conflict, and the West has often approached Africa as a patron, rather than a partner.

"But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants,'' he said. "Here in Ghana, you show us a face of Africa that is too often overlooked by a world that sees only tragedy or the need for charity. The people of Ghana have worked hard to put democracy on a firmer footing, with peaceful transfers of power even in the wake of closely contested elections... Africa’s future is up to Africans.

...[T]o realize that promise, we must first recognize the fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: Development depends on good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That's the change that can unlock Africa's potential. And that is a responsibility that can only be met by Africans.

The official White House transcript is available. For the billions of people in the third world, corruption drains away resources and condemns the overwhelming majority of people to lives unfulfilled, not to mention to lives in which hunger, disease, abject poverty, and despair are dominant forces.

This is about more than just holding elections. It's also about what happens between elections. (Applause.) Repression can take many forms, and too many nations, even those that have elections, are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves-- (applause)-- or if police-- if police can be bought off by drug traffickers. (Applause.) No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top-- (applause)-- or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. (Applause.) That is not democracy, that is tyranny, even if occasionally you sprinkle an election in there. And now is the time for that style of governance to end. (Applause.)

In the 21st century, capable, reliable, and transparent institutions are the key to success-- strong parliaments; honest police forces; independent judges-- (applause); an independent press; a vibrant private sector; a civil society. (Applause.) Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in people's everyday lives... With better governance, I have no doubt that Africa holds the promise of a broader base of prosperity.

Obama spent a great deal of his speech talking about effective health care and how getting control over corruption will facilitate that. I hope he's right; in fact I have no doubt it is. And I have no doubt that getting control of government corruption in our country will be just as effective in making life better for normal working people-- health care-wise being just one of the more crucial aspects.

Ever since I first started traveling in the Third World in 1969-- Morocco was the first country I visited-- I was aware about how all pervasive and how blatant corruption is in every aspect of daily life. Later I realized it was the blatantness that differentiated corruption in the Third World from corruption in the First World. In the U.S. corruption is no less pervasive and no less destructive.

I found it odd that Obama would be lecturing the Ghanian parliamentarians about the evils of corruption. Was Rahm Emanuel accompanying him? Emanuel's political role has been to act as a bagman for greed-obsessed politicians and business profiteers looking for a way to drink the blood of the public. The first time I ever wrote about him was to declare that he's the Democratic Party version of Tom DeLay. Now he's Obama's chief of staff.

Upwards of 80% of Americans want-- and are willing to pay for-- national health insurance. But Congress, especially the Big Business-owned Senate, is working overtime to thwart that on behalf of the campaign contributors from the Medical-Industrial Complex and Insurance Industry who have pumped billions of dollars into the campaign coffers of politicians, who have carefully written rules and regulations that allow them to funnel that money into their personal budgets. Yesterday's Wall Street Journal bemoans the plans of some progressive House members to tax the wealthy who benefitted so very richly under the Bush Regime, to pay their share of the national health plan. Republicans, of course, are screaming like stuck pigs (on behalf of their wealthy patrons).

Look at the members of the Senate who are fighting the hardest to derail health care reform and you will find that these are the members who are being the most richly rewarded by the industries which will benefit the most by a continuation of the status quo: Max Baucus (DLC-MT), Arlen Specter (D-R-PA), Joe Lieberman (DLC-CT), Grassley (R-IA), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Richard Burr (R-NC), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ben Nelson (DLC-NE), Mary Landrieu (DLC-LA), Blanche Lincoln (DLC-AR), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Jim Bunning (R-KY)... all corrupt, all political hacks who should spend several lifetimes in prison for consistently betraying their constituents.

State governments are even easier to buy off-- believe it or not-- than federal officials, as Coloradans are discovering today. And certainly the 4th estate hasn't been immune to the siren song of corruption. Last week the Washington Post, mouthpiece of the the Inside the Beltway bipartisan Establishment, was exposed trying to sell access to lobbyists, professional corruptionists.

What can mere citizens do? How about working to defeat corrupt politicians at every turn-- regardless of which party they belong to? If you think that Tom DeLay was a disgrace but forgive Rahm Emanuel because he's "ours," you deserve what you get. Right now we have an opportunity to defeat Blanche Lincoln, one of the most corrupt members of the Senate. Yes, she's ostensibly a Democrat, but she votes against working families at every opportunity and opposes everything that benefits ordinary Americans. No one should be any more surprised that she's against Employee Free Choice than by her opposition to health care reform. What makes her a Democrat? Little more than what puts someone on one side or the other in a game of pick-up basketball. Apparently our barrage of TV spots in Arkansas has her worried and on the run. Her support for the Insurance Industry CEOs is suddenly something she's embarrassed about. Please don't stop now-- every cent that comes in goes right onto the air. We can do it-- one corrupt piece of crap with eyes and a mouth and a nose at a time.