Russ Feingold Explains The Biggest Threat To America At Netroots Nation

Several years ago I had lunch with then-Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) to try to talk him into running for president. As you can see from the photo above, I even wore a Wisconsin-looking shirt with a collar. It didn't work, and several years later, last year, Wisconsin voters, pissed off at Obama's failure to live up to expectations, stayed away from the polls in massive numbers and allowed for a fascist-oriented sweep in their state, a sweep that led to Governor Scott Walker, to a Republican-dominated state legislature, to the loss of two Democratic-held congressional seats and, tragically, to a 52-47% defeat for one of America's most admired and principled political leaders, Russ Feingold.

I'm in Nepal now, but I was able to watch his keynote speech at Netroots Nation online Thursday evening. Predictably, he spoke about the single most important issue facing America, the existential threat to democracy by fascism. And he wasn't just railing against how Republicans have completely sold out to corporate bribes. As he pointed out, the Democrats are nearly as bad. Feingold wants to see Obama, who's probably taken more Wall Street money than anyone who's ever run for president, make a priority of overturning the right-wing Supreme Court decision to further open up the opportunities for corporations to buy up the government and further make government serve the interests of corporations instead of the original idea of having corporations serve the interests of society.

"I fear that the Democratic Party is in danger of losing its identity," Feingold said. "Creating those kinds of Super PACs is wrong. People will see us as weak. People will see us as Corporate Lite. It's not just wrong. It's a dumb strategy."

...In reference to the 2010 Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance, which reflected the view that campaign cash restrictions infringe on free speech, he said: "Speech doesn't corrupt. Money corrupts, and money isn't speech."

He touted the law he passed in 2002 with John McCain to curb soft money and expressed hope that an Obama second term could put another justice on the court to tip the 5 to 4 balance on campaign finance law.

He called on Congress to pass a bill that requires more disclosure, and he praised the president in advance for making a "gutsy move" with an expected executive order that will require companies with government contracts to disclose their campaign spending.

In response to the influx of corporate money into the campaign process, Feingold said he's trying to buy more products from progressive corporations. "I want to buy Democratic toothpaste. I want to buy progressive toothpaste," he said. "Same thing with detergent."

He also said that General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt is "not the right guy" to be leading the president's jobs council.

Looking one part activist, senator, and law-school lecturer, Feingold devoted a significant chunk of his speech to an extended history lesson on how campaign finance laws evolved since the end of the Gilded Age and the dawn of the Progressive Era. The country will return to a second Gilded Age if progressives don't work aggressively to "put the genie back in the bottle," Feingold said. "Except it will be the Gilded Age on steroids."

And that Gilded Age ascension of corporatism led directly to a dangerous rise of fascism, not just in Europe but, as we've been discussing for the past few weeks, in America as well. Allow me to quote from Glen Yeadon's book, The Nazi Hydra in America.

Up until recently the media has led the American people to believe that only a handful of American corporations ever invested in Germany or dealt directly with the Nazis. But a recent [Newsweek] article puts the number of American corporations involved with supplying the Nazis at more than 300. However, even this article while particularly damaging for Chase Bank as well as to Ford and General Motors, is shamefully apologetic to corporate America and plainly inaccurate on other accounts. It shamefully tries to exonerate one of the most notorious fascists in America during the war, the du Ponts by suggesting they did not invest in Nazi Germany after the 1930s. The reality is that the du Ponts had several cartel agreements with the Nazis and were openly pro-fascist supporters in this country.

Another recent article coming from German investigators states that 26 of the top 100 firms in the U.S were guilty of serious war crimes. One report is particularly damaging for Ford and General Motors indicating that US lawyers now have direct evidence of the companies both knowingly using slave labor and having closely collaborated with the Nazis.

...Standard Oil was shipping oil from Aruba in the Dutch West Indies to the Canary Islands.

"Standard...is diverting about 20 percent of the fuel oil to the present German Government. About six ships operating on this route are reputed to be manned mainly by Nazi officers. Seamen have reported to the informant that they have seen submarines in the immediate vicinity of the Canary Islands and have learned that the submarines are refueling there. The Informant also stated that Standard Oil Company has not lost any ships to date by torpedoing as have other American companies whose ships operate to other ports."

By 1944, America was seriously short on oil. The upcoming D-Day invasion would require an even greater amount and a stable supply. Lack of oil would cancel the planned invasion or imperil the troops ashore if it was not forthcoming. At the time, it cost ten cents a barrel to bring the oil up and another fifteen cents for royalties to the Sheikh of Bahrain or 20 cents for drilling in Arabia and another twenty-one cents for the royalties to Ibn Saud. However, prior to the invasion, W.S.S. Rodgers of Texas Company and Henry Collier of Standard Oil of California informed Ickes that the price for the government would be $1.05 a barrel. This was almost double the current price. The offer was take it or leave it. Ickes was forced to accept. The threat of an interruption of supply if the U.S. government should intervene was explicit. Even more grievous was the fact that Rodgers and Collier paid no income tax on their ill-gotten profits because they had registered their company in the Bahamas. Their profit of $120 million dollars was made on a $1 million dollar investment.

Such behavior is not only criminal; it is treasonous. Standard put its own self-interest ahead of the country’s interest. It willingly to put the lives of GIs in danger and even ran the risk of a defeat in Europe. In effect, Standard Oil blackmailed FDR's administration for private gains. No charges of war profiteering were ever filed. Like Seldes said, the big boys are immune from prosecution.

These treasonous families and corporations from just a few decades ago were the real winners of World War II, despite throwing in their lot with the fascists they admired and supported. Today they control the Republican Party entirely and are on the verge of taking over the Democratic Party as well. Obama is nearly as much a puppet of these interests as Romney. Feingold: