HARLAN RICHARDS

October 17, 2011
Wall Street Revolt

I have been reading about the demonstrations against Wall Street and the Fat Cats who are controlling our country and sucking all the money out of the economy.

All I can say is it's about time!

I posted a blog on July 25th decrying the way our country has been sold out to the super rich at the expense of everyone else.

Perhaps now Americans will step up to say enough is enough and demand that our democracy be given back to the people. I sure hope so. I am tired of living under the oppression of a corporate-fascist oligarchy that exists solely to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. The prison industrial complex and the "lock 'em up and throw away the key" mentality of the news media and politicians is the means by which the poor are kept under control. The prospect of decades of harsh treatment in some of the world's worst prisons makes most U.S. citizens unwilling to speak out against unfairness and injustice.

Amanda Knox would still be in prison if she would have gotten convicted in the U.S. Our court system doesn't overturn convictions merely because the defendant is innocent or doesn't get a fair trial. The U.S. judicial system exists solely to control the masses —something it cannot do if only the guilty are sent to prison.

We can place the blame squarely where it belongs: on right-wing conservative politicians who engage in fear-mongering to win elections. Republican presidents appoint radical extremist judges whose primary agenda is to curtail the civil rights of individuals while expanding the rights of corporations.

Of course, republicans owe much of their success to Bill Clinton, who was so desperate to retain the presidency for a second term that he sold out his supporters to do so. He was the one who allowed the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine so right-wing ideologues could poison the airwaves with propaganda that the poor people could not afford to refute. He also signed the Anti-Terrorism and Death Penalty Act which gutted habeas corpus for state prisoners. And he deregulated the banking industry which ultimately led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the bailout for the rich.

I sincerely hope the Wall Street Revolt takes hold. It is time to redistribute the wealth, empty out the prisons, and restore civil liberties to our citizens.