{"id":2017,"date":"2007-07-25T11:39:00","date_gmt":"2007-07-25T17:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/07\/power-runs-amuck-in-our-corporate-driven-democracy\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T15:01:58","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T21:01:58","slug":"power-runs-amuck-in-our-corporate-driven-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/07\/power-runs-amuck-in-our-corporate-driven-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Power runs amuck in our corporate-driven democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday evening, three successive stories on EPSN<\/a> were about an NFL quarterback charged with running an illegal dogfighting ring, an FBI investigation into whether an NBA referee illegally bet on games he called, and the notorious Barry Bonds being booed as he approached baseball\u2019s all-time home run record.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bonds, as many know, is at the center of baseball\u2019s steroids scandal and could soon be indicted.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The stories reminded me of the never-ending scandals in Washington<\/st1:state> and Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>. They also caused me to ponder the danger of power that\u2019s unchecked.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Baseball is probably the best example in sports. As steroid use increased several years ago, what journalist who intimately covered professional baseball wasn\u2019t aware of the growing biceps and other signs of the drug? Who really believes league and team officials didn\u2019t notice? What about the fans?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Some didn\u2019t want to acknowledge problems in the game they love, but many turned the other way because they stood to gain financially. Unchecked power corrupted skilled baseball players and damaged the game.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Is it any different in Washington<\/st1:state> or Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>? One-party control of the federal government during the first six years of this decade created a climate ripe for misdeeds. The number of Republican officials who have been indicted and convicted on corruption charges during that time is stunning.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Following several decades of one-party control of most pockets of state government, the number of Democrats who have been convicted, indicted or at the center of scandals in recent years is equally stunning.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Lord Acton<\/a> wisely observed 120 years ago that \u201cPower tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.\u201d Our nation\u2019s founding fathers understood this truth and designed a system of government that places checks on power in an attempt to ensure that no branch of government or public official becomes too powerful.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Some try to work around or push their way through those checks. Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a>, who many would argue has allowed himself to be corrupted by campaign contributions and his thirst for the presidency, wrote in his book \u201cBetween Worlds: The Making of an American Life\u201d that he disagrees with Acton<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cAny freely elected politician who says he doesn\u2019t crave power to get the laws and programs he thinks best for his city, state, or nation is either dissembling or belongs in a different business,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Our nation\u2019s founders knew that men and women with such ego \u2013 people who believe they are incorruptible \u2013 would be drawn to public office. Hence the checks and balances.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The most important checks on government, however, are citizens and the media. Citizens are becoming increasingly disengaged because they\u2019re discouraged by the scandals and the influence corporations have over government. Most mainstream media outlets are owned by corporations and spend more time writing about Britney and \u201cBrangelina\u201d than they do scrutinizing serious issues.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In our corporate-driven democracy, the media and government, like sports, are increasingly about the bottom line. As a result, our system of government, which is supposed to be of, by and for the people, is instead too often about the dollars being offered by and sought for campaign contributors.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Something has to change.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A version of this article was published today in the Albuquerque Tribune<\/a>. I write a column for the newspaper that runs on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday evening, three successive stories on EPSN were about an NFL quarterback charged with running an illegal dogfighting ring, an FBI investigation into whether an NBA referee illegally bet on games he called, and the notorious Barry Bonds being booed as he approached baseball\u2019s all-time home run record. Bonds, as many know, is at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haussamen-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}