Last month, as the mess in Wisconsin unfolded, Paul Krugman weighed in on the power games being played by Governor Scott Walker and the GOP. Busting the unions in Wisconsin, said Krugman, is "not about the budget; it's about the power."
But then he went on to say something that set off all kinds of thoughts that resonate far beyond Madison:
In principle, every American citizen has an equal say in our political process. In practice, of course, some of us are more equal than others. Billionaires can field armies of lobbyists; they can finance think tanks that put the desired spin on policy issues; they can funnel cash to politicians with sympathetic views (as the Koch brothers did in the case of Mr. Walker). On paper, we're a one-person-one-vote nation; in reality, we're more than a bit of an oligarchy, in which a handful of wealthy people dominate.
Given this reality, it's important to have institutions that can act as counterweights to the power of big money.
This is why I love Firedoglake.
Krugman starts to get at what I think FDL does, and does fairly well, as it has grown from Jane's personal blog into a more institutional presence — and that last sentence explains why FDL's membership drive is so important.
FDL has proven that it has the chops to take on policy in a deep way — see Libby, health care, BP, warrantless wiretapping, whitewashing torture, LGBT rights, etc. — to counter some of the spin coming from the Village, the Traditional Media, and/or the corporate and political Powers That Be. We don't do "he said, she said" journalism. We go after what isn't said, and try to bring it to light. We take what is said and dissect it, teasing out the truth that the spinners either don't see or don't want anyone else to see.
rest at http://firedoglake.com/2011/03/10/mr-krugman-ive-got-your-counterweight-right-here/
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