Money Politics and Special Interests

I received a form letter from Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi today. She began with:

Dear Friend, Do you really want to be told the truth?

The six-page letter asked for contributions for the Democratic Party. The letter also attacked the Bush Administration for, among other things, "George W. Bush and the right-wing Republican controlled Congress are advancing a radical agenda backed by ... special interests."

Moments after reading and tossing Pelosi's letter I watched the always excellent "Now with Bill Moyers" on PBS which featured an investigation of the parties sponsored by special interests - primarilly corporate interests, at the Democratic National Convention last month. One of those parties was for Nancy Pelosi who refused to explain why she let Time Warner throw a party and fireworks display for her that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Journalists crashed the party and tried to film Pelosi hobnobbing with Time Warner's chairman but her aides interposed themselves between the camera and Pelosi in a vain attempt to prevent her being seen. What a hypocrite. But that's the political system being dominated by money corruption. Both major parties play the game. The only difference is that most Democrats give lip service to solving the money politics and most Republicans make no apology about it.