Are We There Yet?

Every parent knows the refrain; “Are we there yet?” “How much further?” I ask those questions today about the mood of our citizens.

I assume everyone is at least somewhat aware that Rupert Murdoch -- Chairman of News Corporation -- is in trouble for hacking some cellphones over in England. (Curse you Wikipedia! I just got started and already I’m being distracted by my research.)

”News Corporation, often abbreviated to News Corp., is the world's second-largest media conglomerate (behind The Walt Disney Company)...”

Think of how influential Disney is on kids. News Corp. is that influential on adults. Rupert Murdoch -- one man -- controls Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, 20th Century Fox, the National Geographic Channel, FX Networks, Haper-Collins book publishing and literally hundreds of other media outlets throughout the world.

Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper -- News of the World -- is being accused of hacking the cellphone accounts of various people, including some of England’s royalty. His companies are being accused of bribing London’s police force.

What really has everyone’s attention is that now the Public is beginning to suspect that Mr. Murdoch has bought the United Kingdom’s government.

”Team Cameron and Team Murdoch are undeniably close."

"Murdoch was the first visitor to No 10 after Cameron was elected,...”

Yes, that is the address of the Prime Minister -- David Cameron. Keep in mind, the news story at that link is from 20 days ago when Mr. Murdoch had almost sealed the deal on buying another television network.

It you have the time and you really want to have the Flick on what’s at stake in this situation, watch this interview of Bill Moyers and pay attention when he says, “The politicians were cowed.”

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Are we there yet? Have we, as a nation, figured out that powerful people running powerful corporations have taken the Public Debate hostage? Does it occur to you that Fox News has taken one of our political parties hostage? Have we figure out that that same Party has taken the “full faith and credit” of the United States hostage and threatened to ruin it if they don’t get their way?

As the US nears the brink, the budget row is exposing Republican madness

”But finally it exposes the dysfunctionality within the Republican party, whose conservative wing is behaving less like a mainstream electoral force than an ultra-left sect being advised by a petulant two-year-old. It is simply not economically feasible to cut the US deficit without raising taxes, given that Americans are enjoying their lowest tax burden since 1958.”

I chose that article specifically because it was published in the same paper that broke the phone-hacking scandal -- The Guardian. Pay attention.

Are we there yet? Have we arrived at the point of complete dysfunction? Call to mind the common refrain heard from the business community and their lackeys in politics; it’s the uncertainty of the regulatory climate that keeps them from investing in America. Think about the uncertainty this situation creates. I just finished listening to a podcast and heard something that stuck me. The reporter says the businessmen he talks to asked a telling question. In choosing between investing in the U.S. or China, China’s government makes a decision and does what it says it is going to do. Where would you invest? Think on it.

Don Brown
July 21, 2011