The Carnival Con

[Guest guest]

http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/19976/

 

The Carnival Con

By Molly Ivins, AlterNet

Posted on September 23, 2004,

http://www.alternet.org/story/19976/

 

Thomas Frank, author of " What's the Matter With Kansas? " is a

r to the theory that so-called " values politics " and

lifestyle issues are just sophisticated versions of that old carnival

con the shell game, in which the object is to keep the rube's eye off

the shell with the pea under it.

 

" The trick never ages: The illusion never wears off. Vote to stop

abortion; receive a rollback in capital gains taxes. Vote to make our

country strong again; receive deindustrialization. Vote to screw those

politically correct college professors; receive electricity

deregulation. ... Vote to stand tall against terrorists; receive

Social Security privatization. "

 

As a result of this gussied up and newly sophisticated political con

job, Franks sees the country as " a panorama of madness and delusion

.... of sturdy blue-collar patriots reciting the Pledge while they

strangle their own life chances; of small farmers proudly voting

themselves off the land; of devoted family men carefully seeing to it

that their children will never be able to afford college or proper

health care; of working-class guys ... delivering up a landslide for a

candidate whose policies will end their way of life and transform

their region into a 'rustbelt,' and strike people like them blows from

which they will never recover. "

 

So here we are at the ultimate level of the con game – if you don't

support Bush's misbegotten war or you object to how this

administration has fouled up in carrying it out, you're unpatriotic.

 

I'd like to draw your attention to another example of how you're being

suckered that's common as dirt these days, but is in the headlines

here in Texas because three top fundraising lieutenants to Rep. Tom

DeLay got indicted on Tuesday, along with eight corporations. They are

charged on the unlikely grounds of having broken Texas campaign

finance law. Actually, we don't have much in the way of campaign

finance law in this state – anybody can give any amount of any money

to anybody, except, of course, for corporations and labor unions. Oops.

 

This was really a beautiful play, kind of a triple bank shot,

according to the indictment. Corporate money was passed through

DeLay's national political action committee, Americans for a

Republican Majority, back to an affiliate Texans for a Republican

Majority, where it was funneled into 17 statehouse races that would

give Republicans a majority in the Ledge and allow the election of Tom

Craddick as speaker.

 

Then, Craddick used the new majority to force an unprecedented,

out-of-turn redrawing of the Texas congressional districts at the

instruction and tutelage of DeLay's aides and DeLay himself.

Republicans are predicted to pick up five new seats under the

Craddick-DeLay plan, thus helping ensure their party's lock on the

U.S. House. Neat, huh?

 

It's kind of hard to hide all this under one shell, especially since

Republicans went around bragging about breaking the law after the 2002

election, but I was interested in the corporate indictments because I

found a couple of familiar names there.

 

Westar Energy of Wichita, Kansas – imagine that. Two Westar executives

are under already under indictment on 40 federal criminal charges NOT

including bribery charges stemming from the $60,000 Westar contributed

to DeLay and three other players in order, according to company memos,

to buy legislation to excuse the company from federal investment

regulations.

 

Rep. Joe Barton of Texas introduced the provision that Westar wanted

into the energy bill, and DeLay, the majority leader, and Rep. Billy

Tauzin, on the energy conference committee, both voted for it. The

Westar exemption was dropped from the bill only when papers reported a

federal investigation of the company.

 

Another favorite of mine, also named in the Texas indictment, is the

Bacardi USA rum company. The company is actually Bacardi Ltd.,

headquartered in Bermuda, and has been involved for years in a lawsuit

with another rum company over a trademark issue. DeLay first tried to

change language in the defense appropriations bill in November 2003 to

fix a section of the bill to Bacardi's specifications.

 

Bacardi has contributed tens of thousands not only to DeLay's

political action committees but also to DeLay's " charitable causes. "

DeLay, a born-again Christian, set up a tax-exempt corporation,

Celebrations for Children, to solicit " donor packages " of up to

$500,000 to pay for Broadway shows, cruises, golf tournaments and

private dinners with DeLay and other members of Congress during the

Republican Convention. The rest of the money was to go to homes for

foster children in his district. After complaints to the IRS, DeLay

cancelled the plans.

 

For more delicious and amazing stories about how DeLay conducts

" bidness as usual " while the Republicans get people all worked up over

the menace of gay marriage, get the new book The Hammer by Lou Dubose

and Jan Reid. I'd recommend it even if they weren't friends of mine,

which they are.

© 2004 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.

View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/19976/