How Close Are We to a Coup?

Who's occupying whom?

In a very revealing 60 Minutes interview, the notorious crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff talks in some detail about his "craft".  We all know he was a scoundrel but do we realize how close he came, while we were all distracted by the dangers of terrorism, to selling the nation?  In revealing some very sobering facts he describes how he had essentially purchased 100 congresspeople!  That is about one third of the federal power structure!  But then listen to this: never did anyone in congress refuse his bribes.  NEVER!  In other words, if he were not caught and arrested, given enough time he could have bought a majority of U.S. representatives!


I don't think one man could literally end up owning the country, but he was not working for himself.  He was simply a thug hired by wealthy corporations to deliver representatives.  So who are the people who are really pulling the strings in Washington, we citizens, the 99%?  Of course not!  It is these same wealthy corporations, the ones who have been reaping the nations's profits for the past 30 years. How did that happen?  Some of them hired Abramoff but most hired other lobbyists who have not been caught.  Nor will they be, as after 30 years of this activity, this is how the nation works now.

It makes me wonder how close we are to a coup.  Or, more seriously, if– as seems to be indicated by the permanence of the influence of money in politics– it has already happened and we are only slowly becoming aware that much as our antics are being tolerated, we no longer own our own nation.