America Is The Longest Argument In The

I've Lived Long Enough To See The Triumph Of Zealots And Absolutists, To Watch Money Swallow Politics, To Witness The Rise Of The Corporate State. See The Party Of Working And Poor People Become A Sycophant Of Crony Capitalism. Watch The Union Of Church And State Become Fashionable Again. Witness The Coupling Of News And Entertainment. See Everyday People Cast Overboard As The Pirates And Predators Of Wall Street Seized The Ship Of State. I Didn't Drift; I Moved Left Just By Standing Still.

When The Public Loses Faith In Democracy's Ability To Solve The Problems It Has Created For Itself, The Game's Almost Over. And I Think We Are This Close To Losing Democracy To The Mercenary Class.

In One Way Or Another, This Is The Oldest Story In America: The Struggle To Determine Whether “we, The People” Is A Moral Compact Embedded In A Political Contract Or Merely A Charade Masquerading As Piety And Manipulated By The Powerful And Privileged To Sustain Their Own Way Of Life At The Expense Of Others.

A Profound Transformation Is Happening Here. The Framers Of Our Nation Never Envisioned These Huge Media Giants; Never Imagined What Could Happen If Big Government, Big Publishing And Big Broadcasters Ever Saw Eye-to-eye In Putting The Public's Need For News Second To Their Own Interests. I Approach The End Of My Own Long Run Believing More Strongly Than Ever That The Quality Of Journalism And The Quality Of Democracy Are Inextricably Joined ... .

If Being Tolerant Of Differing Opinions, If Believing That America Has To Make It As A Pluralistic Nation, If Being Civil, If That Makes You A Liberal, I Plead Guilty.