In Thrall to the Oligarchy

Watched an interview with Putin the other day. American reporter showed Putin indictment of Russians who hacked DNC, and Putin laughed. Then he said something like, “I want all Americans to know that Russia has never interfered with American politics.” I laughed when he said this because Russia has been spying on America and interfering in our politics for at least seventy years. That he would so baldly and obviously lie about it is simultaneously laughable and disconcerting. Putin is the figurehead, but Russia is really run by the oligarchs, the billionaires. Meanwhile, we are being run by a billionaire who laughs at the truth and lies more than Nixon and half our country applauds him. Trump and the Republicans in Congress pass bills that profit the billionaires because they are in the billionaire’s pockets. Now Trump is putting a conservative Republican on the Supreme Court bench for the second in as many years, putting ultimate control of the judiciary in the hands of the billionaires. I wish Americans would wake up and see through the lies the billionaires, the oligarchs, the top 1% feed them, but they won’t.

In other news, I got a laugh out of a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal by Purdue Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer and distributor of Oxycontin. They basically said they manufacture the opioids that are the cause of the opioid crisis in our country, but they want to limit the use of those opioids. Then they went on to list a bunch of steps they’re taking that really won’t help. They said nothing about the billions they made from their drug dealing (made legal and unassailable by the government of America in thrall to the oligarchy), nor did they say they would do the one thing that would slow down, reverse, and/or stop the opioid crisis. What is that one thing, you ask? Why, if Purdue reduced production of its opioids, or halted manufacturing altogether. No doubt as they run these full-page ads voicing their heartfelt concern for the opioid crisis, they continue to increase production of those same opioids. What a fucking joke. It’s the same as someone telling you, “I really care about you, and I really don`t want to hurt you,” while repeatedly punching you in the face. What a farce.