TheNextReport

Sir Donald America's gossip media has its shorts in a bunch over the imminent wedding of Prince Harry--or is it William to Kate somebody or other. Pundits have mused over the interest shown in the U.S. trying to figure out the reason why our nation of commoners cares. The truth is that we former colonists continue to be obsessed with royalty. Witness the political ascendance of billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump who may or may not be a serious candidate for the presidency. With his imperious bearing, his collection of office buildings and speedboat hair weave, The Donald has all the trappings of American royalty -- including a definite article in front of his name. America's financial institutions create billionaires then put them on the tube; The Donald is a pretender, a semi-literate boor with enough money to manufacture a public personna and buy his way onto television where he can convince himself and the nation that his opinions matter and they are widely shared. T...

The Mighty Wave As the GOP basks in the Republican mid-term landslide, it is useful to consider what was lost and what the results say about the nature of our democracy and the intelligence of the electorate. This was a victory for the deliberate GOP strategy of government by obstruction - of hamstringing the party in the majority so that it will be rendered unable to govern, angering the voters sufficiently that they will award the throne and scepter to the minority... well at least the scepter. Never mind that the important business of the country will be either put on hold (like energy policy), critically diluted (like health care policy) or way-layed entirely. Never mind that this irresponsible strategy was enacted in the midst of the worst economic crisis in a generation, a crisis that was in large part the result of GOP anti-regulatory theology. Perhaps even worse was the manner in which the voters blithely permitted Republican candidates in several key elections - such as Nevada...

The American people have proven the sad truth: Democracy is a wasted effort in the U.S. where the rich rule, the ignorant struggle and the rest prefer to roll over and go back to sleep. How could anyone vote for those who promised to repeal the modest health care reforms the Obama administration squeeked through Congress? How could anyone vote for those who refused to extend unemployment benefits in the middle of the worst financial crisis in a generation? How could anyone vote to return power to those who advocate the same type of governing philosophy that led to the crisis in the first place? How could anyone be that stupid?

Now the media, which endlessly hyped the certainty of a massive Republican victory during the run-up to the mid-term elections, is trying to "figure out what happened." What happened was a massive decision by the liberal side of the political spectrum not to bother going to the polls because of the official certainty of a Republican victory. The pundits pronounced the verdict long before a single polling place opened. In case you haven't guessed, we no longer live in a democracy. How many of us are going to ever bother voting if the outcome has already been determined by the media?

Pom Pom Princesses The cast of characters that the Republican Party presents to the world, it's social media profile, has at last come fully into the open. We have seen the boorish, nativist side of the GOP in the person of Sean Hannity - the thuggish traffic cop; Rush Limbaugh - the race-baiting gasbag; Glenn Beck - the sequestered child of Josef Goebbels. We have also seen the corporate manager, the ethically challenged Wall Street player who would just as soon see impoverished children go without medical coverage than to have to pay a few dollars more in yearly taxes; and we have witnessed the pastors, reverends and priests, all experts in the revealed word of God, who don't quite get the Sermon on the Mount. With the appearance of kewpie doll Christine O'Donnell onto the national political stage, following in the footsteps of media darling Sarah Palin, the profound neurosis that is the GOP has at last fully emerged from its gristled cocoon. A twisted form of repressed s...

The key executives of the companies responsible for the titanic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico were raked over the coals by members of Congress Tuesday and managed to skillfully dance away and blame each other when the grilling got too hot. Called to account before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee chaired by Senator Barbara Boxer (D) of California were BP America President Lamar McKay; Steven Newman, CEO of well driller Transocean limited; and Halliburton chief health, safety and environmental officer Tim Probert. In their testimony, all three men appeared to simultaneously accept responsibility for what happened then shift the blame to the other parties. All relied heavily on the fact that critical details regarding the precise cause of the accident are not yet available. Indeed, when asked by several senators about whether certain industry standards for building ocean-based oil rigs were followed, the witnesses indicated several times that they didn’t know the answe...