Open Letter to the Senators of the United States

It is with great pride and a heavy heart that I write to you today.  I am proud of the United States of America's heritage and foundation based upon the Bill of Rights that give the American People the opportunity to speak their mind to their government and to ask their representatives to do that job which they were elected to do: represent the People.  It is with a heavy heart that I am writing today to discuss a topic which has eroded the American People's ability to have a real voice in their government and turned elections into little more than class warfare.

The Citizen's United vs. FEC ruling by the Supreme Court in 2010 in a divided 5-4 vote began allowing corporations to not only begin spending money through political broadcasts in an effort to promote their candidate of choice but allowed unfettered amounts of money to begin undermining the people's voice.  Corporations do not enjoy the right to vote, but they do enjoy the right to directly affect the outcome of elections by spending exorbitant amounts of money to spread their message more loudly and widely than any individual could hope to.  

Lobbyists that represent special interest groups are little more than shadow companies that stand between representatives and corporations with the sole purpose of funneling funds from corporations (for-profit and not-for-profit) to candidate's campaigns for election and reelection.  Done directly and without a middle man, this act would still be considered illegal in federal campaigns, but by allowing lobbyists to act on their behalf, it has become standard practice and perfectly acceptable to spend money on candidates and ask for political favors and consideration in return.

As of today, I do not accept that it is a foregone conclusion that my government is utterly lost to us.  I do not accept that you have all abandoned us completely in the lust for the almighty corporate dollar.   I believe that our first act as the People of the United States needs to be communication with our representatives in the United States Government.  I am writing you today in an effort to communicate to you, my Representative, my wishes as a member of your constituency.

It is time that you and your peers return the government to the hands of the American People and take it away from faceless corporations that have only one goal in mind: profit for the few on the backs of the many.

On Thursday, December 8, 2011, Sen. Sanders of Vermont introduce a bill to the Senate that would create an amendment to the Constitution to overturn the Citizens United ruling and put the power of governing back into the hands of those that you represent, instead of allowing corporations to continue to dominate our elections by funneling money into campaigns and political broadcasts in an effort to undermine the American People.

I am demanding that you, as a representative of the people, as one of MY representative, sponsor and support this bill with every ounce of your political influence. When a similar bill is introduced and passes in the House as well as the Senate, we can begin the process of letting the People retake their rightful place in a Government.  I would like to be able to say that MY representative is the one that began the process of removing corruptions from the United States Government and returned honor and respectability to those that represent the American People.

Please do not ignore those People you represent.  Approval ratings for both the House and the Senate are at an extreme low.  Recent surveys suggest that close to 80% of the American People, people that you and your peers represent feel that no one in Congress should be reelected.  This is an expression of our distaste for the way in which our government has quite literally been bought by corporations that are beholden to a small group of shareholders rather than the American People.

We cannot and will not continue to abide this corruption.  I am writing you today with the hope that you will reflect the opinion of your constituents and agree that this cannot continue.

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MJ and our Perception of the Truth

When is a memorial service not a memorial service? When it is an effort at rebranding.

This week's memorial service for Michael Jackson was over the top. It wasn't a religious service meant to ease the suffering of the family. It was a free concert to people that won a lottery, and an opportunity for the Jackson family to brand Michael as a saint. I am not going to talk about guilt or innocence here. Today is about perception. The only real truth is our perception of reality.

When Michael Jackson came under fire for what many have called inappropriate dealings with children, his career spiraled out of control and out of sight in America. Although no criminal prosecution ever resulted in a conviction, his arrest and the subsequent trial put a lot of doubt in people's minds. Just because the state can't put you in jail doesn't mean that the public has to agree with it. (Just ask O.J.) The public perception of Michael Jackson by anyone but the most loyal fans was at best, very weird, and and worst, a pedophile. The "King of Pop" stayed out of the limelight as much as possible, and he spent most of his time outside of America after this. He was more welcome overseas; the perception that fans in Europe and Asia had of him rises to the level of "God of Pop" in some places.

After Michael Jackson died, fans didn't want to hear about the legal struggles he had while he was alive. They wanted to celebrate his accomplishments. That's understandable; who wants to dwell on the negatives after someone has died? The memorial service, however, became something different to me. Magic Johnson mentioning Kentucky Fried Chicken like it was a corporate sponsor seemed ludicrous to me. Parading the children in front of the microphone was the last straw for me. Taking children to a funeral is one of the toughest decisions anyone can make, but then bringing them on stage to speak to the crowd in the Staples Center was just uncalled for. I don't believe Michael would have asked them to do that. He probably would have forbidden it. He did his absolute best to keep these children away from the media their entire lives. I believe that this last act was their trump card, their ace in the hole, to pull on the heartstrings of anybody else that still believed the accusations that Michael faced in the past.

This rebranding was the family's final effort to prep the world for buying even more Michael Jackson merchandise over the next few decades. Rumors of hundreds of unreleased songs and a recently finished video probably has them salivating at the thought of the potential income. This memorial service was an investment in future sales, in my opinion. I think that they wanted this memorial service to do for them, what Michael thought his come back tour was going to do for him.

On to the crowd:
When have you EVER been excited about going to a funeral? Personally, I have never enjoyed myself while attending a funeral. Millions of people all over the country, however, became ecstatic when they realized that they could enter a drawing for a chance to win tickets to see this macabre circus in L.A. People that had no way of getting to L.A. during the service won tickets. What do you suppose happened to those? People attempted to sell them on Ebay and Craigslist. Even the public wanted a piece of this pie. At least, ID was required to claim and use the tickets. Only the second ticket could actually be sold. Some people were respectful enough to give them to people that could go, but there were plenty that didn't. People that could go and did win were jumping up and down with joy over their luck.

"I'm in shock that it has happened," said Deka Motanya, 27, of San Francisco. "It's surreal." She received an e-mail message at 4:35 p.m. notifying her, "Congratulations, your application was successful."

She immediately Twittered: "OMG OMG OMG OMG i got tickets to the michael jackson memorial service!!!"

At this memorial service, people didn't sit silently to listen to the tribute; they cheered as their favorite celebrities walked on stage to do a version of a Michael Jackson song. Cheering? Really? To those lottery winners, they didn't get an opportunity to show their respect. They won tickets to a free concert, and they acted like it. I think some of them expected MJ to jump out of his coffin and give them one final encore.

It was disgusting to me. It wasn't respectful of Michael's children. I think it was all a ploy to generate positive word of mouth and rebrand the image of Michael Jackson in America to sell more music and make the 40% of their chunk of his estate produce more money. I think it was just another example of why Michael Jackson lived in obscurity the way he did and estranged from most of his family.

Regardless of what happens, I do hope that those children are well cared for. If they are, they won't have to worry about a thing in their lives.

That is the truth as I perceive it.

-A.W.C.