It's Friday, and Congress is on recess, so maybe it's safe to look at This from David Sirota:

Rolling Stone magazine today released an absolutely awesome and epic piece that sheds light on how Congress really works - or doesn't work - these days (for an alternate link because RS's site is acting up, go here and then click on the story). The narrative follows four bipartisan amendments authored by Vermont's Independent Congressman Bernie Sanders (a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2006) who the writer notes "is the amendment king of the current House of Representatives." That's right - "since the Republicans took over Congress in 1995, no other lawmaker -- not Tom DeLay, not Nancy Pelosi -- has passed more roll-call amendments than Bernie Sanders."

The magazine takes us on a one-month journey in which Sanders almost passed four separate amendments. We get an up-close and nauseating view of how Congress - which purports to be a democracy - now resembles a corrupt third world politburo. Only instead of an authoritarian ideological dictatorship running the place, it is Big Money that calls the shots on every issue.

Here you thought the ideologues were the real threat. But now I'm wondering how much any neo-martinet Christian Taliban dominionist can do when standing on the quicksand of corporate-run legislating that happens in Congress today.

Once upon a time, like back in 1980, a typical bill ran 100 pages, if that. Now they're thousands of pages long, filled with pork for not just Congressmen and Senators, but mainly for the corporations who spend millions of dollars every year schmoozing up the politicians.

Don't like bankruptcies? Throw money at Congress and they'll take care of you. Not making enough money on oil? Throw money at Congress and they'll take care of you. Don't like getting sued for your fuck-ups? Throw money at Congress and they'll take care of you.

But wait, I'm not being fair to Congress. Because it's not just them, it's the political parties themselves.

The takeaway from this article is really threefold:

1) The U.S. Congress does not represent "democracy" and to say it does is to insult the word "democracy" and all of those throughout American history who have fought for democracy.

2) The problem with Congress is largely a problem with the corruption of the GOP. But, that said, the problem also involves Democrats, a powerful cadre of whom seem comfortable in the minority, and seem comfortable selling their souls to the highest corporate bidder. Unless Democrats really change, unify, and take up policies that challenge Congress's bought-off behavior, they will not be able to electorally capitalize on corruption.

Any question now why the Democrats don't want to be focusing on Roberts or reproductive rights? There's no money in it!

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