Born on this day in 1934

America's corporate and political elites now form a regime of their own, they're privatizing democracy. All the benefits, the tax cuts, policies and rewards flow in one direction: up.
Bill Moyers

I happened to be reading Moyer's Blog early this morning looking for his interview with Public Citizen's Joan Claybrook which I missed when it aired on PBS last Friday on "Bill Moyers Journal."

The subject of the segment was lobbying and lobbyists and their pervasive influence on our political system.

I have a large measure of respect for both Moyers and Claybrook and an enormous loathing for lobbyists and their destructive influence on MY country and I was disappointed to have missed the program.

Fortunately for me I learned from Karl Rove that Al Gore invented the internet a few years back, and that invention led to the discovery of You Tube where I found a clip of the segment and I feel very good about the modern world this morning.

As Ann Coulter once more runs amok, throwing any form of responsibility, reason, and propriety carelessly adrift as she assails widows of 9/11 victims who dare to criticize an institution the controversial author puts above all criticism and denunciation, the Cheney-Bush wing of the Republican Party, it is time to ask a simple and basic question:

Is there any accountability for personalities who irresponsibly assail and operate in a manner inconsistent with decency or reality?

The above question prompts reflection toward an interesting interview involving Bill Moyers and David A. Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, on the former's PBS weekly television series.  Moyers had interviewed Keene during the ACU's convention.  

Keene pursued a lofty demeanor during his interview with Moyers, denouncing negative politics and stating that his organization believed in elevating dialogue and engaging in an election process in which issues are paramount and inflammatory invective discouraged.