Keeping Up "Appearances"

"There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love,
 except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of 
triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science."
                                             - George Orwell

"

"This Court has identified only one legitimate governmental

interest for restricting campaign finances: preventing corruption or the appearance of corruption."
And there you have it. Plutocracy wins again, not that anyone I know noticed.
 Because corruption or the "appearance" of corruption is EVERYWHERE. Yes, even in the Supreme Court. We know that Scalia and Thomas, participated in Koch Brothers fundraising gatherings. What Role Have Scalia And Thomas Played In The Koch Money Machine? | ThinkProgress
This got me thinking about  the scandal I grew up with known as Watergate. 1974 was the last round of campaign finance reform. There are a few interesting correlations with that period of time and what we are enduring now.  Lets go back to 1969, this is when Nixon compiled his "enemies list" with 200 peoples names on it, one of them, John Lennon. What gets me is that there were only 200 names. Now virtually everyone in this country and all over the world is under surveillance. 
Then there was the awful Vietnam War, proving we can't learn from the past, so we jump into the Afghanistan and Iraq "War on Terror" for a decade, both of these wars were wars of choice. Spreading "democracy" stopping communism, terrorism whatever you want to call it. I call them wars for profit.

Let's get to the economy during this time. Nixonomics was causing all kinds of problems with inflation eventually hitting 12.2%. Back in those days, you still counted energy and food in the inflation rate and now we don't even know what the real inflation rate is.

"The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. Both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists." - Ernest Hemingway
 It's crazy to me that Hemingway seemed to know what was and still is going on, but we don't seem to learn these lessons from the past. More like it's not profitable enough to.
During Nixons time we were in a recession, which can't even hold a candle to the "recession" we are still struggling to get out of today. We are told the unemployment rate is somewhere around 6%. During Nixon's heyday it was around 5% that's right only 5%. Nixon took us off the gold standard. Which is is probably the craziest thing a Republican could do, ever. They are so conservative now that Nixon looks more like a Democrat.  The way Obama looks more like a Republican than the Democrat he says he is. 
But here's the kicker, Nixon was eventually impeached for his shenanigans. Any wrong doing in recent times are filed in the "can't go back" folder and ignored. 
Which brings me back to corruption. Much like "Known unknowns," corruption and "appearances of corruption" are everywhere, like New York, where corruption "appears rampant."
Take a look at  State Integrity Investigation overview: 50 states and no winners - State Integrity Investigation
 It doesn't surprise me at all since Citizens United, we now have another decision deciding that it's business as usual. America is the best Democracy money can buy.  
                     The Supreme Court "appears" to be loyal to "The Party. " 

12-536 McCutcheon v. Federal Election Comm'n (04/02/2014) - 12-536_e1pf.pdf
The American Anti-Corruption Act