Doors closed. No press. $50,000 tickets. Money Mitt collecting more money. From people who have more money than Money Mitt. This is how presidential politics is now played. Fundraiser after fundraiser after
fundraiser. Collect as much money as you possibly can from whomever will possibly give it, and for Money Mitt, say whatever you got to say to get it. And it is quite clear after listening to Money Mitt’s true feelings in the secret video released last night by Mother Jones (and the 100 other things he has said in the past 18 months) that he does not work for the people, he works for the ones who line his pockets with silver and gold. The one percent.
Yesterday, as we celebrated the one-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street and its amazing accomplishments, we were reminded (more like knocked upside the head) why we continue the fight for economic equality and equitable participation in our democratic process. If a presidential candidate for one of the two major American political parties can be bought and sold for $50,000 a plate and completely dismiss with disdain half of the American population, then it is crystal clear that his allegiance is not to a nation, but to a hundred dollar bill (or a lot of hundred dollar bills!). We will leave it up to the political pundits to decide the damage that has been done to Romney’s campaign and his future in politics, but for the 99 percent of this country who continue to suffer because the rich have bought our political system and treat those in struggle as if they are public enemy number one, we will fight for them.
We have fought for a year to transform the conversation in this country from manufactured political disagreements in Washington to conversations about the struggles of the 47 percent (aka the 99 percent) that Romney had the audacity to dismiss in his money-grabbing exploits. We are not “victims” or “dependents” on our government, we are citizens who want our democracy back from the hands of those who eat off of $50,000 plates. And don’t get us wrong, there are many good people at those tables, but the ones, like Money Mitt, who lack any sense of compassion, are the ones that we must fight against. The arrogance of Mitt’s country-club politics does nothing to unite this country, something he has pretended to have the ability to do if he is elected President. If the candidate cannot represent the entire population of our nation, then he has no ability to be our President. His honesty behind closed-doors has revealed the real Mitt Romney, not the controlled, made-for-TV candidate we have seen on the campaign trail. It is the out-of-touch elite that care nothing more than to make their friends rich at the expense of the poor that are to be carefully watched (even with hidden video cameras). We will no longer accept a hijacking of our democracy by crony capitalists and certainly not by a guy who has such hatred for half of our country.
The door has been opened for the whole world to see what happens when Money Mitt collects his money. The rhetoric is ruthless, vicious and divisive. The real Mitt Romney stood up, and the American people were disgusted by what they heard. Let us do everything in our power to make sure this man is not elected President, and let us fight with every ounce of energy we have to get the money out of politics.
~Russell Simmons & Michael Skolnik
Michael Skolnik is the Editor-In-Chief of GlobalGrind.com and the political director to Russell Simmons. Prior to this, Michael was an award-winning filmmaker. Follow him on twitter @MichaelSkolnik
