Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Talks Climate Change, Big Oil And Republicans

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. president of Waterkeeper Alliance, joined HuffPost Live on Tuesday to discuss Big Oil, Republicans and climate change.

"The first step for saving the environment is to get rid of the Citizens United case," he said.

Kennedy also criticized the oil industry directly. "If you go to other countries, you don't find a situation where half the people ... don't believe in global warming." He added, "That happens in our country because advertising works, and propaganda works."

He said the oil industry uses "talk radio ... and Fox News" and "a whole kind of right-wing infrastructure" on Capitol Hill to influence public opinion. There are now "47 ... right-wing think tanks that are funded by the oil industry," he explained.

"They stock them with these phony scientists, these tobacco scientists, and they crank out this propaganda and it works."

Kennedy also criticized Senate Republicans for recently blocking a committee vote on EPA nominee Gina McCarthy. "It's generally believed that the Republicans are fearful that President Obama is going to keep his word and begin to regulate carbon, which he can do by executive order," he said.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com
Author: --

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