by Stephen Lendman

Tampa may never be the same. Republicans left it pockmarked. At least they're gone. Residents welcomed their departure. Three days of pre-scripted hokum were featured. Romney/Ryan speeches featured revisionist history. Democrats get their turn next week.

Campaigning is in high gear. According to Bloomberg, "you'd need six months to watch every presidential campaign ad." As of August 22, 526,633 (30 or 60 second) spots were run.

By election day November 6, perhaps they'll top a million. And that's only for president. All House and 33 Senate seats are up for grabs. So are numerous others at state and local levels. They range from gubernatorial to local school boards.

A war of words hammers US voters nonstop. Relief won't come until post-election. America's campaign season never ends. Preparations begin immediately for the next cycle. Big money plans it that way. Candidates and officeholders either go along or find another line of work. Voters get betrayed every time.

Tampa was Exhibit A. Romney/Ryan represent socially destructive interests. Obama's the same. Voters are stuck between fire and brimstone.

America's political process is too dysfunctional and corrupted to fix. People should either vote independent or stay home. Both major parties are two sides of the same coin. Not a dime's worth of difference that matters separates them.

They represent money power and imperial lawlessness. People needs are spurned. Bipartisan complicity plans destroying them entirely. Social America is on the chopping block for elimination. Political Washington's vision is dark age harshness.

Obama/Biden/Romney/Ryan represent the worst of all possible worlds. Obama's con man days began in Illinois. Before entering politics, Romney parlayed grand theft into super wealth.

As Bain Capital head, he profiteered by leveraged buyouts, asset-stripping companies, and leaving thousands of workers high and dry. As president, he'll do for America what he did to one plundered company after another.

On August 29, Matt Taibbi headlined his Rolling Stone article "Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital."

He calls him the flip side of Che or Trotsky. He's a human wrecking machine. He's right out of predatory capitalism's central casting. He's a visionary for everything harming people.

His campaign reflects "a shimmering pearl of perfect political hypocrisy." He's kept it hidden out of sight. Ryan's his alter ego. He's "a self-righteous anal, thin-lipped, Whitest Kids U Know penny pincher who'd be honored to tell Oliver Twist" the soup bowl is empty, go hungry.

On the one hand, Romney claims "a prairie fire of debt" is ravaging America. On the other, he got super-rich by "borrowing vast sums of money that other people were forced to pay back." He's one of the "most irresponsible debt creators of all time."

In Ryan, he's got "perhaps the only politician in America more pompous and self-righteous" than himself on the evils debt piled up by borrowed money. "No one in history has ever successfully run for president riding this big a lie." In November, he may become the exception that proves the rule.

He's unapologetic. He's emblematic of Wall Street fraud, greed, and indifference about human need and welfare. He's one of their own. He can be president, Treasury secretary and Fed chairman all in one. He represents everything wrong with America getting worse.

He's a dagger at humanity's heart. He's the perfect frontman for destroying decades of social progress. Give him four years and it won't exist. He endorses government of, by and for super-rich elites like himself.

He's "a new and improved version" of Gordon Gekko dressed up in better PR and more grandiose notions of wealth and power. He envisions leveraged buying out America. He'll leave everyone else to pay the tab.

His business model is scorched earth asset stripping. Expect ordinary people to be left high and dry. He wants America looking like one company after another he wrecked. He thinks it's OK as long as his hands don't look dirty.

His free market notions suck life from people. He's a brigand who discards them like trash. He believes only making money matters. He made piles the old fashioned way by stealing it. Dirty money buys as much as honest cash. Romney got lots of federal help making plenty.

Government giveaways enriched him. So did business-friendly tax provisions. They facilitate leveraged buyout scams. They made Romney super-rich.

Before he took office, James Petras called Obama "the greatest con man in recent history." He compared him to Melville's Confidence Man. "He catches your eye while he picks your pocket." Romney one-ups him and then some. He knows every dirty trick in the book to steal, wreck human lives, and get off scot free.

He's the perfect frontman for financialized America. It uses money to make more of it without manufacturing anything. It prospers at the expense of others. It hides wealth in tax havens. It watches from the sidelines while America crumbles.

It's being transforming into Guatemala, complete with police state harshness. Come January, Romney may head the grand scheme. Obama's able to match him blow for blow.

Imagine the state of the nation four years hence under either leader. Imagine having endless wide awake nightmares. Imagine the worst of all possible worlds. Obama/Romney assure it. They'll be no place to hide.

Take no prisoners defines their style. Romney comes off brash. Obama's more subtle. Either way they're flip sides of the same coin. Decades earlier Republicans and Democrats wouldn't recognize their modern-day successors.

Political conventions today bear little resemblance to earlier ones. Predictability replaced suspense. In 1976, Gerald Ford contested Ronald Reagan on the convention floor to become Republican nominee.

In 1960, Jack Kennedy lacked a majority until Wyoming voted last. Everything now is pre-scripted theater. It's like watching an old film aired many previous times.

Tropical storm Isaac/turned hurricane had first say in Tampa. It shortened circus shenanigans to three days. Reactionary extremism, hokum, grandiosity, and revisionist history took center stage. Influence peddling dominated behind the scenes deal making.

Pre-scripted bluster went off as planned. Dissembling obscured reality. Delegates were fed red meat malarkey. Tough issues were ducked. They were distorted by falsely claiming Romney/Ryan have ways to fix America.

Today's political conventions are coronations, not nominations. Suspense and political honesty are nowhere in sight. Everything heard is predictable.

In Tampa, politicians impersonated actors. Clint Eastwood played the opposite role. He fell flat and then some. He sounded more under the table than over the top.

Critics called his cameo "bizarre" and "embarrassing." At age 82, best stick to gardening. Even Republicans called it a mistake to invite him. Democrats make fools of themselves next week. Ready or not, Charlotte awaits their arrival.

They'll match Republicans blow for blow. Rhetoric alone separates them. Politics on either side of the aisle reflect flip sides of the same coin. They're lawless, merciless, inhumane, anti-labor, anti-welfare, racist, neoliberal, elitist, pro-business, pro-war, and anti-populist.

A previous article said both parties believe America's future depends on greater wealth disparity, ignoring public need, waging war on humanity, silencing truth, and cracking down on non-believers.

On November 6, voters get to choose between either wing of America's money party. Duopoly power offers no alternative.

A Final Comment

All week, Tampa was on virtual lockdown. Hundreds of protesters showed up. Thousands of cops confronted them. Media scoundrels largely ignored them.

They marched on the RNC's convention site. Occupy Tampa came out. Ahead of convention week, they noted an unemployment crisis, a do-nothing Congress, and other vital unaddressed issues. They complained about security protocol restrictions compromising their First Amendment rights.

Occupy the RNC was there. They're unaffiliated. They stand in solidarity with Charlotte DNC protesters. They railed against both parties. They're tied to corporate rule, war, economic injustice, and freedom extinguishing policies.

America's "entire system….is rooted in greed and power." Exploitation and oppression are prioritized. They demand better like others. They facilitated logistics for protesters.

They published Tampa Principles. They support political diversity within their struggle for social, economic, and environmental justice. They're committed to treating everyone with respect.

They oppose repressing dissent, surveillance, infiltration, disruption, police brutality, and restrictive "free speech zones" far from convention activities. They united for change not possible without sustained commitment.

Code Pink came out in force. During Romney's speech, their members stood up chanting and unfurling banners saying "People over Profits." "Democracy is not a business."

They interrupted Ryan's speech. They demanded women's rights, control over their own bodies, and healthcare, not warfare.

They stormed the streets and convention site day and night. They delivered messages saying end wars and get money out of politics. They explained America's broken electoral system. What's the point of kicking out bums for new ones.

Dressed as pink police, they staged mock citizens' arrests at every Condi Rice event. At a pro-Israeli one, they denounced its illegal occupation. They spoke out against war on Iran. With barely a chance to exhale, they're off for Charlotte and more demonstrations.

Others in Washington shut down a busy intersection as Romney was about to accept his party's nomination. They chose a spot known for activism.

They protested his politics of the rich. They held signs saying "Stop the Romney economy." "We are here to protest Romney's nomination." People need to hear disenfranchised voices.

Others must lend support. The only solution is world revolution. Change comes only from the bottom up. It's time to challenge the beast and slay it.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour