Sandy Hook, Part 16: The DoJ, Anti-Trust, and Media-To-Go

(L) Zephyr Teachout, Photo: Politico.com (C) Senator John Sherman (1823-1900) (R) Sidney Powell, Photo: The Guardian

We in the US are cursed with a corrupt DoJ, that is, the federal Department of Justice. For all of the twentieth century, and now more than a fifth of the 21st (where does the time go?), this entity harmed the nation. It did so by sins of omission as surely as commission.

So what is the DoJ? It is headed by the US Attorney General. George Washington appointed the first AG in 1789, Edmund Randolph whose Virginia Plan was used in the design of the US Constitution. Randolph was a thinker, trying to keep the government balanced. It is hard to think of any recent AGs giving a hoot about that.

So what do they give a hoot about? My guess is that they, along with the president, are obeying someone who is not an elected leader but a behind-the-scenes operator. What a pity. They should be helping the president fulfill the Article II obligation “He shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed.”

Not until 1870 did we have a Department of Justice. Today that department has withn it an Office of Legal Counsel, to advise the president, a Solicitor General, to argue the goverment’s side in court cases, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and regional US Attorneys. The DoJ’s website says “Its attorneys represent the rights and interests of the people.”

Could have fooled me! A main activity of the US Attorney is to prosecute, or to prevent prosecution. I think the following is a reasonably accurate description of what the DoJ does: It goes after the little guy both for crime and for regulatory violations; but makes sure, 100% sure, that anyone who is “favored” by the Powers That Be won’t receive punishment for anything.

Former US Attorney Sidney Powell opines that the problem became crucial under federal judges appointed in the 1980s. Ronald Reagan was president but he was, I think, fronting for his vice president, George HW Bush. The following quote is from page 401 of Sidney Powell’s 2014 book, Licensed To Lie:

“Our system of justice is crying for a cultural change. We must return to a system in which prosecutors seek justice more than headlines and in which judges are willing to judge. Our Founding Fathers created three separate but equal branches of government. They intended the federal courts to serve as a check and balance on the executive branch, which runs the prosecutions. Judges are the immediate and most meaningful check on wrongful prosecutions and the misconduct of prosecutors.”

What about the foolish fear a judge may have if he or she does the “wrong” thing. In regard to Sandy Hook, if my hypothesis is correct (no deaths), judges would be afraid to do justice. Now, corruption is taken for granted. I quote Tom Jefferson:

“We are to guard against ourselves; not against ourselves as we are, but as we may be; for who can imagine what we may become under circumstances not now imaginable?” — from a letter to Jedidiah Morse, in 1822.

“[When] corruption … [has] so familiarized itself as that men otherwise honest could look on it without horror… [then we must] be alive to the suppression of this odious practice and… bring to punishment and brand with eternal disgrace every man guilty of it, whatever be his station.”

— from a letter to WCC Claiborne, 1804

The Chickenization of America and the Media

The main culprit in the Sandy Hook hoax, if hoax it be, was the mainstream media. You can go to YouTube even now and see clips from all the major networks recorded on the day itself in 2012 and following days and weeks. How is it that the media is able to get away with wholesale lies, and fake news?

In her TED talk about “the chickenization of America,” law professor Zephyr Teachout shows how major industries — food production, pharmaceuticals, finance, media and others, have become monopolies. All parts merge horizontally and vertically. So, if you are a chicken farmer, you have to agree to use the one and only distribution system and buy the one and only brand of equipment or of chickenfeed.

Worse, when you sign the contract to deliver your chickens to Perdue, you may not see in the fine print that you are agreeing to settle any dispute not in a court but in arbitration, where the arbitrators too have been chickenized.

The media, Teachout says, have destroyed journalism. They are able to reach so many people and are wealthy enough to drub out any challengers, that they can publish anything at all.

Can “Sherman” Limit the Scope of Media Corporations?

Let’s not forget that state legislatures are the grantor of the charters of corporations and can pass laws to restrict them. In fact, centuries ago when the first corporations arose, they did so by getting a charter for showing what they would contribute to society in exchange for the special privilege of limited liability. I don’t see any reason why that could not be revived.

In any case, even once a corporation has become huge, the federal government can act to reduce its size under the Sherman Anti-trust Act. It is a short act, still in force, since 1890. This is the full text of it:

“Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal. Every person who shall make any contract or engage in any combination or conspiracy hereby declared to be illegal shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $100,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $1,000,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.”

One corporation can sue another under this Act, and the DoJ can bring prosecutions. It is said that the Sherman Anti-trust Act is like the Maytag Repairman: not very busy. This could be turned around instantly if we had a non-corrupt DoJ.

A point that Zephyr Teachout makes in her book Break ’em Up (2020) is that the power of the corporation directly curtails free politics via a horrendous 5-4 Supreme Court decision made in 2010 in the case Citizens United v Federal Election Commission. This was about the amount of money corporations can give to political candidates. It’s unlimited.

Still, it has been found that private persons, using “dark money” are the biggest contributors to campaigns. Activists at the website OpenSecrets.org traced the first decade of the new law, 2010 to 2020:

“The 10 most generous donors and their spouses injected $1.2 billion into federal elections over the last decade…. Election-related spending from non-party independent groups ballooned to $4.5 billion over the decade. It totaled just $750 million over the two decades prior.

I have twice run for Congress and can say that unless a candidate starts with millions of dollars in her coffers, she does not stand any chance of even getting “name recognition.”