Along with dozens of other corporations (with a few unions thrown in for good measure), AT&T brings you the Democratic National Convention!
Glenn Greenwald's Salon column yesterday ("AT&T thanks the Blue Dog Democrats with a lavish party") covers his attempt to see who would be attending AT&T's gala event.
Greenwald writes:
Last night in Denver, at the Mile High Station -- next to Invesco Stadium, where Barack Obama will address a crowd of 30,000 people on Thursday night -- AT&T threw a lavish, private party for Blue Dog House Democrats, virtually all of whom blindly support whatever legislation the telecom industry demands and who also, specifically, led the way this July in immunizing AT&T and other telecoms from the consequences for their illegal participation in the Bush administration's warrantless spying program. Matt Stoller has one of the listings for the party here.
Security and Denver police prevented them from getting too close to the guests. The article is an interesting read..
Lest you think this is an isolated event, follow me below the fold for more..
Wayne Slater reports further on corporate sponsoship here:
Corporations give to Democratic convention, get skyboxes
DENVER — In a week of hot tickets, the hottest will be a seat in the skyboxes the night Barack Obama accepts his party's nomination for president.
For the high-rollers and the political elite, the scramble is on for the glass suites that ring Invesco Field at Mile High. Call it skybox envy, an opportunity for corporate interests to fete Washington decision-makers in a grand outdoor setting.
"It's a bigger than the Super Bowl," said Texas lobbyist Ben Barnes, a convention veteran who'll be in one of the boxes on Thursday's final, historic night.
He'll be in good company. Xcel Energy, Pfizer and Molson Coors, which each have given more than $1 million, will be among scores of deep-pocket donors with their own private luxury suites. Home of the Denver Broncos, the football stadium's 131 skyboxes, seating 14 to 20 people, are mostly going to the party's biggest backers and political VIPs
I'm sure the corporate sponsorship of the Republican convention will be at least as lavish as the DNC.
In the end, it leads me to these questions:
Is it any wonder the American public is cynical about any "change" in Washington?
Is there any hope for change in the way things are done with simply a change in the Presidency?
And last.. How long can we go on like this without real campaign financing laws that keep corporate, and all other big money influences, out of our elections?