Dan: The problem is, we’re a representative democracy in name only.

When you look at the amount of money that the Obama campaign received from Wall Street, including Goldman Sachs, it becomes difficult to argue that he isn’t beholden to them and their interests.

Similarly, the bill that’s before us today is so rife with political self-dealing, compromise(s) and back room fixes, as to be unrecognizable from the original goal of “reform”. There is no reform here, just more of the same.

A very capable political theorist (and I don’t remember his name) opined that, once government becomes riven by partisanship, lobbyists and corrupted by money, it calcifies and is thus unable to fulfill its role as advocate and protector of the citizenry. I believe we’re there now.

As a sidebar, Dan, I do highly recommend that “Oldspeak” interview with Hentoff. I’ve been a huge fan of Nat’s for years, and I used to follow him closely in the Village Voice. He isn’t shrill or strident in his denunciations of Obama, but makes the case in measured tones. Definitely worth a read.