Greenwald: "insider v. outsider" dichotomy

Though hurdles remain, a bill sponsored by libertarian Republican Ron Paul to audit the Federal Reserve Bank passed a House vote today.   Greenwald reflects on the occasion:

Anger over the Wall Street bailouts, the control by the banking industry of Congress, and the impenetrable secrecy with which the Fed conducts itself resonates across the political spectrum, as the truly bipartisan and trans-ideological vote yesterday reflects.  Populist anger over elite-favoring economic policies has long been brewing on both the Right and Left (and in between), but neither political party can capitalize on it because they're both dependent upon and subservient to the same elite interests which benefit from those policies.

For that reason, many of the most consequential political conflicts are shaped far more by an "insider v. outsider" dichotomy than by a "GOP v. Democrat" or "Left v. Right" split.  The pillaging of America's economic security by financial elites, with the eager assistance of the government officials who they own and who serve them, is the prime example of such a conflict.   The political system as a whole -- both parties' leadership -- is owned and controlled by a handful of key industry interests, and anger over the fact is found across the political spectrum.  Yesterday's vote is a very rare example where the true nature of political power was expressed and the petty distractions and artificial fault lines overcome.

Anger at the Wall Street bailout may be the one truly bipartisan issue of the times.   And it's a big issue.  Think about it: on the core issue of the day, most Americans stand in agreement.   To the extent we have trouble recognizing this truth, we need to look to how the "insider-run" mainstream American news media functions.