- Political harmony v. the rule of law: an easy choice for the political establishment, Salon.com, 19 July 2008;
- The AT&T Convention in Denver, Salon.com, 20 July 2008;
- Rendering public opinion irrelevant, Salon.com, 20 July 2008.
What Greenwald describes are the symptoms and consequences of Oligarchy. He has discussed this problem several times in the past; for example: here. During the time of the Bush/Cheney administration it has become obvious that the absence of a meaningful opposition party in U.S. politics and government is well explained by the existence of oligarchical government.
Political scientists have long been aware of the "Iron Law of Oligarchy", an idea attributed by Robert Michels (see his book Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy), to explain the process whereby control of a single political party (or any large human organization, it seeme to me) is captured by a small group. Further, during the Twentieth Century a system has evolved in the United States in which the two dominant political parties cooperate so that neither party's establishments nor their wealthy supporters suffer from the inconveniences of electoral politics. The rise of this cross-party oligarchical government is a major theme in the work of Walter Karp (read excerpts from Karp's books here).
Others have observed the effects of oligarchical government in the U.S. For example:
Lewis Lapham wrote and acts as a guide to the young and naive in the documentary-style film The American Ruling Class (2005). Lapham serves as the Virgil to a couple of young Dantes as they visit an impressive range of the American high and mighty to put the question to them: Is there an American ruling class? The film has much to recommend it both as a sociological study of the U.S. and as a practical guide to the ambitious on how to position oneself in order to be invited to join the ruling class. Some highlights: The film contains one of the most explicit statements I have ever seen by a member of the ruling class (James A. Baker III) that "might makes right." And Barbara Ehrenreich makes a memorable appearance along with a clever rendition of "Nickel and Dimed" (watch that section of the film here).
The face (and perhaps the color of the face) of the American oligarchy will change with this November's general election, but the oligarchy will remain. Other aspects of the American governing system are Corporatism and Corporatocracy / Plutocracy. (You must learn to name something before you can begin to understand it.)