On July 28 the Morning Sentinel published an op-ed by Jay Ambrose headlined “The socialists are coming.” Ambrose is a minion of and mouthpiece for a giant publishing corporation, Tribune News Service, owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group. He submits this type of propaganda to many other newspapers around the country owned by Sinclair.

Big media corporations will increasingly be using these smear tactics to sway voter opinion in an effort to prevent progressives from taking control of the U.S. Congress in the November mid-term election.

In his book, “Unequal Protection,” Thom Hartmann describes how corporations have successfully thrown off the shackles of being just “artificial persons,” as they are legally known, and have become “persons” with the helping hands of the conservative leaning Supreme Court. Increasingly, corporations have acquired constitutional protections intended for natural persons and now spend unlimited money on elections, smear candidates they oppose with lies, and are fully protected by the constitution.

There are reportedly six corporations that own 90 percent of all media in this country, and those six corporations can and do control the message nationwide. It is a fact that they who own the media, control the message.

Nothing in our political lives as citizens and voters is as important as eliminating the influence of corporations in our government. Although amending the U.S. Constitution is a huge mountain to climb, there is no other way to fully wrest control of government from corporation control. Until that happens, corporation “persons” will continue to influence our elections with money, write bills for our legislators to pass and control members of Congress we put in office for them through our elections in which their millions of dollars determined the winners. Let’s not let corporate minions like Jay Ambrose control the message for Maine voters.

Jim Chiddix

Waterville

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