To the editor:

An oligarchy is a situation where a small minority wields control of national policy — sucking, ticklike, on public resources. That’s what the United States and its ruling class have become, a small group of arrogant people who are, at least for now, not held to account for their actions, dominate the Republican Party and national policy.

Remember the Federal Communications Commission ruling that the Senate overturned? Well, tyrant-in-training Tom DeLay refused to consider it in the House. A handful of media moguls, supporting the oligarchists’ policies and controlling the information we hear, are now free to become more powerful, which means less freedom for us. Been watching network news exclusively? You are most likely misinformed on important issues. Like the fact that even King George II has said that Saddam had nothing to do with 9-11 — the tip of the misinformation iceberg.

Too much trouble to find out what’s really going on? Not missing any meals so why worry? Congress has also shirked its duty. Remember checks and balances? There’s a reason for those. The Republican Congress has fallen in line with tyrannical policies creating a perpetual war for the benefit of the defense industry, ransacking the public treasury both now and in the future, and resuming the environmental rape of North America. And the citizenry is misinformed.

The tick grows fat in Iraq. And we thought Lyme’s disease was bad. If it were your son or daughter coming home in a bag, would it be “worth it”?

Doug Harvey,

Lawrence