Save Our Democracy: Buy the L.A. Times for $660 Million

The Other 98%, a group loosely associated with Occupy Wall Street, is trying to raise enough cash to outbid Rupert Murdoch and the Koch brothers in their efforts to buy the Tribune Company, owner of the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and The Baltimore Sun, among other newspapers.

Yes, these pro-democracy activists are calling for a “people’s peaceful takeover” of what appears to be all of the company’s media assets, including commuter tabloids and 23 television stations. According to the Tribune Company’s website, its television operations reach 80 percent of households with a TV.

As would be expected, the only people who appear to have a serious interest in buying the company are right-wing billionaires. Murdoch, the founder of Fox News, is in competition with the Koch brothers, the men who bankrolled the tea party and Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that enabled corporations to make unlimited campaign contributions. Bids are reported to be in the realm of $660 million.

If 30 million Americans donated just $22, The Other 98% could match that amount. However, as the young woman in the video below says, some Americans, including celebrities who profess to have liberal politics, are capable of donating many times that. By the time of this posting, at least one person had pledged $10,000.

Are these activists “tilting at corporate windmills”? We’ll know in 30 days, when the fundraising period is over. Regardless of the outcome, they’re to be commended for making a bold and creative populist effort in the name of democracy, as is any American who joins them.

Make a contribution here. If they don’t raise enough cash, they say you’ll get your money back.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

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