Why is the modern Republican Party so corrupt?
Here is one theory: The party is corrupt because it is so beholden to dollars from the tobacco industry--and the tobacco industry has been grossly corrupt for years.
The work of a faculty member at the University of Alabama shows just how long the tobacco industry has been hoodwinking the American public--and what form that deception has taken.
Dr. Alan Blum is director of the university's Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society. And his work shows just how ruthless the tobacco industry has been in its desire to make money at the cost of Americans' health.
For example, Blum tells us that scientists knew about the link between smoking and lung cancer as early as 1939. But Big Tobacco fought off efforts to educate the public, and it was not until 1964 that the famous Surgeon General's report about the ill health effects of smoking was released.
And it took another 14 years for the American Medical Association to jump on board. Why? The AMA had been pretty much bought and sold by Big Tobacco's "research" dollars.
The tobacco industry has been one of the leading contributors to U.S. Chamber of Commerce efforts to have Republicans take over state courts in Alabama, Mississippi, and elsewhere.
Is it any wonder that today's Republican Party is so corrupt that many of its members can't even recognize monkey business when it is staring them in the face?
