Former President Jimmy Carter spoke with the Thom Hartmann Program earlier this week about "political bribery" in the United States, saying it's created "a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors."

Carter was asked about Supreme Court cases like Citizens United, which he said has turned America into an "oligarchy."

"It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it's just an oligarchy, with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or to elect the president," Carter said.

Carter said the power of money isn't limited to just the presidency, claiming "the same thing" applies to lawmakers on the state level and in Congress.

"The incumbents, Democrats and Republicans, look upon this unlimited money as a great benefit to themselves," Carter said. "Somebody's who's already in Congress has a lot more to sell to an avid contributor than somebody who's just a challenger." – Huffington Post, July 31, 2015

Americans were ready for a change when Jimmy Carter left office in 1981. No amount of money would have outweighed the damage a weak economy and an Iranian hostage crisis did to his presidency.

Almost 35 years later, Carter is now the longest surviving ex-president in U.S. history. That's a long time to observe and reflect. He has little to lose by being honest, so his comments last week deserve some attention.

Carter blasted both major parties and from state legislatures up to Congress. The U.S., he believes, is an oligarchy built on unlimited political bribery. Those are strong words. We see them on sites like The Daily Bell, but considerably less often from those inside the oligarchy.

We find it interesting that web sites across the political spectrum reported Carter's comments, from Newsmax  to Daily Kos. Why do editors of such different views think their readers would find this quote interesting?