Supreme Court Sanctions Purchasing of Elections…

The Fecal Five Strike Again

The Fecal Five strike again.  In a very disappointing but not surprising ruling, the Supreme Court rejected corporate spending limits, thus affirming Citizens United.  This morning, in a 5 to 4 vote (big shock there) the U.S. Supreme Court declared that corporations may spend as much money as they wish to influence elections, thus striking down the Montana law limiting corporate campaign spending.

The five conservative activists judges maintain the “personhood” identity to corporations: “corporations have a constitutional right to be heard in election campaigns.”  Let me understand this.  We will give corporations huge tax breaks, or not tax them at all, but they have the right to spend endless amount of money to support a candidate?  Does this disturb anyone else?

Very sad for Montana, which was trying to limit corporate spending, so as to help prevent any type of corruption.  The New York Times reports:

But Montana aggressively defended its 1912 law against a challenge from corporations seeking to be free of spending limits, and the state Supreme Court sided with the state. The state court said a history of corruption showed the need for the limits, even as Justice Anthony Kennedy declared in his Citizens United opinion that independent expenditures by corporations “do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.”

While Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer pointed out the obvious flaws in Kennedy’s argument around corruption and corporate spending, their efforts were to no avail.  My chief concern right now is the potential for the corrupt purchase of the Presidential election. More from the Times:

Ginsburg issued a brief statement for herself and Breyer saying that campaign spending since the decision makes “it exceedingly difficult to maintain that independent expenditures by corporations ‘do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.'”

Ginsburg appeared to be referring to the rise of unregulated super PACs that have injected millions of dollars into the presidential and other campaigns. She said the case “will give the court an opportunity to consider whether, in light of the huge sums currently deployed to buy candidates’ allegiance, Citizens United should continue to hold sway.”

Another larger looming question is what do we do with the Fecal Five who seem to have complete control over the Supreme Court?

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Bob Marshall Obsessed with Sodomy

I Can’t Stop Thinking About Sodomy

Thank you to my friend and LGBT ally, Jennifer Carey for inspiring me to write this story.  Regrettably, we have another bigoted story coming out of Virginia–another white heterosexual Republican male abusing his power and privilege.  Republican Bob Marshall took it upon himself to block  Tracy Thorne-Begland, an out and proud gay attorney, from becoming a judge.

Marshall asserts the following:

sodomy is not a civil right…the attorney’s past activism and outspokenness on gay rights could bias his decisions on the bench…He can be a prosecutor if he wants to, but we don’t want advocates as judges.

Bigotry prevailed against common sense and reason and the Virginia House of Delegates rejected Thorne-Begland’s bid for judge.

While there are SO many issues that really stick in my craw here, I will try to contain my anger with exceedingly significant points.  One: I will quickly point out that more heterosexuals engage in sodomy than homosexuals–not that it is anyone’s business what consenting adults do sexually! Apparently, Marshall feels it is his job to police gay sex. Two: I take issue with his assertion around activists judges.  Fortunately, Kim Forde-Mazrui, a University of Virginia School of Law professor also took issue with Marshall’s ignorance and offered this very sensible reply:

If you mean that people are always biased in favor of members of their own group then that would suggest that a straight male or a white judge could not be impartial in a case involving a crime between a straight and a gay person, a man and woman, or a white and black person — which would render most judges and juries suspect by his conception.

From Marshall’s statement, are we to assume that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is pushing a Jewish woman’s agenda on the Supreme Court? Are white hetero males the only voices to be trusted as judges?  I have to say it takes a great deal of chutzpah for a Republican to talk about “activist judges,” given the Famous Fecal Five corrupting the US Supreme Court.

Number 2 Hero of the Year Award 2011: Occupy Movement

Number 2 Hero of 2011

Thank you to the overwhelming number of TSM readers for nominating the Occupy Movement for Hero of the Year!  How I understand the Occupy Movement is that finally the 99% woke up and spoke truth to power–the absurd distribution of power and wealth in the United States must come to an end.  Of course, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission certainly brought home the point that America was officially for sale.  Extending the Bush tax cuts to the top 2% of Americans just added insult to injury.  We can thank the Fecal Five for selling out America.

While I only attended a dozen Occupy Portland demonstrations, I was consistently impressed that people were getting the message out about the maniacal distribution of wealth and power, despite the heroic efforts of the media to vilify the movement.  My heart was also warmed when many of my cohort of social workers withdrew their money from the big banks and put it credit unions–go social workers!

My hope is that the Occupy Movement will continue in its various incarnations and will eventually affect real change in how wealth and power are distributed–that humanity will prevail over greed.

Flashback 2010: Number 2 Hero of 2010 was Bernie Sanders.

Stalwart Sanders Stands Strong

A Man of Wisdom and Courage

While there are a plethora of elected officials I have great disdain and even contempt for currently, I rejoice that Senator Bernie Sanders is one of those elected officials who makes me smile and take consolation that he is working for the American people. He is a true civil servant!  Of course, I feel the same way about John Lewis of Georgia. I will not mention the misogynistic, homophobic, bigots, like John Boehner, Michlele Bachmann, and Tim Pawlenty–no, I will not mention those who do not understand what it means to have courage and show leadership as a civil servant.  Don’t ask me to name them.  I simply won’t.

I would rather focus on Bernie Sanders and how this courageous and marvelous man has become an icon for the Champion of the American people. I love him for calling out bad behavior and exposing hypocrisy, for naming names!  Here is the voice of Sanders, a hero of the 21st century:

One of the long-term deficit reduction plans came from the so-called Gang of Six. We do not know all of the details of that proposal. In fact, we never will know because a lot of the decisions are booted to committees to work out the details.

It is fair to say, however, that Senators Coburn, Crapo and Chambliss deserve congratulations. Clearly, they have won this debate in a very significant way. My guess is that they will probably get 80 percent or 90 percent of what they wanted. In this town, that is quite an achievement, but they have stood firm in their desire to represent the wealthy and the powerful and multinational corporations. They have threatened. They have been smart. They have been determined. And at the end of the day, they will get almost all of what they want. That is their victory, and I congratulate them.

Unfortunately, their victory will be a disaster for working families in this country, for the elderly, for the sick, for the children and for low-income people.

Unfortunately, the “gang of 6” is not working in isolation.  This gang of super-rich white bullies, has the full support of the Fecal Five!   I implore you to share the message of Bernie Sanders!  We can save America.  Click here to see the full article.

Cruel Clarence Can Claim Crimes Against Humanity

I just can't stand people

For all those that follow TSM, you are well aware of the information documented proving the incompetence and moral bankruptcy of Justice Clarence Thomas. Unfortunately, the following article only adds to his criminal record, rendering Thomas and his puppet master Scalia as misanthropes of the most dangerous type.

Thomas tossed out a verdict that would have cleared John Thompson of a murder he was allegedly guilty of in 1985.  Since 1985, an overwhelming amount of evidence has come to light supporting Thompson’s innocence. Sadly, Thomas and Scalia cannot be bothered with facts regarding human life–dish or irony anyone?  This coming from two anti-choice misogynists. Not only did Thomas throw out the verdict, but felt compelled to put in some exceedingly disrespectful comments about Justice Ginsberg his first opinion drafted, echoed by Scalia.

What terrifies me is this is the Supreme Court we are stuck with for the rest of my lifetime. A court full of activist conservative justices that are bigoted homophobic misogynistic pieces of work. Please read the full article here.

Oprah Turning her Back on Women for Walmart

Oprah: I expected better from you.

At this point, most people are aware that the plaintiffs in Dukes v. Walmart Stores allege that Walmart systematically discriminated against more than one million women in its promotion and compensation practices.  On March 29, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on whether the women should be allowed to move forward with their case as a class. Walmart has a  long established history of being a puppet for right wing voices and a history of long standing misogyny/homophobia, and poor treatment of their employees.  For those of you that decry: “Just let them go somewhere else and work,” you have not been paying attention. When Walmart moves into towns it wipes out all competition and small mom and pop businesses, so there is no other place for working class folks to get a job. This class action lawsuit brought by over 1 million women has been in the news for a long time; granted it is not getting the coverage it deserves.

So how does this tie into Oprah turning her back on women?  Well, I must confess, that I try not to watch the Oprah Winfrey show, but I did catch an episode where she was celebrating a family that had sextuplets due to fertility drugs.  To my astonishment, Oprah gave free airtime to Walmart and glorified them as some type of National Philanthropy organization. Oprah are you really that out of touch with what is going on in the real world? Do you not pay attention to how corporate America now controls laborers? What message do you send when you glorify WalMart on your show? To make matters worse, the case is going before the Supreme Court and we all know how pro-woman the Fecal Five are. Scalia’s son is representing Walmart in this case. Does it not seem ethically sound for Scalia to recuse himself from this case?  Click here to take action! Oprah, I would never diminish the pioneering work you have done for women and specifically for black women, but WOW, you missed the mark on this one.

Strange Bedfellows Ruining More Than Just My Mind’s Eye…

If you have been following this blog, you know the many connections between the Fecal Five, the Koch Brothers, and the Tea Party (That fun loving anti-woman, anti-gay group of gadflies). Yes, I feel as though I must wash my mind’s eye out with Drano thinking of them all in bed together. (I’m sure Bryan Fischer can’t stop thinking about this group in bed together.) But alas, there is even more collateral damage to report. I am asking all of you to please take action along with the Sierra Club against the Koch Brothers.  The Kochs put profits before people: They were federally indicted for covering up illegal dumping of cancer-causing benzene and convicted of falsifying documents.  Click here to read the article and take action.

Join the Sierra Club and take action against the Koch Brothers

More on Scalia and Captain Owen Honors…

As I have been reading different blogs today and different newspapers, I have been nonplussed by the number of people coming to the defense of Captain Honors and further bemused by the number of people that have sent me private messages regarding my post on Scalia today.  One such private response informed me that, “Scalia was doing God’s work.”  Really?  Who knew god was such a hater.  As for Honors (talk about irony), I don’t care what he does in the privacy of his own home, but as a leader he has no right to behave in a sophomoric, homophobic, and misogynistic way.  For those of you defending him, REALLY?  You don’t expect more from leaders?  I suspect Scalia, the leader of the Fecal Five, will be watching these short videos with GLEE.

Number 2 Bigot of the Year Award

How appropriate that the Fecal Five should be the Number 2 Bigot of the Year Award.  The Fecal Five earn this dubious award because they hold so much power and influence that they have paved the way for the corruption of justice, rather than preserving justice.  These five men have helped to give voice to the right wing fringe that decry human rights and work to dissolve and erode common decency. In the Citizens United v Federal Election Commission case, the US Supreme Court, specifically the Fecal Five, stated that corporate funding cannot be limited when supporting political candidates–translation, the rich can buy themselves an election, as witnessed by this midterm election with the financial backing of Karl Rove’s American Crossroads and the millions of dollars spent by the Koch Brothers who are in bed with Rupert Murdoch of Fox News!  These billionaires gave a blank check to the Tea Party during the election–hope Rand Paul and Marco Rubio sent them a proper thank you note.  As a country we need to be very very scared of Mike Huckabee–he will be one very well financed Tea Party presidential candidate.  Stay tuned tomorrow to see the Number 1 Bigot of the Year.

Nominees for Bigot of the Year Award, 2010

What a Festival of Fools for this year’s list of nominees–a true embarrassment of riches (?), I suppose.  Looking at the list, one wonders what type of culture we have established in the United States.  Next Monday, I will start with number five and end with the number one bigot on Friday. Here is the Top 10 list of nominees for the dubious honor, Bigot of the Year Award:

• The Fecal Five
• Target
• John McCain
• The State of Iowa and National Organization for Marriage
• Fred Phelps
• Peter LaBarbera
• Bill Donohue
• Tony Perkins/Family Research Council
• Tea Party Haters (Rand Paul, Jim DeMint, Ken Buck, Christine O’Donnell)