From our Dept of WTF?

SCOTUS has ruled that corporations now have civil rights. I shit you not. SCOTUS just opened up a huge can of vile, carpetbagging, worms.

You can read the ruling here (pdf). This decision is total crap. Corporations are not human, they are always money-making operations.

I am pretty sure the First Amendment was not created to protect The Corporatocracy.From Public Citizen:

Today, in the widely-publicized Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC, the Justices ruled in a 5-4 decision that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence election outcomes.

Because today’s decision is made on First Amendment constitutional grounds, the impact will be felt not only at the federal level, but in the states and localities, including in state judicial elections.

Shed a tear for our democracy.

Today, in the case Citizens United v. FEC, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence election outcomes.

Money from Exxon, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer and the rest of the Fortune 500 is already corroding the policy making process in Washington, state capitals and city halls. Today, the Supreme Court tells these corporate giants that they have a constitutional right to trample our democracy.

In eviscerating longstanding rules prohibiting corporations from using their own monies to influence elections, the court invites giant corporations to open up their treasuries to buy election outcomes. Corporations are sure to accept the invitation.

The predictable result will be corporate money flooding the election process; huge targeted campaigns by corporations and their front groups attacking principled candidates who challenge parochial corporate interests; and a chilling effect on candidates and election officials, who will be deterred from advocating and implementing policies that advance the public interest but injure deep-pocket corporations.

So, wtf were those five assholes thinking? Th impact of this decision will be widespread and horrific..bet on it.

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Squeakers . . .

A very close call – Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States, by a vote that was a real squeaker, restored our most basic Constitutional right, habeas corpus. Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com via Memeorandum wrote the best article. It is titled, “Supreme Court restores habeas corpus, strikes down key part of Military Commissions Act.” To quote the post’s key opening and closing paragraphs:

In a major rebuke to the Bush administration’s theories of presidential power — and in an equally stinging rebuke to the bipartisan political class which has supported the Bush detention policies — the U.S. Supreme Court today, in a 5-4 decision (.pdf), declared Section 7 of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 unconstitutional. The Court struck down that section of the MCA because it purported to abolish the writ of habeas corpus — the means by which a detainee challenges his detention in a court — despite the fact that the Constitution permits suspension of that writ only “in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion.”

. . . UPDATE: Three of the five Justices in the majority — John Paul Stevens (age 88), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (age 75) and David Souter (age 68) — are widely expected by court observers to retire or otherwise leave the Court in the first term of the next President. By contrast, the four judges who dissented — Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts and Sam Alito — are expected to stay right where they are for many years to come.

John McCain has identified Roberts and Alito as ideal justices of the type he would nominate, while Barack Obama has identified Stephen Breyer, David Souter and Ginsberg (all in the majority today). It’s not hyperbole to say that, from Supreme Court appointments alone, our core constitutional protections could easily depend upon the outcome of the 2008 election.

Almost too close to call – by the end of the Democratic primary, it was a narrow win in the delegate count by Sentor Obama and a narrow win of the popular vote by Senator Clinton. Hillary Clinton started as the front runner in the campaign. By the end of the primary season, she had lost her lead though the race remained a squeaker. There are many guesses about why that happened. Many of her supporters believed that sexism was the reason. It is a close call according to this story from the New York Times (6/13/08) – “Media and Critics Split Over Sexism in Clinton Coverage” via Memeorandum. To quote:

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic Party, who says he was slow to pick up on charges of sexism because he is not a regular viewer of cable television, is taking up the cause after hearing an outcry from what he described as a cross-section of women, from individual voters to powerful politicians and chief executives.

. . . Mike Barnicle, a panelist on MSNBC, said that Mrs. Clinton was “looking like everyone’s first wife standing outside a probate court.” Tucker Carlson, also on MSNBC, said, “When she comes on television, I involuntarily cross my legs.”

The establishment news media were faulted too. The New York Times wrote about Mrs. Clinton’s “cackle” and The Washington Post wrote about her cleavage.

Ken Rudin, an editor at National Public Radio, appeared on CNN, where he equated Mrs. Clinton with the actress Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction.” “She’s going to keep coming back, and they’re not going to stop her,” Mr. Rudin said. He later apologized.

Call it like it is – Whether it was sexism or something else that caused Senator Clinton to lose the contest, even those of us who did not vote for her owe her a great deal of credit. This list of credits owed from Tapped sounds reasonable: “Seven changes we owe Hillary Clinton.” Her accomplishments include: being a front-runner who stood for women, forced talk about sexism, united Democrats on Iraq, figured out health care, engaged everybody until the end, provided national security leadership, and broadened the question of Progressives and race. I believe that Senator Clinton will keep her word and help Democrats come together.

Calling for Unity, Action Day – The Democratic party has been working to maintain party unity from the beginning, though those efforts occasionally got derailed. But now is the right time to call again for closing ranks and working together for a victory in November. Democracy for America says they have a plan:

Everyone from Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton to Howard Dean and Speaker Pelosi are asking for Democrats to unite.

Now is the time to take the next step. Together, DFA members across the country will turn words into action on June 21. We will start the process of bringing Democrats together by reaching out to our friends and neighbors and asking them to unite for a progressive victory in November.

Squeakers cause anxiety. Two such as the SCOTUS decision and the Democratic primary remind us of what is at stake for the country this year. If we remain focused on the goals of the party to win Republican contests to be decided in the fall, we need not be overly anxious about the other squeakers as they come along.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

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At the Intersection of Space and Politics

Monday the space shuttle Discovery docked at the International Space Station to complete the very challenging STS-124 mission. Crew members will attach the Japanese science module, “Kibo” (meaning hope) to the ISS. The NASA space program is an area of continuing interest with me, as my Making Good Mondays blog readers know. Today’s post explores what politics and the space program have in common. The first item is that U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona is newly married to Mission Commander Mark Kelly. The space program competes with my other area of vital interest, the 2008 presidential campaign. What happens in the presidential race will inevitable have deep impact upon the future of the United States in space. NASA, like every other agency in the federal government must compete for presidential attention as well as for funds in the budget. Space Politics — Watching three representatives of the current Presidential candidates talk about space policy a few days ago was deeply dissatisfying to me. The 27th Annual International Space Development Conference, “The New Pace of Space,” was held in Washington, D.C., May 29 – June 1, 2008. Friday afternoon the featured event, “Election 2008 Space Panel.” To quote from the Space Politics story: Read more

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march winds howl in

it’s a tad windy here today- not sure it’s great kite weather as it’s also rainy. and warm. there isn’t any doubt in my mind that there’s global climate change on a- well, global scale. i heard an interesting rumor that al gore was going to run for president as an independent candidate with michael bloomberg as his vp. i am not going to get my hopes up but i felt a bit of relief as i read those words. why? i don’t know. gore would have a tough time getting things cleaned up to- but at least he is familiar with the landscape and has public backing for policy change on environmental issues. we’ll see. i would definitely vote gore. bloomberg- gee i hope not. although, it could bridge some gaps and he isn’t a horrible rightwinger. we’ll see. i guess i wonder if it would shut the clintonistas and the obamalamas up for a while. i have never seen or heard such stupidity in my life. i don’t know what else to call it and is second to pelosi and reid in reasons i am changing my party affiliation to independent. instead of fighting the real enemy- this party is eating its own. stupid and shortsighted- and the reason that the right wing always makes a comeback. i can’t in good conscience be a part of that- and i send them back their beggings for money with a note- ‘no impeachment = no money.’ perhaps someday an actual person will read it.

in the meantime, i am researching fair trade coffees and teas and where folks can buy them because i had no idea (but why it should surprise me is beyond me) that coffee and tea plantations were outside sweatshops. not that most americans give a damn- but i do. if i am going to buy something, i don’t want my enjoyment to cause suffering to another living being. if i have the choice between sweatshop and fair trade, i will pay the few extra cents. and that’s my two cents for now.

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are you nuts?

 he hits the nail squarely on the head

[youtube]tpxMvRcMZp4[/youtube]

no joy in mudville

i am not even really sure what to write about these days. oh- don’t get me wrong- when i say that, i inevitably end up writing 3,000 words anyway my mind is in a bit of turmoil and i don’t know that it’s quite spring fever because it isn’t a happy sort of feeling. i am disappointed that the democratic party has chosen to continue playing politics as usual within the corporatocracy because i honestly thought we had a shot at beginning to change things. but no. i guess i shouldn’t be surprised when the democratic party is made up of ‘crossovers’ from camp clinton and the blue dogs like lieberman. so- i am truly going to change my affiliation to independent. i have no desire to be affiliated with the democratic party any longer. in fact, i fully intend to send in my membership renewal (sans cash of course) with a nice letter explaining to howard dean, et al, where exactly they can shove that renewal and why. and so it goes. i feel very andy rooneyish today. i am also bitterly disappointed that we, the people, haven’t fought harder to save our constitution. we, the people, collectively decided to roll over and play dead while the pnacers took over our country. they effectively control everything and no one will make any kinds of moves to stop them. in the news recently:

bush ignores foia requests

fbi wants palm prints, eye scans, tattoos…

the government reads your mail- oh, and your emails and browser searches, and blog sites, and listens to your phone calls….

police taser use on rise- death toll mounts

americans can be detained indefinitely and tortured- cause bush says so

Read more

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funky non-diva

i think too much. it really is the case and has always been so. i live in my head much of the time- and sometimes you just have to get out and live. those are my words of wisdom for the day. anyway, i have been thinking about the state of the world today- and the state of america- almost ad nauseum these past 8 years or so- and it has brought on a funk like nobody’s business. and i can’t shake it. and i have no idea what to do about it. there is a fellow blogger who is annoyed by ‘doom and gloom progressives’ who think that it’s all over but the shoutin’. there are plenty of grassroots movements out there doing good work and changing things. to which i say- yes. and it has always been so. and there is a place for them and they do make a difference. but it isn’t enough. we don’t have the luxury of a little here and a little there- we need real courage and conviction of public service for the greater good. and we don’t have it- and this election ain’t gonna bring it. obama can speak of change all he wants- and i believe he believes it- but it has to happen on a full governmental scale and a cultural scale- and america is not interested in change that big.

i recently spoke with a woman i have known since 8th grade the other day. she had no idea who dennis kucinich was. no idea. i didn’t bother to ask if she knew who else was running for president besides obama and clinton. i didn’t really want to know. i have a feeling she isn’t too far from main stream these days. oh, the polls say 70+ percent of americans want change and want the country to move in a different direction- but we are still following the pattern set for us by the powers in charge. poll some of those 70 percenters and see if they found it odd that our candidates weed themselves out after a few initial primaries. some even before. we know what we have is broken but we haven’t moved past wanting to pay someone else to fix it for us. we are a busy lot you see. well, perhaps after more of us lose our homes and jobs- we will have plenty of time freed up to give a flying you-know-what.

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please watch the video

The Yes We Can Song
by will.i.am

I was sitting in my recording studio watching the debates…
Torn between the candidates

I was never really big on politics…
and actually I’m still not big on politics…
but 4 years ago, me and the black eyed peas supported Kerry…
And we supported Kerry with all our might…
We performed and performed and performed for the DNC…
doing all we could do to get the youth involved…

The outcome of the last 2 elections has saddened me…
on how unfair, backwards, upside down, unbalanced, untruthful,
corrupt, and just simply, how wrong the world and “politics” are…

So this year i wanted to get involved and do all i could early…

Read more

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one of those days

so- i made the mistake of tooling around the news and blogs- and good lord! if there’s good news out there, please, give me a link or two. or more if you have them. as dusty would say- ’sweet jesus in a speedo!’ i think the question on everyone’s mind- including at least the sentient of the presidential hopefuls- is- how the hell are we going to get through the next year? will there even be a planet by the end of this year? is another good question. we have a tanking world economy; war crimes up the ying yang, and both poles are melting faster than you can say- global warming. so what pray tell iare the msm and candidates focusing on? how churchy the candidates are. yes. i took a deeeeeep breath. and i took a nice warm shower. and here i am. ok- here it is folks- the entire world is looking at us like we have lost our damned minds. the rest of the world DOES NOT CARE which church these yahoos speak at or if they hear voices- i mean god- speaking to them. frankly- i could care less too, but all of the candidates but kucinich are sidling up in the pews looking all pious and like they really go to church every single sunday- and wednesdays too for good measure (baptist church i used to go to had 3 services weekly).

here’s what i don’t understand- and please- help me if you can (and i don’t mean this rhetorically because i genuinely don’t get it)- i don’t understand how folks can believe wholeheartedly that creationism should be taught as fact and that there is genuinely a divine being somewhere up in the firmament looking down on us but these same folks will not believe that our man made, man designed government is infallible. these same folks who believe that a nice but somewhat radical man was killed and then rose from the dead in 3 days will not believe hard evidence coming out that our government was involved in the attacks of 9/11. belief that lepers were healed and lame folks walked and dead folks brought to life- but will not believe…. you get the point. why are we still having a discussion about religion in the 21st century and why are so many people interested in the candidate’s religion? i mean especially since this last go round with the georgie and pickles show has been nothing but a god damned disaster.

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what’s wrong with us?

that was a question asked by a reader of mine over at life’s journey. i posted on how the kenyans mobilized and kept in contact with each other during this time of turmoil and whatnot. it is a fine, fine question. i have pondered over it until it depresses me. there are lots of folks out there who are mobilized and fighting for a good end- but we don’t all agree on that end result. for example, i am a kucinich supporter and i have been rallying around the kucinich campaign almost since day 1. i feel he would be a step in the right direction- but the obama supporters are working just as hard to get him elected. folks mobilized for a common good- but, well, you get the idea. not everyone shares my view that we need to shut this country down and take it back by force of numbers in order to get some accountability and movement away from the corruption. and they are probably right. the corruption cuts deep- in every layer of our ‘way of life’. we would have to shut things down indefinitely to sort this all out- and in the end- we would still have our forests cut down, our infrastructures crumbling and our tax money evaporating in the ether. why?

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people aren’t ready for change

i was accused of being in a state of “narrow minded negativity” recently because apparently, i refuse to see change.

it’s only partially true. i do see change- and i do appreciate it but i am one who doesn’t shy away from raising the bar higher. i am someone who believes adults should act like adults and not overgrown adolescents- so, i guess i do tend to come out more on the pessimistic side of life.

i continue to be amazed by the number of people who would love to vote for dennis kucinich- but he has no chance of winning the nomination. thankfully though- he is part of the process and is necessary to ‘further the conversation’ for the more viable candidates (snark). divajood gave us all a snicker with her onion video recently, but i think we probably were chuckling more because it’s really true. love that satire.

we love to talk about change- and i have a feeling that’s why obama is doing so well- that’s his platform- his message. change. i don’t doubt his heart is in the right place and i don’t doubt he will try if elected.

there are those who see hard work as more important than the showier rhetoric- and i fall into that category- but i would also throw in integrity- and i have a feeling mrs. clinton is a wee lacking there. she assured us new yorkers she was running for re-election to be there as our senator. well, see where that got us.

how many interviews and how much proof do we need that kucinich would be someone who could start the process of leading us out of this nightmare? he believes in separation of church and state- he most definitely believes in restoring the constitution- he believes in ending the middle east invasion- if you don’t believe me- check out his own words. just google the man. he has a beautiful, compassionate, brilliant wife sans botox injections- and he puts his money where his mouth is.

yes, iowa is over and new hampshire is looming, but don’t let that sway your decision- take a look at the issues. take a look at the candidate’s stands- they all have websites- it only takes a moment. don’t buy what the pundits and corporate owned msm is telling you. take a hard look at the issues that are important to you- and where the candidates stand. then vote.

dennis kucinich for president

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take a moment and read the article

from larry johnson’s ‘no quarter’

our nation’s “lonely eyes” seek a savior

“What’s behind the astonishing successes of Mike Huckabee’s and Barack Obama’s campaigns last night in Iowa? BBC correspondent Katty Kay knows. People are “fed up,” she said tonight on BBCAmerica’s exceptional hour-long news program, BBC World News America. Ms. Kay continued:

It’s the wonderful age-old mantra of “I can fix it for you by being an outsider. I am on your side.”

We are “fed up” alright. We, the people of this nation, are so desperate to get past the Bush administration that we’ve been obsessing since last year about the race for a president who won’t take office until late January 2009. In the last of his series of columns for The Guardian – which The New Yorker’s Hendrik Hertzberg says is “an unparalleled running history of the ideological and moral squalor of the George W. Bush Administration” – Sidney Blumenthal summed up how far America has fallen:

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