The Day Democracy Committed Suicide
Write the date down: January 21, 2010. You'll want to be able to tell your grandkids, "Yep, I was alive then. Sure was. I wasn't paying a lot of attention -- none of us were, really; the health care fight and basketball season got all the press. But now we know -- that was the day that democracy began dying."
Yes, on this date, in one of the worst decisions since Dred Scott, the Supreme Court of the United States officially helped our democracy commit suicide. Not the quick suicide of a coup or a surrender to a foreign power; no, more like the long, slow suicide of gradually increased doses of a powerful drug. But suicide, nonetheless.
By ruling that corporations have the"right" to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections, the SCOTUS has ensured that politicians will do whatever corporations want, and the ones that don't will be driven out of office. No politician will be able to stand against the massive media purchases by corporations, and the grassroots fund-raising of the past few elections will be completely overshadowed by Exxon spending, say, $1 billion per Senate race to buy itself a majority in the Senate.
And guess what? The fun isn't limited to US corporations; foreign corporations can play too. Chinese corporations can buy themselves enough influence to pass laws forcing Google to capitulate, for example. Saudi oil conglomerates can give unlimited money to any legislator willing to support OPEC. The possibilities are, in a word, endless.
Mitch McConnell would be proud -- and is no doubt jumping for joy. "Money is speech" and "corporations are just like humans, only bigger" have both carried the day. If this decision is allowed to stand, ultimately it won't matter what you and I think -- because we will have no influence.
Ultimately, we may have no freedom to speak, either. Or no way to speak, if corporations control every means of protest. Truly, if this decision is allowed to stand, it may mean the end of elections having any meaning. Power will belong to the ones with the most money, and they will pass or remove whatever laws and regulations they choose.
I've been depressed about political events before. But I've always had hope, because there was always another election, and with elections came the chance to change things. Now, I'm not sure I have hope -- because the genius of democracy -- the open, free, and fair election -- has been taken from us. And without it, we the people no longer have any power.
Finally -- if you think I'm being alarmist, let me ask you this: how long do you think bank regulations will stand if Citigroup can spend as much as it wants on electing people who want to overturn the regulations? How long do you think progressive tax systems will last when the wealthiest boards and corporate officers can buy votes to repeal the tax code?
The corporate takeover of Washington will be complete. Think about who will win and who will lose under that scenario.
PBO says he wants legislation to fix this, and will work with Congress to get it. Pardon me if I don't hold my breath waiting on our legislators to grow a spine and take on the corporations that already own a good chunk of Washington.
No, I suspect instead that starting this fall, you will see campaign spending that sets new records, and campaign ads by all sorts of companies, and a general free-for-all in the mid-term elections. And that will be just the beginning. Of the end.
So mark it down, children. January 21, 2010. The day that government of the people, by the people, and for the people began to exit stage left, to be replaced by government of business, by business, and for business.
Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 9:30PM
Reader Comments (3)
I agree 100%. Those of us close to this stuff understand the magnitude of this decision. Educate me on what, if anything, can be done.
Keith Olbermann diary on this: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/1/21/828446/-Special-Comment:-Pandoras-Box
Alan Grayson has some bills he has introduce to try to fix this -- read his diary (with links) here: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/1/21/828179/-The-Decision