22 thoughts on “We’re Now the United States of Koch Inc.”
No longer will our poor multi-millionaires/billionaires voices be silenced!
We’ll have the best government rich people’s money can buy!!!
Oh well, if I’m going to get screwed, I might as well get hammered – glug, glug, glug.
Tha’sh be… bet… beter…………….
Oh, yay! As usual, the Roberts court is making total sense. Because if money = speech, then the richer you are, THE LOUDER YOU CAN YELL.
I, on the other hand, am reduced to muttering under my breath and occasionally growling like Sideshow Bob.
Wingnuts will love this decision. They are under the impression that poor people have too much influence over government.
There’s a lot of confusion around the idea that money = speech.
I’ve known for a long time, that in someone’s life, money is an amplifier – in a good life it makes more good things possible, in a bad life, it brings about more evil. Lincoln said “most men can handle poverty, but if you really want to see what someone is like, give them money”.
Today’s decision helped me connect the dots, that in the political space, money isn’t speech, it’s an amplifier.
I can’t do much to save this country; It’s done-for, and I’m doing my best to be able to leave it. But I can try to bring some clarity about this confusion over money and speech.
I’m sure the five justices who voted for it will be getting a nice monetary present in their Christmas stocking this year.
Republicans believe the wealthy and powerful aren’t wealthy and powerful enough.
Especially when you put this together with the latest IPCC report on climate change. Because another thing all that money buys you is your very own climate change report that says none of this is a problem!
As they say, elections have consequences. Thank all the people who voted Republican since 1979 – just one more nail in the coffin of this once potentially-great nation, turning us further toward third world status. rip, drip, drip goes the life blood of freedom.
This is on top of the effects Republicans have had directly on the economy.
Somewhere in the Mall of America-sized level of hell reserved for lawyers and judges, Roger Taney, author of Dred Scott, is reviewing John Roberts’ SCOTUS decisions with something akin to shock and awe. And relief… since, after all, he may NOT go down in history as the Worst Chief Justice Ever.
Citizens United, Shelby County v Holder, and now McCutcheon. Three decisions in less than four years that favor powerful interests over the average citizen. In other words, three really crap decisions that will hasten the demise of our (former, for a short while anyway) democracy.
Can Obama pull a Lincoln?
Lincoln made the Dred Scott decision relevant ONLY to Dred Scott, not anybody else. Can Obama make this decision relevant ONLY to McCutcheon?
What is everyone whining about? This ruling gives freedom to everyone! Think about it; before today, you were not free to give more than $123,000 to political campaigns even if you wanted to. Today, you have the same freedom as the Koch brothers to do exactly that.
Well, you don’t have to be a psychic to know how Clarence voted.. All you have to know is how Scalia voted and the rest is understood.. I think you could theoretically classify that voting pattern as an unknown known, but in reality its a known known.
I’m looking down the road three years. It’s too soon to call game over, but we have some tough times ahead. Still,I expect that conservatives will overplay their hand in 2015-16 and there will be a nasty backlash, first from outraged and mobilized liberals, second from moderates who can’t stand the smell of the GOP.
IMO, We will lose the Senate in November. The Tea Party in the House will move to impeach Obama, and the Senate will remove Obama. I have always liked Joe Biden – he will give the GOP hell from the bully pulpit. The problem for the Tea Party is selling the impeachment (post impeachment) as justified and I think they will fail to convince moderates that this was anything but a petty and probably racist vendetta.
Upshot – there will be a backlash that gives the House and Senate back to the democrats with a new democrat as president in 2016. That means it’s likely, given a probable 10+ year span (from 2014 to 2024 with a two-term democrat as POTUS) in the position of nominating replacements to the USSC, that we will see a shift of the 5-4 majority to a 4-5 minority.
For the next 3 years it will feel like we are getting our butts kicked most of the time, but as Churchill remarked, you can count on Americans to do the right thing after exhausting all other options.
Ed…Your right about that! My freedom has just increased in that respect, except the Repugs have so depressed the economy to the point where I no longer have the ability to express my new found freedom.
OT.. I had a dream the other night. And in my dream bought an $800.00 bottle of wine. Wow, dreams can be crazy.. Imagine someone spending that much money for a bottle of wine.
Doug: An impeachment would not surprise me, but fortunately Obama isn’t going anywhere. Even if the Republicans do retake the Senate, the aren’t going to have the 2/3 majority they would need to remove him.
I stand corrected, Steven. Thank You. I still expect the House will vote to impeach, and you are right, the Senate will not convict. The rest of my prediction stands – the GOP will overreach when they have both houses of Congress. They will continue to go after Obamacare, and Obama will veto every attempt. They will go after him the only way they can and the theatrics will backfire.
Money is not speech;
corporations are not people;
and corruption is not integrity.
paradoctor,
It is in American Christian Conservative/Republican “New Weasel-Speak.”
I’m sure this ruling is bad, simply because of who voted for it, but how bad is it? Correct me if I’m wrong but only the aggregate limits were removed, so one could basically contribute the still limited amounts to unlimited candidates and or committees. So this will surely open a campaign money laundering market, but donors will have to claim their bribe with disclosure unlike the Citizens United Super PAC stuff. So we will have to see if all these bidders at the political auction will show their faces, maybe not?
And now for something completely ________:
In the spirit of dark humor, it’s pretty apparent that about the only thing people in the US agree on across the political divide, is that our country is a dead man walking. Immediately beyond that, we are pointing our fingers at each other through the fog of what is probably the thickest misinformation barrage in history. It covers all bandwidths. We can expect rough weather ahead.
The people on the right seem to want to run “back into the burning stable,†as Maha once put it. But, it is a stable that never really existed. They reinvent the “Founding Fathers,†Jesus and other cultural icons, as champions of free market capitalism, AKA “laissez faire.†They reinvent the guiding purpose of our nation as a grid of property rights. Liberty and freedom is applied to capital and then commodified. The cost of these commodities will become very dear, and only the “right people†will be able to afford them. “Corporate people†of course have adequate cash reserves. Anyone care to purchase some Freedom/Liberty futures?
We seem to have lost what little capacity we had for self reflection, which is ironic, given our cultural narcissism. Our ability to innovate provides this week’s flashy widget, which is the blessing of the glorious invisible hand. But, of course, hybrid cars, LEDs, wind turbines and water saving toilets are all abominations worshipped only by drug addled hippie remnants. You remember that unfortunate incident of the Golden Calf, don’t you?
The abominable thing that is being brought into being, slouching toward Bethlehem, is the apotheosis of “market forces.†Maybe I am taking the analogy too seriously, and being simple, but it seems that once the free market (BBIN) is credited as the agent, through which all economic blessings flow, it joins another invisible friend with a penchant for creation. There already seems to be a certain ambiguity surrounding these two pillars of the faith, and desperation beneath it all. Everyone is staring, slack jawed and open mouthed, at the “game over†light, expecting it to flash on. We need a miracle, summon the Board of Directors!
——————————————————————————————————————–
No, I am really not quite that paranoid, at least in my “calmer†moments, which still come regularly. Just having a bit of fun. A good rant can get you set for the daily chores.
I’m always glad to see the greedy people forced to put some of their loot back into our economy. And it’s not likely to remain as secret as they’d like. You can’t buy all the power on earth.
How much fun can it be to face a public shaming? Yes, I have considered that Dick Cheney loves it too much.
Paradoctor, Orwell missed the date by 30 years ; not too bad in the grand scheme. In the windmill of my mind, two things need to be done. Open the investigation into the anthrax attacks that “happened” just prior to the invasion of Iraq. The second thing will then just naturally occur. It is all connected.
No longer will our poor multi-millionaires/billionaires voices be silenced!
We’ll have the best government rich people’s money can buy!!!
Oh well, if I’m going to get screwed, I might as well get hammered – glug, glug, glug.
Tha’sh be… bet… beter…………….
Oh, yay! As usual, the Roberts court is making total sense. Because if money = speech, then the richer you are, THE LOUDER YOU CAN YELL.
I, on the other hand, am reduced to muttering under my breath and occasionally growling like Sideshow Bob.
Wingnuts will love this decision. They are under the impression that poor people have too much influence over government.
There’s a lot of confusion around the idea that money = speech.
I’ve known for a long time, that in someone’s life, money is an amplifier – in a good life it makes more good things possible, in a bad life, it brings about more evil. Lincoln said “most men can handle poverty, but if you really want to see what someone is like, give them money”.
Today’s decision helped me connect the dots, that in the political space, money isn’t speech, it’s an amplifier.
I can’t do much to save this country; It’s done-for, and I’m doing my best to be able to leave it. But I can try to bring some clarity about this confusion over money and speech.
I’m sure the five justices who voted for it will be getting a nice monetary present in their Christmas stocking this year.
Republicans believe the wealthy and powerful aren’t wealthy and powerful enough.
Especially when you put this together with the latest IPCC report on climate change. Because another thing all that money buys you is your very own climate change report that says none of this is a problem!
As they say, elections have consequences. Thank all the people who voted Republican since 1979 – just one more nail in the coffin of this once potentially-great nation, turning us further toward third world status. rip, drip, drip goes the life blood of freedom.
This is on top of the effects Republicans have had directly on the economy.
Somewhere in the Mall of America-sized level of hell reserved for lawyers and judges, Roger Taney, author of Dred Scott, is reviewing John Roberts’ SCOTUS decisions with something akin to shock and awe. And relief… since, after all, he may NOT go down in history as the Worst Chief Justice Ever.
Citizens United, Shelby County v Holder, and now McCutcheon. Three decisions in less than four years that favor powerful interests over the average citizen. In other words, three really crap decisions that will hasten the demise of our (former, for a short while anyway) democracy.
Can Obama pull a Lincoln?
Lincoln made the Dred Scott decision relevant ONLY to Dred Scott, not anybody else. Can Obama make this decision relevant ONLY to McCutcheon?
What is everyone whining about? This ruling gives freedom to everyone! Think about it; before today, you were not free to give more than $123,000 to political campaigns even if you wanted to. Today, you have the same freedom as the Koch brothers to do exactly that.
Well, you don’t have to be a psychic to know how Clarence voted.. All you have to know is how Scalia voted and the rest is understood.. I think you could theoretically classify that voting pattern as an unknown known, but in reality its a known known.
This one goes out to Scalia…..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-4uKgXRnpI
I’m looking down the road three years. It’s too soon to call game over, but we have some tough times ahead. Still,I expect that conservatives will overplay their hand in 2015-16 and there will be a nasty backlash, first from outraged and mobilized liberals, second from moderates who can’t stand the smell of the GOP.
IMO, We will lose the Senate in November. The Tea Party in the House will move to impeach Obama, and the Senate will remove Obama. I have always liked Joe Biden – he will give the GOP hell from the bully pulpit. The problem for the Tea Party is selling the impeachment (post impeachment) as justified and I think they will fail to convince moderates that this was anything but a petty and probably racist vendetta.
Upshot – there will be a backlash that gives the House and Senate back to the democrats with a new democrat as president in 2016. That means it’s likely, given a probable 10+ year span (from 2014 to 2024 with a two-term democrat as POTUS) in the position of nominating replacements to the USSC, that we will see a shift of the 5-4 majority to a 4-5 minority.
For the next 3 years it will feel like we are getting our butts kicked most of the time, but as Churchill remarked, you can count on Americans to do the right thing after exhausting all other options.
Ed…Your right about that! My freedom has just increased in that respect, except the Repugs have so depressed the economy to the point where I no longer have the ability to express my new found freedom.
OT.. I had a dream the other night. And in my dream bought an $800.00 bottle of wine. Wow, dreams can be crazy.. Imagine someone spending that much money for a bottle of wine.
Doug: An impeachment would not surprise me, but fortunately Obama isn’t going anywhere. Even if the Republicans do retake the Senate, the aren’t going to have the 2/3 majority they would need to remove him.
I stand corrected, Steven. Thank You. I still expect the House will vote to impeach, and you are right, the Senate will not convict. The rest of my prediction stands – the GOP will overreach when they have both houses of Congress. They will continue to go after Obamacare, and Obama will veto every attempt. They will go after him the only way they can and the theatrics will backfire.
Money is not speech;
corporations are not people;
and corruption is not integrity.
paradoctor,
It is in American Christian Conservative/Republican “New Weasel-Speak.”
I’m sure this ruling is bad, simply because of who voted for it, but how bad is it? Correct me if I’m wrong but only the aggregate limits were removed, so one could basically contribute the still limited amounts to unlimited candidates and or committees. So this will surely open a campaign money laundering market, but donors will have to claim their bribe with disclosure unlike the Citizens United Super PAC stuff. So we will have to see if all these bidders at the political auction will show their faces, maybe not?
And now for something completely ________:
In the spirit of dark humor, it’s pretty apparent that about the only thing people in the US agree on across the political divide, is that our country is a dead man walking. Immediately beyond that, we are pointing our fingers at each other through the fog of what is probably the thickest misinformation barrage in history. It covers all bandwidths. We can expect rough weather ahead.
The people on the right seem to want to run “back into the burning stable,†as Maha once put it. But, it is a stable that never really existed. They reinvent the “Founding Fathers,†Jesus and other cultural icons, as champions of free market capitalism, AKA “laissez faire.†They reinvent the guiding purpose of our nation as a grid of property rights. Liberty and freedom is applied to capital and then commodified. The cost of these commodities will become very dear, and only the “right people†will be able to afford them. “Corporate people†of course have adequate cash reserves. Anyone care to purchase some Freedom/Liberty futures?
We seem to have lost what little capacity we had for self reflection, which is ironic, given our cultural narcissism. Our ability to innovate provides this week’s flashy widget, which is the blessing of the glorious invisible hand. But, of course, hybrid cars, LEDs, wind turbines and water saving toilets are all abominations worshipped only by drug addled hippie remnants. You remember that unfortunate incident of the Golden Calf, don’t you?
The abominable thing that is being brought into being, slouching toward Bethlehem, is the apotheosis of “market forces.†Maybe I am taking the analogy too seriously, and being simple, but it seems that once the free market (BBIN) is credited as the agent, through which all economic blessings flow, it joins another invisible friend with a penchant for creation. There already seems to be a certain ambiguity surrounding these two pillars of the faith, and desperation beneath it all. Everyone is staring, slack jawed and open mouthed, at the “game over†light, expecting it to flash on. We need a miracle, summon the Board of Directors!
——————————————————————————————————————–
No, I am really not quite that paranoid, at least in my “calmer†moments, which still come regularly. Just having a bit of fun. A good rant can get you set for the daily chores.
I’m always glad to see the greedy people forced to put some of their loot back into our economy. And it’s not likely to remain as secret as they’d like. You can’t buy all the power on earth.
How much fun can it be to face a public shaming? Yes, I have considered that Dick Cheney loves it too much.
Paradoctor, Orwell missed the date by 30 years ; not too bad in the grand scheme. In the windmill of my mind, two things need to be done. Open the investigation into the anthrax attacks that “happened” just prior to the invasion of Iraq. The second thing will then just naturally occur. It is all connected.