Poor Andrew Breitbart. His Sleaze Is Showing.

Posted by on January 27, 2010 at 4:49 pm. 1 Comments :

ACORN: Pimp, Prostitute & BoratWith the arrest of the Fox News’ “pimp,” Andrew Breitbart, the pimp’s Godfather, is struggling to distance himself from his own Frankenstein monster. He created James O’Keefe and now his creation has gotten loose and is terrorizing the countryside.

For his part, Breitbart wants nothing more to do with O’Keefe. He is disclaiming any knowledge of him or the activities that got him busted in New Orleans. O’Keefe told reporters, as he slipped into a cab leaving the jailhouse that “Truth will set me free.” I believe this was a reference to Truth Bail Bonds of Louisiana. He also released this statement from prison directly addressing Breitbart:

“Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” ~Snark

Dare I say it is a scandal of biblical proportions. But O’Keefe’s prophecy was right on the mark. Breitbart issued his denial on all three of his “Big” web sites (Government, Journalism, and Hollywood). But he did not throw O’Keefe entirely under the bus. Breitbart left room for some legal squirming to insinuate that nothing dastardly actually took place.

“But there is absolutely no allegation in the criminal complaint that ‘wiretapping’ or ‘bugging’ is any part of this case, just the charge that O’Keefe and the others entered Sen. Landrieu’s office in New Orleans ‘for the purpose of interfering with the office’s telephone system.'”

That’s right. The perpetrators merely entered the Senator’s office dressed as telephone repairmen, fiddled with the phones, and sought access to the central wiring facility. What about that would lead anyone to believe there was intent to tap the lines?

Breitbart argues fiercely that judgement should be withheld until all of the facts are in. That’s an interesting position from someone who has never been especially enamored of facts. Nor has he ever shown an interest in reserving judgment. His assaults against ACORN were unambiguously accusatory. Even though ACORN was never found guilty of any crime. They weren’t even charged with any crime. And they were exonerated by an independent investigation as well as a non-partisan Congressional probe. Now, all of a sudden, Breitbart is advocating restraint.

But the piece de resistance came when Breitbert was interviewed on the Hugh Hewitt radio program. He continued his chorus of denial as Hewitt engaged in a friendly interrogation designed to setup Breitbart’s foes as slanderers, or so he thought. However, one part of the exchange was particularly notable as Hewitt inquired what Breitbart would have done if he had known what O’Keefe was up to:

Hewitt: Would you have told him don’t do that, if he had asked you?
Breitbart: No, I have nothing to do with what James O’Keefe does. James O’Keefe is an independent filmmaker.

So if O’Keefe had told Breitbart that he was on his way to New Orleans to bug Sen Landrieu’s phones, Breitbart would have said nothing to dissuade O’Keefe from his felonious mission. Even though O’Keefe was, at that very time, on Breitbart’s payroll, which Breitbart admitted during the Hewitt interview.

This is an outstanding display of the ethical deficiencies at work in Breitbart’s sphere. He is unrepentantly slanderous towards others. He has a sociopath’s sense of loyalty and self-preservation. And he has no problem with people he pays engaging in felonious conduct. Look for Fox News to make him their next managing editor. What a perfect fit.

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Go Back To Sleep. Glenn Beck Will Watch Out For You.

Posted by on January 27, 2010 at 2:59 pm. 2 Comments :

I am so sorry but I JUST HAVE TO SCREAM!!!

I’m watching Glenn Beck (don’t ask) and he’s talking about how whatever Obama is going to say tonight it is a lie (© Joe Wilson) – even though he hasn’t said anything yet.

Then Beck says this:

“You don’t even have to watch the State of the Union. I’ll watch it for you.”

NO THANKS, Glenn!

This is exactly the sort of mindless, groupthink that results in Fox viewers’ blind loyalty to the network and its cult-driven ratings. To think that he would be so brazen as to advise his disciples to wallow in ignorance and to just let him interpret everything for them is astonishing, even for Beck.

This is the last step in a progression toward total hypnotic control by fascist media. Television really is the opiate of the masses, and now it is prepared to take over all of your remaining cognitive capability. Just tune out everything but Fox News. They will let you know if anything important happens and what it means.

Ignoramus Uber Alles!


State Of The Union: Are We Fundamentally Transformed Yet?

Posted by on January 27, 2010 at 8:50 am. 1 Comments :

Even before President Obama delivers his State of the Union message, the rumblings of partisans can be heard rattling the media timbers. Democrats are putting the finishing touches on their heartfelt endorsements of the raw honesty of the speech and the bold agenda it laid out for America’s future. Republicans are polishing their spontaneous reactions to the flaccid presentation and counting every occurrence of keywords like “terror” or “deficit” as if the number of times you say them has an impact on their destiny. The post-game on these events is so thoroughly predictable it hardly requires a spoiler alert.

These ceremonies never really describe the state in which we find our union. It is more like a confessional wherein our shortcomings are enumerated and our commitment to dispatch them is renewed On both of those measures the President has much for which to answer. A little more than a year ago, just days before the election, he told a cheering audience of supporters that…

“We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”

That was 453 days ago. I’m not sure that he can make a case that the U.S. has been fundamentally transformed yet. It was a stirring promise that was received with overwhelming enthusiasm at the time. But after a year of Town Howlers, Tea Baggers, and pusillanimous pundits praying for failure and openly weeping, that moment of inspiration has been twisted into an ominous threat. Glenn Beck repeatedly plays video of the sound bite with a sneering implication that the transformation Obama had in mind was one from an American fable of perpetual prosperity and freedom, to a hellish realm of impoverishment and tyranny. Never mind that many politicians invoke the vision of transformational change. Even Beck himself in his announcement for his contrived and disingenuous 9/12 Project:

Beck, 3/17/2009: We’ve got to fundamentally change. We’ve got to be involved.

Dick Cheney, 3/20/2008: There has been a huge fundamental change and transformation for the better.

Mitt Romney, 9/21/2007: [W]e’re going to have to take fundamental change in Washington.

Newt Gingrich, 2/7/2008: [A]nything less than fundamental change will lead ultimately to a weaker and more vulnerable America.

See? Everybody wants change. It’s a universal trait of humanity. Except for those who fear change. Which, ironically, is just as universal. Nonetheless, the hope and change that many were led to believe was just a new president away still eludes us. There is a laundry list of aspirations that remain unfulfilled. In fact, much of the current landscape looks eerily like the one we thought we had escaped.

  • Iraq
  • Afghanistan
  • Gitmo
  • Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
  • Rendition and Enhanced Interrogation
  • Patriot Act
  • Wall Street Bailouts
  • Massive Deficits
  • Record Foreclosures
  • Crippling Unemployment
  • Global Warming
  • Health Care

Even worse, the appetite for change, and for the agenda articulated in the campaign, has seemed to wither. It appears that all of the momentum today is for regression to the last decade’s legacy of war, greed, and the bliss that so famously accompanies ignorance. How else can you explain the once unimaginable yearning for a return to the shallow austerity of George W. Bush’s America? Could anyone have ever seriously predicted this:

No, I do not miss him. I do not miss the smirking arrogance, the corruption, the cronies, the incompetence, or the bull-headed insistence on selling our nation out to corporations and masters of war. But I do miss the hope that I held for a resurrection from the morbid state in which Bush left the union. I miss having faith that the goals to which our nation aspired were closer than ever to our grasp. I miss believing that we, as a country, were coming to our senses.

Many of the President’s defenders make the legitimate point that a year is not nearly long enough to erase the fiasco of the previous eight. But it would be nice to have the sense that we were a little farther down that road. With the disheartening compromise and collapse of the health care legislation, and the recent electoral debacles, and the enduring economic and job slump, and the persistent rise of right-wing media, it is getting harder to remain optimistic.

None of these issues will be resolved this evening when the President gives his speech. I don’t expect him to leave the podium with legislative victories in hand. Nor do I expect unemployment to decline tomorrow morning. And it appears unlikely that our troops will be returning from the Middle East any time soon. The only thing I would ask of the President from this address is that he return to the message that got him elected in the first place. I ask that he rediscover in himself the ambition to serve the poor and working-class Americans who worked their hearts out so that he could assume this high office and be their representative.

That’s all I ask. Just a simple request for a return to genuine compassion, fairness, and justice. Is that too much to hope for?


Fox News Viewers: Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered

Posted by on January 26, 2010 at 8:45 pm. 7 Comments :

The infatuation Fox News viewers have with their pet network is becoming an evermore heated affair. A new poll reveals the network to have a mesmerizing effect on their disciples.

The poll measured levels of trust in television news viewing. The overall result that is being widely reported is that Fox News is the “most trusted’ of all TV news sources with 49% saying they trust it compared to 37% saying otherwise. But the polls internals tell a more nuanced story.

Republicans have an abiding trust in Fox News: 74% to 15%. The same is true when surveying conservatives: 75% to 13%. Democrats and liberals were not nearly as monolithic in their views. The highest rating any of them gave was only 64% (for NBC). Conversely, Republicans and conservatives were far more negative toward non-Fox news sources where the highest rating was a mere 23% (for CNN). It is this abnormally heavy weighting of glassy-eyed Fox fanatics that distort the overall results of the poll. In fact, Fox is actually the least trusted network amongst a majority of respondents (61%) when you combine the 47% of moderates and 14% of liberals who rate Fox at the bottom of the scale.

What these numbers tell us is how effectively Fox has programmed their viewers to salivate when the bell rings. For these people, Fox is their remote brain. Consequently they will only respond to Fox and will shun any other source. That is the nature of a disciple/master relationship. It is why Fox commands such loyalty from their viewers. It is not surprising, therefore, that the other networks struggle to compete when their audiences are more independent and intellectually curious. It is that sense of devotion that leads to higher ratings for Fox from an audience that is literally bewitched.

The bothered (irrational anger and Tea Baggery) and bewildered (notably misinformed and deceived) parts are just gravy on Fox’s propaganda train.


ACORN’s “Pimp” Pinched By FBI In Wiretap Plot

Posted by on January 26, 2010 at 2:37 pm. NO Comments :

Breaking news from New Orleans, Louisiana:

“Alleging a plot to wiretap Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in downtown New Orleans, the FBI arrested four people Monday, including James O’Keefe, a conservative filmmaker whose undercover videos at ACORN field offices severely damaged the advocacy group’s credibility.”

For those who don’t recall, O’Keefe, along with his hooker pal, Hannah Giles, unlawfully videotaped ACORN representatives so that they could deceptively edit their footage to deliberately slander the organization. It should come as no surprise that someone so brazenly criminal would violate the law again to manufacture his fake news stories. It is nice to see that the FBI is enforcing the law. I assume that all good law-and-order Republicans will agree that it is unacceptable to plant bugs in senators’ offices.

While ACORN’s credibility was indeed damaged by the phony “journalists,” they were subsequently exonerated by an independent investigation headed by Scott Harshbarger, the former Attorney General of Massachusetts. Even an attempt by Congress to prohibit funding to the group, despite no charges against them having been proven (or even brought), was reversed by a court that deemed the action an unlawful bill of attainder.

O’Keefe and company have a long association with right-wing media. They were mentored by Matt Drudge apprentice, Andrew Breitbart. It was on Breitbart’s BigGovernment web site that the ACORN videos were first made public. Oddly enough, at this time BigGovernment has no mention of their favorite pimp’s arrest. There is a link on Breitbart.com to a story in the Associated Press that does not mention any names, although the names are available in other news accounts and in the arrest affidavit.

Fox News is another friend of O’Keefe. In fact, it is the only television “news” service that O’Keefe would grant an interview to. Both O’Keefe and Giles appeared several times on Fox News, but nowhere else. Fox News hyped the ACORN story incessantly. On one day last year they featured sixteen separate stories on the subject on their Fox Nation web site. Fox Nation even helped to solicit donations for a Hannah Giles Defense Fund.

What remains to be seen is the extent to which there may be other unknown accomplices. Is Breitbart in on this? Or Glenn Beck? Could Fox News have encouraged this action to manufacture a news story they could exploit? It has been a while since the ACORN scandal, the Tea Bagger uprising, or any other of the sensationalistic events that Fox likes to promote.

One thing for sure is that O’Keefe’s defenders cannot claim that this is the result of Obama’s henchmen going after him in retribution for the ACORN affair. After all, these guys were caught red-handed in a senator’s office tampering with the phone equipment. On second thought, the right will almost certainly claim persecution. They will somehow blame liberals, Obama, or George Soros. It’s not like they ever needed facts to support their assertions in the past.

[Update] Breitbart comments: “We have no knowledge about or connection to any alleged acts and events involving James O’Keefe at Senator Mary Landrieu’s office,” said Breitbart. “We only just learned about the alleged incident this afternoon. We have no information other than what has been reported publicly by the press. Accordingly, we simply are not in a position to make any further comment.”

Not much of a comment, and not much more than you would expect even if he were involved. At least he has the story posted on his “Big” web sites now (same AP story on both).

Addendum: As if being a felon isn’t bad enough, O’Keefe also fraternizes with racists and anti-Semites.


PRESS RELEASE: Al Qaeda Opens Office In Washington After Supreme Court Ruling

Posted by on January 26, 2010 at 9:17 am. 6 Comments :

The consequences of last week’s ruling by the Supreme Court are becoming more noticeable as corporations move to interpret and exploit the new environment for political engagement. Some surprising players are jumping into the game now that the restrictions from funding electoral activities have been removed. Take, for example, this press release from from Al Qaeda:

Press Release: The United States Supreme Court opens the door for greater expansion of commerce, civic participation, and freedom of speech. Al Qaeda International, Inc. and it’s worldwide affiliates applaud this decision and look forward to engaging more with the American infidels people.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Parachinar, Pakistan, January 25, 2010, Al QaedAmerica, Inc.
The executive committee of Al Qaeda International (AQI) is enthusiastically supportive of the recent United States Supreme Court decision in the case of Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission. In a narrowly argued case involving political advertising, the Court wisely expanded the scope of their deliberations and ruled 5 to 4 that almost all legal proscriptions on corporate spending on behalf of candidates and issue advocacy were null and void. The prohibition on direct corporate condtributions to candidates will remain in place, but virtually every other spending constraint has been struck down.

In light of this ruling, AQI is announcing the creation of a new corporation to be headquarted in Washington, D.C. USA. Al QaedAmerica will pursue the domestic interests of AQI and invest in businesses that are in accordance with our mission and reflect the broader principles of our worldwide campaign of terror. AQI’s chairman, Osama Bin Laden, appreciates the Court’s good judgment:

Bin Laden: By allowing corporations unlimited financial participation in American politics, the Court recognizes the role of business to impact the civil affairs of a nation. And businesses like ours are uniquely situated to take full advantage of this new expansion of rights in the areas of speech and elections.

The ruling actually gives corporations far greater sway over public management than individual citizens because of the superior ability of corporations to aggregate large sums of money and disburse it effectively to accommodating representatives. Domestic businesses as diverse as Halliburton and Wal-Mart are already planning how they will take advantage of the new freedoms afforded them by this ruling.

While it may not have been the intent of the Court, the ruling in no way inhibits corporations from outside of the U.S. to participate in the same manner as domestic corporations. This presents an attractive opportunity to AQI and many other disruptive enterprises who seek to exploit the American marketplace. Petroleum companies like Saudi Arabia’s Aramco and Venezuala’s Citgo, as well as defense contractors like Korea’s Daewoo and Russia’s Motovilikha, will have ufettered access to the American political system. Corporations around the globe now have the freedom to purchase their own congressmen and senators.All that’s required is a local office through which they can funnel millions of dollars into the pockets of the Great Satan’s political class.

AQI is moving forward aggressively to realize the benefits of this opportunity by establishing its new Al QaedAmerica division. With AQA we will be able to stay at the forefront of global jihad. We take pride in being the world’s premiere provider of senseless violence and murder, and this ruling will permit us to expand into exciting new territories and partnerships. Some examples of compatible business relationships and opportunities we are presently exploring include:

  • The Altria Group. The parent company of Philip Morris has a long and respected history of marketing products that result in the demise of hundreds of thousands of decadent Americans every year. An accomplishment AQI views with admiration and envy.
  • Monsanto. A producer of chemicals and agribusiness products that have multiple applications as poisons, food and water contaminants, and incendiary raw materials for wanton destruction.
  • Delta Airlines. One of the premiere air transportation providers in the world with a fleet of modern aircraft and a presence in every major airport in the nation.
  • Xe. Formerly Blackwater, this private security firm trains dedicated, professional, paramilitary operatives for work in protection, combat, munitions, and intelligence.
  • News Corporation. An inter-disciplinary media conglomerate that includes Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and an array of international newspapers, broadcasters, and publishers. A valuable partner for any enterprise seeking to influence mass audiences.

In the coming months, look for Al QaedAmerica to be a leader in the exploding market of exploding markets. Our new American division is already stockpiling cash to fund campaigns on behalf of gullible lackeys who will do our bidding. We are identifying initiatives that will enhance our world-class ability to generate fear. These operations are also profit centers as the fear fuels demand for security products in which we are also investing.

We would like to thank our partners in mongering. Glenn Beck of Fox News has been an invaluable ally as he promotes myths that elevate our status and increase the fear quotient upon which we rely to be successful. We are also appreciative of him and his colleagues at Fox for minimizing reporting on this Supreme Court decision, as too much publicity could result in attempts to legislatively supersede the Court. And we would not be where we are today without the help of conservative pundits and think tanks who put in long hours justifying decisions like the one just handed down. We expect the media in general will continue to ignore this decision because they stand to make billions in advertising from the newly unleashed corporations.

And, of course, former President Bush and Vice-President Cheney, who made this all possible by installing Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito, have our enduring gratitude. Recent missions for martyrs have been extraiordinarily gratifying. And now that we, along with many other corporations, foreign and domestic, can manipulate the American government, the future for jihad looks even brighter.

The next couple of months (years?) it is going to be interesting watching the response from the global business community as they realize they can purchase legislators and legislation. That will be almost as interesting as watching the response from Congress as they struggle with the dilemma of restoring the integrity of America’s electoral system or letting the Court’s decision stand so they can profit from the billions of dollars in new contributions.

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A Banksy Film? Exit Through The Gift Shop

Posted by on January 23, 2010 at 6:51 pm. 6 Comments :

If you don’t know who Banksy is, find out. If you do, you may be interested to know that he made a movie that is debuting tomorrow at the Sundance Film Festival.

From the Sundance site:

In the late 1990s, a hybrid form of graffiti began appearing in cities around the world. Enlisting stickers, stencils, posters, and sculpture and spread by the burgeoning Internet, it would be labeled “street art” and establish itself as the most significant counterculture movement of a generation. Los Angeles-based filmmaker Terry Guetta set out to record this secretive world in all its thrilling detail. For more than eight years, he traveled with the pack, roaming the streets of America and Europe, the stealthy witness of the world’s most infamous vandals. But after meeting the British stencil artist known only as “Banksy,” things took a bizarre turn.

I can’t wait. No, I mean that, I really can’t wait. Does anyone know where I can see it RIGHT NOW? Anyone?

About four years ago I wrote an essay on the the declining status of artists in public life. It detailed how cultural imperialists sought to brand artists as petty amusements who should dance smartly for us and keep their opinions to themselves (i.e. Shut Up and Sing). What an unholy perversion of the purpose of art.

Now, more than ever, we must support our creative advocates. They are the emotive flank of our army and they can inspire and motivate far better than the lecturers who holler at us and wave from their podiums.

I wrote in part in The Rise Of The Art Insurgency that…

…there has arisen a class of self-appointed, civic hall monitors who believe that they can decide who passes through the corridors of free expression. These martinets of virtue want artists to repress their natural inclination to share their insight and their soul.

         But…

Every great social movement was fueled in part by the arts – from the Napoleonic era Disasters of War by Goya, to the guerilla postering of Robbie Conal. The art insurgency is latent now, but it is strong and committed. Like other insurgencies, it blends in with the populace and can strike with fierce and startling force. It stockpiles its weapons of mass construction for the building of consensus and passion and hope.<

Banksy is the embodiment of this philosophy. His public art is a free shot of adrenaline to a world that is too often half asleep or numbed by too many blows to the head.


Fox News Poll: Obama Beats All Republicans In 2012

Posted by on January 22, 2010 at 10:54 am. 6 Comments :

All it takes is a fluke victory in Massachusetts for Fox News pundits predict the demise of the Democratic Party. In the days since Scott Brown won the special election for the Senate the conservative press has been unreservedly giddy. They have proclaimed the end of everything from health care to the Obama presidency. The only problem is that nobody told the voters.

A poll from that bastion of socialist twaddle, Fox News, shows that Barack Obama is preferred over every Republican they surveyed against him.

By 47 percent to 35 percent Obama bests former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The president has an even wider edge over former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin (55 percent to 31 percent), and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (53 percent to 29 percent).

On top of that, the Tea Bagger phenomenon is turning out to be the biggest bubble since the tulip mania. As I wrote in The Tea Party Delusion, the popularity of the movement is largely a mirage created by the media (i.e. Fox News). Almost half the country doesn’t even know they exist. In this new poll from Fox, they match Obama against a generic candidate from the Tea Party and Obama wins by more than two to one (48% to 23%). Even amongst Republicans a majority (54%) reject the Baggers.

Perhaps the rumors of the President’s demise are highly exaggerated. The significance of these results in a poll from an overtly hostile source cannot be understated. By the same token, the lesson of the Massachusetts race is that overconfidence is a dangerous extravagance.

The 2012 election is still 34 months away and the stable of potential opponents have a not-so-secret weapon: Fox News. Yes, the network that commissioned this poll actually employs four prospective GOP candidates. In addition to the two surveyed here, Palin and Gingrich, they also have Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum on the payroll. It is unprecedented that a so-called news enterprise would actually employ so many electoral adversaries from the same party, or for that matter, any party. You have to wonder if Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and Bobby Jindal feel left out.

The association with Fox could prove valuable over the next two and a half years. The Fox Farm Team will have an opportunity to rack up a lot of free practice time on the air. That exposure, along with the rest of Fox’s advocacy for the rightist agenda, is an expensive asset that will only be afforded to members of the team.

Fox Nation HitlerAnd the coaching staff at Fox is already preparing the field. Fox Nation took the occasion of Brown’s victory to promote a video that portrays Democrats as despondent Nazis being berated by their leader, Adolf Hitler.

In the run up to the 2008 election, and in the year that followed, there were many complaints about the right-wing’s hyperbolic attempts to associate the President with Hitler, Stalin, or Marx, and despite the documented evidence of it, Fox always tried to dismiss it as overzealous opponents. But this video is unambiguously making the Nazi correlation and it is prominently featured on the Fox Nation web site. And it’s not the first time:

Fox Nation Hitler

The campaign for 2012 is clearly in progress and Fox is implementing their most aggressive and dirtiest game plan. But according to their own poll it isn’t yet having much of an effect. The operative word there is “yet.” If there is one thing that Rupert Murdoch, Roger Ailes, et al have in abundance it is patience. This is just the bottom of the second inning and they have plenty of pine tar left to apply extra spin to the ball.


Supreme Court Gives Control Of America To Corporations – Like Fox News

Posted by on January 21, 2010 at 3:47 pm. 6 Comments :

In one of the worst decisions by the United States Supreme Court in decades, they ruled this morning in favor of Citizen’s United, a right-wing group who sought to distribute an anti-Hillary Clinton film during the 2008 election season. But the court’s narrowly decided 5-4 ruling went much farther than the issues raised by this case. In finding for Citizen’s United, they also ruled that corporations should be free from limits on political spending that have been in effect for more than 60 years.

The consequences of this ruling are monstrous, both in terms of its broad sweep and its destructive impact. The multinational mega-corps that already wield so much power over politics via pseudo-independent, AstroTurf offshoots, will now be able to directly finance overtly political endeavors. While they still cannot contribute to a candidates general fund or PAC, they will be able to throw millions at friendly legislators independently to ensure passage of pet projects. They will be able to threaten legislators with massive negative campaigns should they fail to be cooperative. The only limits now are their balance sheets and the sky. And the disparity between what these multi-billion dollar businesses can raise and spend, and what citizens can do in response, is wider than the Grand Canyon.

In short, our representatives will become wholly owned subsidiaries of wealthy business magnates (even more than currently). They will pursue interests that benefit their new masters rather than the public interest. And many of these masters will be foreigners whose parent entities reside in Germany or Dubai or China. Even when the companies are U.S. based they may still have prominent shareholders and members of their boards from offshore. What ever happened to the conservative cries of “Country First” or the value of sovereignty?

This ruling is an assault on democracy. It makes a mockery of free speech as it gives preference to speakers who are rich. And it elevates the role of the media in partisan politics. First of all, media companies will see a huge windfall in revenue from all the new advertising on the part of self-serving corporations. Then, as corporations themselves, they can reinvest that income to buy their own congressmen and senators. This cycle repeats ad infinitum as media dollars fund the passage of laws that produce more media profits to fund more legislation, and on and on. The same principle holds true for any industry that can now buy laws that increase their bottom lines so they can buy more laws that increase their bottom lines.

Imagine now how this will effect Fox News. They have already contributed millions to right-wing politicians and causes via the free air time they have devoted to them. Republicans are able to make fundraising appeals on Fox News whenever they want. Fox even re-branded the Tea Bagger’s events as FNC Tea Parties while promoting them incessantly in the weeks prior. Going forward they will have much greater latitude to support or oppose candidates with financing that goes directly to advertising that they can buy from themselves. In the end, this makes Rupert Murdoch even richer and more capable of influencing American (and world) governments and spreading lies and disinformation to his readers and viewers.

There needs to be a rapid and forceful response to this abhorrent decision. President Obama released a statement saying:

“With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans. This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington–while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates. That’s why I am instructing my Administration to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue. We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision. The public interest requires nothing less.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer has promised to hold hearings within a couple of weeks. Sen. Russ Feingold (of McCain/Feingold fame) has expressed his opposition to the ruling. And so has John McCain. So there may be congressional will to remedy this atrocious stance by the five rightist justices who regard corporations as, not just persons, but preferred parties in the eyes of the law. It is imperative that Congress rectify this error, but they must go further to eradicate the perverse legal notion of “corporate personhood.” If that takes a Constitutional amencment then let’s get started. In fact, some folks already have:

Move To Amend

And here is a great analysis by Greg Palast describing the risk of hidden and foreign campaign funds.


Why Does Glenn Beck Hate Democracy?

Posted by on January 20, 2010 at 6:24 pm. NO Comments :

In another display of hysterical dementia, Glenn Beck spent much of his program yesterday mangling American history and redefining the meaning of progressive. As usual, his interpretation of current events is rife with Apocalyptic gloom:

Beck: What we’re talking about is an ideological movement that has set its sights on the destruction of the Constitution and the fundamental transformation of the republic.

Beck’s proof for this prophesy of despair was a series of videos wherein Democrats described themselves as progressive, or promised to make progress on matters of interest to the nation. Progress, of course, is something that Beck and other conservatives deeply despise. That is why there has never been much of it during conservative administrations. As for progressives, Beck is recasting them as Satan’s minions who are “sucking the blood” out of the Democratic Party (Republicans too). He insists that there are no more Democrats, that they have all become infected and are now Marxists. To illustrate his point, Beck quoted Michael Moore issuing a warning to Democrats.

Moore: To the Democrats in Congress who don’t quite get it: I want to offer you a personal pledge. I, and a lot of other people have every intention of removing you from Congress in the next election if you stand in the way of health care legislation that the people want. That is not a hollow or idle threat. We will come to your district and we will work against you. You think that we’re just going to go along with you because you’re Democrats? You should think again. Because we’ll find Republicans who are smart enough to realize that the majority of Americans want universal health care.

To which Beck replied: “Got it? They don’t care about the parties. They never have.”

You see? Moore articulated a pointedly non-partisan challenge to the people’s representatives, exhorting them to align themselves with the public will or face payback at the polls. It’s called democracy. Yet Beck construes this expression of democratic engagement as hostility to party politics. What’s funny about this, aside from Beck’s daft analysis, is that he himself has made a career of being hostile to party politics. In fact, if you remove some of the identifying words in Moore’s statement it could easily be mistaken for Beck himself.

Last August Beck embarked on a major project that he called “In or Out 2010.” It’s whole purpose, he said, was to hold elected representatives accountable to the people and to a 5-point pledge he proposed. In the program introducing the project Beck said:

“If your politician doesn’t believe, support or reflect these beliefs, in their actions, not what they say in cute little speeches, then they aren’t supporting you. You bring these words to them. They’re not supporting or protecting or defending the Constitution of the United States…It’s time to throw those bums out…You tell these politicians that you’re either in, or next election season, you are out.”

How is this different from what Moore said? The only difference is that it’s OK for Glenn Beck to say it, but not Michael Moore. It is the result of the entitlement Beck feels to threaten whoever he wishes, a right not afforded to anyone else. It is a decidedly anti-democratic attitude that pervades Beck’s philosophy. Yesterday’s blackboard sermon was an extended assault on democracy that focused on how corrupt it must be because Americans voted to send more Democrats to Washington than Republicans.

Beck: I could erase the Republicans. We could take them all outside and send them to the zoo all day long and it doesn’t matter. The Democrats could still pass all their legislation.

First of all, that would only be true if there were no diversity of opinion in the Democrat’s caucus, which we all saw last year is far from the case. Secondly, so what if were true? Isn’t that what democracy is all about? If you persuade more citizens to vote for your party/platform then you get to implement it (pay attention Democrats). But Beck gets even more squirrelly as he continues bashing democratic principles.

Beck: That’s why the Democrats need these phantom villains because who’s resisting them? There’s no debate, right? Except the debate inside their own party. Inside the 256 Democrats and the 58 Democrats. You see debate…debate…that’s a needed ingredient for a recipe. One that doesn’t end up in tyranny. Debate. That’s not what we have now in the house and the senate.

In Beck’s world, which is overrun with phantoms and villains, there is no debate amongst Democrats. Of course, in the real world, getting Democrats to agree on anything is a Herculean undertaking. That’s why they have failed to invoke cloture on the record number of Republican filibusters. And it’s why so many judges and other White House appointees are still awaiting confirmation. And it’s why there still isn’t a health care bill.

On the other side of the aisle, however, the GOP marches in lockstep, holding together their homogeneous caucus without debate. It is a strictly disciplined organism that will not countenance dissent. It is the epitome of the recipe for tyranny that Beck assails. But somehow Beck recites this quotation from John F. Kennedy with no irony whatsoever:

JFK: Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can survive.

Unless they are Republicans, in which case they get a free pass from Beck who simply finds democracy distasteful. If the people speak out in favor of candidates or policies that Beck dislikes they are misguided and the system is broken. If Beck approves of the people’s decisions then those in the minority should shut up and stop trying to peddle their socialist propaganda. That’s what passes for debate in Beck’s cartoon brain. After all, how do you argue with someone who believes that God is the grantor of rights?

Last year, Beck announced that “the whole approach changes” for his show starting this month. I haven’t seen any evidence of that, but the month isn’t over yet. His announcement coincided with the disclosure of yet another Beck initiative (following the 912 Project, Re-Founders, In or Out 2010, etc.), the ominously christened “The Plan,” a one hundred year blueprint for the restoration of an America that exists only in his mangled mentality. Speculation circulated that this would be a voter registration/community organizing project. In other words, Beck may be starting his own ACORN. So we’re still waiting to see if the democracy-hating Beck will emulate an organization that he regards as anti-democratic.