Supreme?
Not So Much Anymore.
 Last
January the Supreme Court, while ruling on
a case about an attack video by a group of
swift-boaters, unexpectedly ruled that corporations,
as singular entities, can spend as much money
as they please to back a political candidate.
That's not hyperbole. Johnson & Johnson,
if they so choose, could buy every advertising
minute on television and every daily newspaper
ad-inch from here until November 2, trumpeting
the Republican nimrod of their choice all the
way.
As expected, corporate money is just now beginning
to flood into Republican coffers. I'm talking
millions and millions of dollars, and much
of it is being used for media buys. Or, in
Christine O'Donnell's case, hiring the same
lawyers the Bush's used to cover their asses.
It's not hard to imagine what our government
will look like once it's composed only of politicians
bought and sold by the same companies that
callously poison our oceans. You can actually
see it at work right now. It's called the Republican
Party.
This ruling by the Supreme Court is disastrous
news for the individual because we're limited
to
donating
$2400, total.
But maybe there's a way around that limit:
(1) We could each incorporate ourselves becoming,
for example, John Q. Public, Inc., and proceed
to empty our bank accounts at will in support
of our local progressives. It'll cost a couple
of hundred bucks to become incorporated but
at least you'll have the pleasure of naming
your dog CEO in charge of Public Relations.
Or...
(2) We could start a single corporation called,
say, Freedom From Corporate Enslavement, Inc.
It will sell shares on the condition that no
one expects to see a dime of profit and will
subsequently plow all proceeds back into media
buys for Democratic candidates. Once the election
is over the corporation declares bankruptcy
and dissolves itself. Two years later we start
all over again.
I know this sounds like it makes a complete
mockery of the elective process but no more
so than the huge banana cream pie the five
conservative clowns on the Supreme Court chucked
in our faces last January.
What we urgently need is legislation that declares
that only individuals can donate money to a
campaign and then only to the person they'll
actually be voting for, with the same $2400
limit applying universally.
That may make too much sense for Washington
but one can hope.
---------
Once again, the comic above wasn't what I originally
intended today. I keep wanting to create epics
and get half-way into them before the clock
taps me on the shoulder and says "Asshole.
What are you doing?"
Luckily, there's always a Plan B.
-------------
Shameless
plug: Science
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=Lefty=
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