Posted on Feb 23, 2016
“It’s the corruption, stupid”: Hillary’s too compromised to see what Donald Trump understands
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"Another reason is that Democrats who bewail Citizens United so often depict corruption as a right-wing plot of which they themselves are mere victims. Not even the base buys that. Citizens United arrived in 2010. Pay-to-play politics took off in the mid-’70s, right about the time the middle class stopped getting raises. The sad truth is elite Democrats like the current system a lot. Here’s a well-guarded secret: They even see a lot to like in Citizens United.
Poorly written and atrociously reasoned, Citizens United rests on three simple, absurd precepts: Money is speech; corporations are people; and corruption is OK so long as it is sanctioned. OK, the third one isn’t so simple, but it sure is absurd. It pertains to what Justice Kennedy, the opinion’s author, calls “soft” corruption, by which he means the entire system: big donors, lobbyists, lush retreats, revolving doors, exorbitant speaking fees. The whole shebang.
Kennedy says that unlike “hard” corruption (bribery, mainly), “soft” corruption harms and offends no one, so Congress can’t regulate it. The issue hadn’t come up at trial, so there was nothing about it in pleadings. There’s tons of data about how evil it is and how much we hate it, but Kennedy ignored it. He offered no proof to support his “finding.” He just said it was so and now it’s the law.
I’d rate Citizens United the second most corrupt decision in Supreme Court history after Bush v. Gore. Blind partisanship drove Bush v. Gore. Right-wing ideology informs both decisions. But Citizens United’s key findings, that our politics isn’t really corrupt and we don’t care anyway, is neither partisan nor extreme. It is in fact the bipartisan consensus of Washington’s soul-sick, brain-dead establishment."
Poorly written and atrociously reasoned, Citizens United rests on three simple, absurd precepts: Money is speech; corporations are people; and corruption is OK so long as it is sanctioned. OK, the third one isn’t so simple, but it sure is absurd. It pertains to what Justice Kennedy, the opinion’s author, calls “soft” corruption, by which he means the entire system: big donors, lobbyists, lush retreats, revolving doors, exorbitant speaking fees. The whole shebang.
Kennedy says that unlike “hard” corruption (bribery, mainly), “soft” corruption harms and offends no one, so Congress can’t regulate it. The issue hadn’t come up at trial, so there was nothing about it in pleadings. There’s tons of data about how evil it is and how much we hate it, but Kennedy ignored it. He offered no proof to support his “finding.” He just said it was so and now it’s the law.
I’d rate Citizens United the second most corrupt decision in Supreme Court history after Bush v. Gore. Blind partisanship drove Bush v. Gore. Right-wing ideology informs both decisions. But Citizens United’s key findings, that our politics isn’t really corrupt and we don’t care anyway, is neither partisan nor extreme. It is in fact the bipartisan consensus of Washington’s soul-sick, brain-dead establishment."
“It’s the corruption, stupid”: Hillary’s too compromised to see what Donald Trump understands
Posted from salon.comPosted in these groups: 
Election 2016
Election 2016
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 6
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"It’s all ancient history, unless of course it isn’t. An ongoing FBI probe is now being overseen by James Comey, the former George W. Bush deputy attorney general whom Obama, inexplicably, appointed director of the bureau. Here’s hoping he wraps it up soon, lest Clinton make history not only as the first woman presidential nominee but as the first person ever nominated while under criminal investigation. The media’s near silence on the matter reflects a concern for due process but also a failure even now to grasp how heavily the integrity issue weighs on her candidacy and the election. Democratic elites await the outcome with preternatural calm."
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Capt Lance Gallardo
TWO THUMBS WAY UP! I am actually very concerned that if my choices in November come down to the Circus Show of the Donald or the despicable Hillary Clinton (and her morally compromised Husband, its a team there you are voting for with the Clintons- people have to understand that-you are not electing just Hillary to the White House, she is taking Bill Clinton with her as her chief adviser), I am going to write in "None of the Above" on my ballot.
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TSgt Ken Bachmeier
My opinion, Kasitch is the only viable worthy candidate that should be selected as the next President of the USA. he has the experience in Gov't., he has the aptitude to get things accomplished, and he puts the well being of the country first and parties as a preference, when the well being of the USA is not an ISSUE!!!
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"Once it became clear that moderation, pragmatism and experience were not big selling points in 2016, Clinton has positioned herself as the decaf Bernie, who largely agrees with his agenda and can bring some of its less ambitious proposals to fruition. In essence she has capitulated across the board on ideology and issues, and even on labeling. (I don’t recall her embracing the term “progressive” eight years ago.) Her campaign largely rests on the idea that she has wide appeal to the demographic groups that make up the future of the Democratic electorate and the country, whereas Sanders’ revolutionary crusade speaks largely to privileged white folks. If Clinton’s victory in Nevada was built on low turnout and the support of older white voters, on the other hand, she is left with no story at all, facing a likely fall opponent who has nothing but stories, and spins a new one every day." - Salon
Walt
Walt
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Lol, it was ok for Micheal Moor to do a movie about President Bush during the election. But you were not allowed to show one of Hillary. The SCOTUS made the right decision in Bush v Gore and citizens United.
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