Freedom to Censor
by Tim SlagleIt always happens. When the mainstream media thinks they are on the heavy side of popular opinion they take a poll and run with it. In a recent poll by ABC and the Washington Post, they determined that 80% of America was opposed to the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC. I would have like to seen something much more relevant, like how many people know that the case before the Supreme Court was even called “Citizens United v. FEC?”
Because I’m fairly certain that that few people know anything about the decision. The 80% figure reflects more than public opinion, it reflects how well the mainstream media has been obfuscating the reality of the case.
Not that it’s relevant anyway. Despite popular opinion, America was never intended to be a Democracy. In the immortal words of James Madison: “…democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” (Federalist #10)
Polls like this are most often used to give the impression that America is broken, and we need a fix. What most people don’t understand, is that our government was designed to run contrary to popular opinion, since popular opinion can be as fickle as Tiger Woods infatuations.
When Bill Clinton was being impeached it was very popular to take polls measuring how many Americans were opposed to the proceedings. Our Founders anticipated that majority sentiment might be in favor of holding onto a bad president, and shopped that job out to the Senate. At the time, the Senate was an appointed body, and immune to the winds of populism.
Strangely, when the Democrats are on the losing side of the poll, they are drawn to Republicanism quicker than an accused felon finds religion. Polls that indicate Same-Sex Marriage and Late Term Abortions are opposed by the majority of Americans, rarelyget published. Nobody seemed to really care that the majority of Americans opposed Roe v. Wade back in 1973.
The question asked by ABC and the Washington Post was: “do you support or oppose the recent ruling by the Supreme Court that says corporations and unions can spend as much money as they want to help political candidates win elections?”
No bias there. It sounds suspiciously close to Constitutional Professor Obama’s summation of the case: “Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign corporations – to spend without limit in our elections.”
I wonder how many realize that the first amendment protections on free speech were at stake in Citizens United? And I’m not talking in a rhetorical sense either. The actual case was based on whether a corporation had the right to distribute a motion picture. The US district Court of DC had decided that “Hillary; the Movie” could not be distributed as a Pay-Per-View” movie, because it said unkind things about a US Senator and was produced by a Corporation.
All movies today are produced by corporations. Why even the Anti-Corporate propaganda film “The Corporation’ was produced by the Big Picture Media Corporation. (Who says “Irony is dead?’) Allowing the Federal Government the power to decide whether or not a movie can be viewed is something the entire nation should rally against. Arguments in front of the Court actually suggested that if this ruling were to stand, that corporations would not even be allowed to print newspapers or books if the FEC determined them to be “electioneering communication”
I think if someone over at ABC or the Washington Post had actually read the case, they might have come up with a little different question, like: ”Do you Support the recent Supreme Court decision that prevents the Federal Government from controlling which movies you can watch in your own home on Pay-Per-View?” You might have seen a little different result.
You would think Newspapers and Broadcasting Corporations would be a little more sensitive about this stuff.
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178 Comments
Thanks for the very informative and prescient article, Mr.Slagle. The msm and BHO, doublespeak, anyone?
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hanzo
Control the premise, control the outcome!!
Every 'good' or rather proficient attorney knows that the answer to any question can be predicated by the question. In other words, ask the question the right way, get the answer you want. The author of this article is exactly right. My own take on the SCOTUS, CU vs. FEC is that if you cannot control all the parties in question, control none of them. If the prevailing rules were intended to keep unions form flooding in contributions as well as corporations then why was SEIU able to buy Obama's office. (something they proudly proclaim). Additionally why is it OK for one CORPORATION who happens to OWN a media outlet (GE owns MSNBC) to be able to have political commentary, which in MSNBC's case is profoundly biased?
Would the MSM stack the deck? Absolutely! They sold their soul to the progressives long ago.
I thank you, as well. After I read that piece from the MSM, I wanted another take on it.
Actually, I never believed the poll results. Reporting that 80% were against the decision sounded too suspicious–I just assumed that most polled were probably liberals, and the 80% number against was just the MSM trying to score points with Obama (who publicly humiliated himself by his immature behavior toward our Supreme Court justices during a State of the Union address) with a bogus poll to 'punish' the Justices who decided the case in favor of the Corporations.
At this juncture, any poll conducted by the MSM I will pretty much dismiss as unreliable, anyway.
It's like how I keep hearing the lefties insist that the polls say a majority of the public supports free universal health care. Of course support disappears if the question is, do you support paying higher taxes to fund free universal health care. It's all in how the question is asked.
It was a decision on free speech. Honestly I can't believe they ruled the way they did! Thank God!
OOOPS! Can I say God on here?
Neither party favors civil liberties or the bill of rights. The democrats champion civil liberties like the republicans champion gun rights. Record indicates that both of those positions are false.
This is your gun rights in America LOL
National Guard Confiscating Guns in New Orleans (more soldiers just doing as instructed SIR YES SIR)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm5PC7z79-8
Where is Dhasselhoff and his ilk? I've been reading this site for months and just signed up so I could debate him.
Elections have consequences!! If anyone did not know that before, they know it now. For this reason it is IMPERATIVE that people like JOHN McCain DO NOT GET RE-ELECTED. When the republicans had majority and were threatening to use the nuclear option, it was this ignorant a$$hole McCain and his 'gang of eight' that kept more conservative judges from being appointed.
Like the border fence issue and many others that he was on the wrong side of, the fact that he says he 'gets it' now is only proof that he is an idiot. He should have gotten it before the people had to get in his face with it. Anyone who so completely lacks insight and is so out of touch with his constituents, and has been a part of the problem for THREE DECADES needs to go!!! I am no big fan of JD Hayworth but he will be getting my vote over this old a$$hole, heroism in war, not withstanding!!!
John McCain, take your hot wife and your over induldged daughter and FADE AWAY!!!!
Whether you like the results of the poll or not, the question was valid. Let's wait a couple of years and let Americans watch while corporations flood the political process with campaign money and take another poll. Then maybe we will get some action to reel in the corporate takeover of our two party system.
This decision by the supreme court will be the worst thing that happens for the cash = speech crowd.
Never fear they will be here! He is probably sleeping in after going to one of his anti-semetic rallies / raves last night.
Not only is the polling question accurate, but nothing in this article disproves it anyway. Talking about the specifics of the case that brought up these issues doesn't mean that the decision doesn't have larger ramifications.
The only body that can censor is the govt.
Yes, yes, the Brady Bill was a proud example of Bipartisan progressive, let's reduce the crime.
Yes, yes, the Patriot Act was a proud example of bipartisan progressive, let's protect the people, by gum.
"Strangely, when the Democrats are on the losing side of the poll, they are drawn to Republicanism quicker than an accused felon finds religion."
Too funny Tim. Too funny. Thx for the fat pitch.
My bad. Must be johnnies shift.
Is it possible for the sheeple in the United States to be so easily swayed by 60 second commercials?
Is this why McCain got nominated, yet you can't find anyone on the right that will admit they voted for him?
Was martial law declaired at that point?
Pretty much says it all.
The real problem is our two party system in which both parties offer the same thing: progressivism. The fact that corporations can weigh in on the political process does not bother me – let them. We already have these creepy politicians spending their entire career building campaign "war chests" worth millions of dollars, so the message is being controlled as it is.
If you would like to change what's happening in DC, a good start for us would be to VOTE THEM OUT. VOTE THEM ALL OUT. Let's start over!
I would rather fight up hill to get the right person elected than have my rights censored in any fashion. Doing something like this in order to 'protect' the 'stupid' or uneducated of America is wrong. There have always been companies willing to give money for one political reason or another. The difference now is that the people that we allow to be elected are not all honest hard working people that are in touch with the everyday man. Most of them are rich people who haven't really had to live on an honest hard working wage. You want less corruption and such then you need to take a personal interest in where you put your vote and research before you cast it!
Clearly, the founding fathers did not consider the "larger ramifications."
No, martial law was not declared, but you bring up a good point, because martial law is one more way the government can use to basically say ya know what, you really don't have any rights.
This "leveled the playing field " argument is so ridiculous. As if unions had anywhere near the financial clout of corporations.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
I don't understand how anything so simple could be surrounded by so much confusion.
'The US Constitution is four pages long and has 4,543 words and this includes the signatures. It has the distinction of being not only one of the shortest worldwide, but also the oldest.'
This little document, written by our founding fathers, has preoven to be one hell of a radmap for a country to follow.
Simply put, this Republic has been around almost 235 years, for comparison, since the founding of America, no other 'government' on the planet has lasted over twenty five percent of the life of ours without rebooting in some form or another.
I think that should tell us something…
McCain, Feingold, Obama, don't fu-k with my constitution…
You're kidding right? Please tell me you are kidding – unions are not only loaded with cash, they unfortunately have so much political clout it's a disease.
The Press is owned by the Progressives…
Well a whole class of non producing lawyers and judges has been developed to provide interpretation of said document, and liken to the bible, you have the Catholic interpretation, and you have the Jehova's Witness interpretation.
Mc Cain, me-boy; Retire early and enjoy the Depression….
Well, i would question the voters that belong to the union more than I would question the Union.
The union exists in part because of "we the people". I would also question companies that have stuck with the unions. Classic example of Toyota saying no while GM said yes to unions.
You can misdirect some of the tension to the Unions, but ultimately there exists a lot of people that are pro union.
I know what yer sayin'….A Corporation is a Political Entity Licensed to do business. Sure, there is a lot more to add to the definition. The GE Corp is obviously political. Is the idea of a corporation an American idea that we created, or is it an idea that we "inherited" from Roman Democracy & Law?
"Despite popular opinion, America was never intended to be a Democracy. In the immortal words of James Madison: “…democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” (Federalist #10)"
—
So why did we want to spread democracy overseas again?
I don't even watch them anymore. There polls and their opinions are no longer considered by me.
He's doing another re-read of "Rules for Radicals".
Wrong America is a Republic…
Is that right Maj. Stock…?
Mike, I think you spent to much time at altitude with out oxygen…?
Ahh, master of irony. Too funny. Sitting there with your list of talking points you have the audacity to call everyone else "sheeple". The very definition of 'tool'.
You could learn a thing or two about respectable lib-ery from Mika.
Term limits wouldn't hurt either.
McCain was the healthiest of a group of lame horses to get into that race and cross the finish line.
I voted for McCain fearing the disaster we currently have as a president, not because I felt he was the best candidate.
By the time the primaries made it to Texas it was a fait accompli.
Whoa….rethink that, the unions pour MILLIONS into races coast to coast.
Corporations split almost 50/50 in their financial backing. Look it up.
Let's make the further assumption that the Times or WaPo KNOWS where to go to get the polling results it needs.
If it canvasses the coasts it'll get the numbers it needs.
If it contacts the Heartland "those rubes will screw it up".
The reassertion of "the Great Unwashed" into the political process by citizens riled up by the implementation of Euro-style Nanny-statism is an irritant to the elites and "ruling political and media class".
The TEA Party is a DIRECT REACTION and REPUDIATION of ACORN, SEIU, Obamatronian oppression.
If it were up to me, no one would get to make campaign contributions with other people's money… not corporations, not unions, not churches… If you want to raise money for a campaign, you have to go and ask people for their own money. But I also think there should be no limit on how much you can give your favorite guy. If you want to give him $10 million, as long as it's your money and you are an American it should be legal. The only requirement would be the candidate must list the source of every dime he takes in and spends. And no "soft money".
I think that FDR did either censor or else control the media.
Wouldn't GE finance the campaign of a RINO?
Nope… the B-1 generates its own 100% breathing O2. Kept us well oxygenated.
Your flash back to new Orleans and coinfiscation is late but obviously accurate. Some on this blog like to hail Lincoln as a "God Like Hero" you know he read the Bible and used quotes from it, but he still ignored the constitution and suspended Habeas Corpus rights. Where in the Constitution does it say we ever lose our God given rights? I can't faiult you as others haver in the ratings you speak the truth whether anyone wants to hear it is another issue.
McCain was leading by five points in September of 08, then by sheer coincidence we had the market collapse.
MAY DAY!!!! MAY DAY!!!
What is this troll day?
The poll says 80% against…..
Thanks to OBama's presidential rhetoric… just mention the term CORPORATIONS, and….
80% of people polled will automatically be against it……..
I was in a union and you have ZERO choice about anything. The "leadership" calls the shots.
The money get DEDUCTED and you work.
I quicky decided that I didn't like that, but held on for awhile putting up the Unions brand of totalitarian dictatorship.
GENTLEMEN AND GENTLEWOMEN, I challenge you to read about the first 30 years of the 1900's by downloading a Book written by Garet Garret in the mid 1950's about how we got here. If, as Glen Beck frequently exclaims, "This will make blood shoot out of your eyes", does not inform you more than your are now, does not make you have that blood thingy happen, nothing written today will. Here is the link to the pdf version of 1 of 11 books written by this man. Let me know what you think after you read the first of three parts. It is worth the time I promise. http://mises.org/books/historynot.pdf
Is that really you mikatollah? My god, you and I are close to agreeing on something. Though I agree with your wish, unfortunately in the world in which we live ideals are almost never reality. If we could get them to adhere to one simple and transparent requirement "sourcing every dime" that kind of transparency would give the electorate or at least the few who are actually informed rather than mesmerized, to know th truth.
"So why did we want to spread democracy overseas again? "
So other people can enjoy the freedom to democratically create a republic like we did.
We're a-holes like that.
I voted for McCain as the lesser of two bad choices, and mostly because he had made an unconciously good decision picking Palin. Prior to that I was going to either NOT vote or hold my nose when I did. Felt the same way when the GOP put Dole up! GOP is a big part of our problem, sick of the pastels,,,we need bold colors and principled candidates who regardless of left or right, say what they mean and mean what they say.
Let "We the people decide" which we want.
Thanks for the post,I'll check it out,,,
I beleive they are part of the Axelrod-Carrville / Cloward-Piven / Alinski strategy they said they were working on. They probably get paid by the character!!
Lies, damned lies and statistics!
Guess Carville had alot of time on his hands to get his little minions up and running – this is going to get very interesting – sad thing for Carville et al, they are so sadly mistaken to believe any of us is going to be discouraged over this tactic.
Whether corporations flood the political process or not, people still have to make their own choice on who to vote for. The campaign money doesn't tell pull the lever. Furthermore, if the government says that corporations or even just rich individuals cannot voice their opinion on the political process, that's a violation of freedom of speech, plain and simple.
Great article, but the problem is that most people today under 40 years old that were born here have not idea about the history of our Republic! Not to mention besides all these educated progressive idiots we have, how many immigrants have any idea what freedom and liberty actually mean! We are always looking for the coming of the "evil empire" when all we have to do is look in the mirror! How tragic!
People still have to make their own choice on who to vote for. Campaign money doesn't tell pull the lever. Furthermore, if the government says that corporations or even just rich individuals cannot voice their opinion on the political process, that's a violation of freedom of speech, plain and simple.
No I'm not kidding. In financial terms , unions are not even in the same universe as large corporations that earn billions and billions of dollars.
Good on that, LOL
Someone who is pro-union is pro-thievery, pro-incompetence, and pro-gang.
No they wouldn't, not one bit!
Re: your question, I have been a big fan of the Duke basketball program for 25+ years.
Oh I get it. I've been censored – how great. Just like the article – wow!
The constitution gives citizens the righ to bear arms. That right has been trampled on more than once. We must be vigilent to keep the rights that the Constitution gives us. There are not guarantees in the rights business. There are always those in power that care a lot more about power than they do our rights.
So I guess it's goodbye America. I do not use bad language or call others names but the folks who monitor this post must think my ideas are too well – something – since there is never an explanation. So good luck to all you folks out there in America. I'll be saying goodbye, now.
Corporations have had trememdous power over the political process. Follow GE and NBC, there is a corporation trying to control the minds of the American people to make millions. I welcome all corporations into the mix, it has been terribly one-sided for too long. The left has convinced a lot of Americans that corporations are evil. I hate crony captialism as much as anyone, but corporations are not the big problem, corrupt politicians are. I embrace the free enterprise system, it has created the richest nation in the world. It also has led to the freest people ever. Why do so many people want to immigrate here, because we truly are the land of opportunity. We see that slipping away, but we can get it back.
I believe the 80% number because the decision has been mischaracterized as allow unlimited campaign contributions by corporations especially foreign corporations. This included a colleague who was in the 80% number until I explained what the decision was about and then he became livid and switched positions.
The First Amendment states in part: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievences.
All our Supreme Court was trying to explain is what the word "no" meant. Can you imagine that anyone could be so stupid as not to know the meaning of the word no, much less disagree with its meaning?
I understand that if you want to be an ironworker anywhere remotely close to Chicago, you will indeed have to part of the Union, maybe similar to what you are saying.
My point is that the Big three could have went the way of Toyota but they didn't. Caterpillar is an example of a company that has had enough with unions and is willing to relocate to the non union south.
Also, many people are pro union and believe in it bigtime.
GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT ALLOW SPECIAL FAVORS FOR UNIONS AND UNION MEMBERS
I've had that happen to me quite a few times. Did you get the message that says something about being 'approved by site admins first'? I prefer losing everything I just wrote that way over having the post removed by admins after the fact. Yeah, censorship sucks… especially when the 'banned non-PC' words we use are less offensive than what is allowed.
I ageree, "Right to Work" should be a 50 state law, not a 21 state law. Conversely, if people want to unionize (fairly, not by coersion) that's fine with me. As you said, no special favors – but thank a pol for that – follow that $$$$.
The problem is that unions own politicians in strong traditional union states like Michigan and Michigan is a nearly FAILED state, like California.
I think the Big Three should accept the many errors they have made and perhaps all three are not destine to survive, ala Nash and Kaiser and Auburn/Cord/Duesenburgh.
This should help you: A Politico Article Written By Sen. Orin Hatch, 02/03/2010 to quote: "Obama was also flat wrong to say that the Citizens United decision opened the floodgates for foreign corporations to “spend without limit” and literally to bankroll American elections. The case was brought by an American, not a foreign, corporation. The court only once cited the statute banning election-related contributions or expenditures by foreigners, and it did so precisely to emphasize that its decision had nothing whatsoever to do with that statute."
Ya, still waiting to hear from you!!
Please tell us how many corporations earn "billions and billions of dollars."
Then compare that to the total amount of money earned by union workers.
The vast majority of corporations are quite small.
Unions tell their memberships to contribute to a certain candidate or cause. At the end of the union meeting, you better have your check already filled out and turned in, unless you want to some union thugs to show up at your house.
I could easily make the same case you make and say that anybody that works for the federal, state, or local government is pro theft pro incompetence …..
My favorite is the monopoly of force granted to the police departments!
The Constitution and Amendments were written by a bunch of old white guys who were trying to keep their slaves. That's why we need someone like the Prophet Obama to fix things.
[/sarcasm]
There are indeed some natural monopolies which require governmental control, such as police and fire departments.
However, health care is NOT a natural monopoly and therefore does not require government control.
The amazing effin thing about right to work is that somehow when somebody is fired they can still sue over all kinds of BS!
It's suppose to be you can quit at anytime, or you can be fired at anytime, for anything or nothing.
Yet employers are still dodging effin lawsuits, yet one more way the government provides BARRIERS BETWEEN EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES and creates the unemployment rate when we all know that there is an infinite amount of work that needs to be done, not a limited amount.
The administration told SCOTUS straight up that this law gave them the power to ban books, Kindle downloads and I would have to assume talk radio and websites.
If the Obamunists keep any semblance of power in the next two elections, watch for AM talk radio to be completely censored and for Card Check to pass, forcing us all to belong to unions.
You just knew the decision had to be sound because the Obama administration was up in arms over it–God forbid that the Constitution should be upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Thank you Lord for allowing us to maintain some semblance of a free Republic.
There is no doubt at all. Oh and they don't think they have to pass Card Check, they think they can force us all into their unions without a law. And yes, their FCC has already started this "localism" thing that will put leftists in charge of radio and leave liberal TV alone.
No one's questioning the polling QUESTION, liberal, but to imply that 80% of Americans disagreed with the US Supreme Court's decision to uphold freedom of speech is an insult to our intelligence–not yours maybe–but the rest of ours.
Your MSM is becoming so bold in their fictionalizing that they're becoming indistinguishable from the tabloid news.
First all once again you are wrong the question was clearly tilted, and you know it Mik, come on a little intellectual integrity won't kill you here.
But the central point of you post is I believe that corporations have no business in the political process.
Well you must be absolutely ecstatic then because GE, WESTINGHOUSE, DISNEY, and TIME-WARNER, and NEWS CORPORATION LTD. are corporations and the control; only about 98% of what this country learns about the public opinion forming news of the day.
Ancient Rome, after the kings, was a REPUBLIC………………..not a "democracy at all; prior to teh Caesarian emperorships and later dictators !
If America is to survive, we must fight the Obamunists who make up the most corrupt and dangerous Congress and Administration in history:
We must be prepared to work harder, smarter, and longer than those who seek to destroy our nation. They will not give up power easily. They know they are close to destroying the foundation of freedom we cherish so much – they smell victory.
We must work together and not let our differences divide us again otherwise these monsters will profit from our squabbling.
We owe it to future generations, not just for ourselves, lest they end up enslaved on the Thousand Year Democrat Plantation.
The question was probably "Do you believe, as the right wing nuts on the Supreme Court obviously do, that big corporations and foreign powers should be able to influence elections in the United States?
AMEN !
Souhterner, still fighting the CIVIL WATR, are ya, kwg1 ?
I know Floyd, wasn't it Justice Scalia, or Justice Kennedy who asked the questions to the Lawyers? I heard the questions posed, the answers by the slick freak lawyer was very revealing, and shocking, kind of.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hanzo
"That's a bold statement…" -Vincent Vega
Good to have you aboard, prage2001; we need all of the troll fighters we can get, since the PTB refuse to do much, if anything about them.
Unions not only have far money than corporations, they steal that money and use it against the wishes of many of the very people whose money it was, who have no say in where their money goes.
There also a limit on how much a person or an entity can donate to a presidential candidate; however, unions and entities such as CORN have so many different arms, they get around all of the laws, all the time.
If Joe Wilson R, SC was censured for blurting out "you lie" to the Pres, I would like to know
why the Hell bozo thinks he can insult the SC Justices as he did at the SotU speech. He
should publicly apologize. Does he not understand they are his equals? Of course he won't
apologize, it was a bullying tactic. I'm sure he & Rahm worked on the delivery & structure for
weeks, to push right up to the line, each time going farther, like the spoiled man-child he is.
You can still have competition exist with police departments and fire departments, but its thought of to much like the school system monopoly so not enough people want or understand how easily it could be changed.
Which, IMHO, was no "coincidence" at all.
Vote them all out ; even the few good ones? And vote in who?
The FFs set this nation up so that we would never have a parliamentary system, which is what it appears you'd rather have and which would be a far worse system than the one we have always had.
Just got sort of interested in politics, Peter?
You don't have the answers, so do something to educate yourself.
Nope, they are DEM donaters.
Little grasshopper me thinks you should refrain from speaking on issues when ye have no basis for your speech. Born in Queens County New York I was and spent 42 years there before moving to the Southwest and have been here for 20 years. I am a Constituionalist and a Libertarian who likes facts not innuendo or anecdotal information. i try not to jump to conclusions or use braoad strokes, it invites error. You should try it!
Almost NOBODY, ever elected to any high office, in the history of this nation, has been a "little person", who was "in touch with the everyday man".
Would you like a book list, @socialoutcast91 ? You sure need an education ! ;^)
McCain was lying when he said "i get it now", what he meant was he realized he could not bulldoze
amnesty through. He did not mean he won't try again if he is reelected. He's waiting for folks to cool
off, thats all. He and L Graham & the Gang of ?? will be back, in the middle of the night to ram some-
thing through after McCains reelection. Fight hard Story Keeper, Hayworth may not be perfect, but he'll
at least be more attuned to the Az citizens wishes for a few years. And he isn't so damned wealthy he
can completely ignore the will of the people.
Queens? Really ? In Bayside, Sunnyside, Jamaica, Astoria, Rego Park, Corona, Flushing, Woodside, Ozone Park, someplace else ?
Losertarian, eh ? Okay, that explains more than you wish it did. ;^)
I do post facts, tons of them and know and understand politics and history.
Words have meanings and whether you realize or not, the way you talked about Lincoln, is straight out of a certain group's talking points.
"Corporations flood the political process……..blah blah blah".
Yeah, just like they did from 1907 until 2002, when the McC-F "Screw Free Speech Law" took effect, right?
Amazing, simply amazing. BHO speaks, you drone. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hanzo
palmtree, corps pay those bns out to shareholders, got mutual funds?? They earn bns,
turn around & pay them out in the form of dividends.
Ha ha, mikatrolla wasn't always so respectable, believe me, my friend. The very fact he lost so many ad hom wars is the only reason he moderates his rhetoric.If you notice he attempts to couch his language in more subtle terms, barely hiding his ad homs in veiled terminology. He resorts to mostly blanket statements now, refering to Conservatives as "right-wingers", and then lambasting "right-wingers" with the racism label, also his favorite description of TP's.He will never answer all of your questions posed to him, he also ignores articles that are posted on this very site as evidence against his Holy Crusade of Progressivism.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hanzo
You know, if we had a SCOTUS of 9 Constitutionalists, not 5 Constitutionalists and 4 judical activist wingnuts, the decision would have been 9-0.You're so full of sh!t, the original Tillman Act dates to 1907, not a "rather recent invention".
Do you8 even know how many times the Tillman Act has been added to, altered?Or challenged? Hurry now, run along and google the Tillman Act, in a vain attempt to pretend you've actually researched the issue with resources besides google, or wiki.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hanzo
"Larger ramifications". Such as? Prove you know anything about the issue.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hanzo
Wasn't that the SPAD you flew? No wonder you're out of touch with reality. ;^) ,,,,,,,,,,,Hanzo
This post made me smile. You totally have Meeka pegged. He's my favorite lib on this site, he really makes it fun. You're right though, when you hit too close to home he bottles up. Still, he's better than Johnny here who takes himself oh so seriously it's almost saddening to pick on him.
My tact lately is to point out the inherent racism in this leftist ideology and the revealing truth that it's typically these libs who bring race into the conversations we have on these boards.
Present your "wish list" to your Progressive Proletariat Committee at your next meeting, let's see how far it goes. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hanzo
So true, the real Racists are the race baiters. They also engage in heavy class warfare and the politics of envy, as I'm sure you're well aware.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hanzo
McCain Feingold was hardly the first attempt to control the influence of large campaign contributions. The Federal Election Campaign Act in 1972 put requirements on campaigns to disclose their sources of contributions, and then added statutory limits on contributions in 1974 when it was amended to create the FEC.
What McCain Feingold did was update the contribution limits and it eliminated the ability of campaigns to raise "soft money". Politicians being what they are, they left a loophole big enough to drive a truck through with the 501(3)c's and "advocacy exemptions". The campaign laws weathered several court challenges until Saundra Day O'Conner retired and the Bush judges struck down part of the law in a 5-4 decision. She has since said she would not have voted with the conservatives and that it was a mistake not to let the congress put limits on campaign spending.
Do some reading…
If the left is screaming and crying about it……It has to be a good thing!
Obamunists like to buy votes.
BAD – Corporations spending CORPORATE money to help political candidates.
GOOD – Obama spending TAXPAYER money to help political candidates.
How much taxpayer money did Obama spend flying Air Force One to Denver to boost Michael Bennet (D-CO) and how much taxpayer money did Obama spend flying Air Force One to Las Vegas to boost Harry Reid (D-NV)?
On top of that Obama passed out $1.5 billion taxpayer dollars for housing funds to buy votes for Harry Reid (D-NV) and to make sure he gets a warm reception. Great Idea! Any time Obama travels to a location where he is unpopular or to support some loser Democrat (taxpayer funded), he can just pass out taxpayer money. Maybe even make a pass with Air Force One dropping tons of hundred dollar bills.
The hopey changey crowd will never understand that THE MONEY IS FROM THEIR OWN POCKET, they will cheer, sing praises to Obama AND HELP HIM ON HIS MISSION TO DESTROY AMERICA.
The Fall of the Republic – Full Length
http://usataxpayer.org/?0076116238
HR4530 The Progressive* Plan for Your Children
http://usataxpayer.org/?0092081630
Tim
Either you're uninformed with respect to Citizens United vs FEC and not intending to mislead (unlikely), or you left out some key information in your article in a very clever public relations move designed to mislead the masses so as to move the herd where you need it for your own gain. Edward Bernays would be proud.
The core issue, which you neglected to mention, was not whether corporations could produce films that were critical of someone. Rather, until this decision, we had laws on the books that prevented corporations from running negative advertisements close to an election Here's a clip from Wikipedia…
…enforcing provisions of the McCain-Feingold Act which prevented the film Hillary: The Movie from being shown on television right before the 2008 Democratic primaries.[1][3] The Court's decision struck down a provision of the McCain-Feingold Act that banned for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions from broadcasting “electioneering communications” in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before the general elections.
Let's be clear here. The "film" in question was really just an extended attack ad against Hillary Clinton, who I actually don't care for personally. With the recent SCOTUS decision, average, hard working citizens are going to have an even more difficult time understanding the real issues they are being asked to vote on, as corporate money is going to be used to position public consciousness in a way to benefit a wealthy minority of Americans. But I'm sure you and your lobbyist cronies already knew that.
Part 1:
Let me address your last sentence first. What group would that be? My quotes are from a fellow Long Islander with a Ph.D. by the name of Thomas E. Woods. His publication was entitled;"The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History" you may have heard of it. You make my point by failing to recognize that although words have meaning those words depend upon context and the background and history of the individual spaeking them. You had none of that when you made your remark!
Paragraph number 3: understanding politics and history is not the same as being in possession of all the facts necessary to describe an event as accurately as possible. still I take you at your word that you use facts, you must have missed the ones I posted on Lincoln though.
Part 2:
Another indication of your prejudgment philosophy is using the word, Losertarian. I assume you ascribe me to the Libertarian Party specifically to Ron Paul. again you show your ability to jump to un warranted conclusions, I am neither. The word Libertarian to me and to the American Standard Dictionary is defined as a person who believes infreedom of action and thought. One who believes in free will. That would be me!
Finally the answer to the first question is? Rockaway Beach, family there since 1864 and my great grandfather was one of the towns first policeman and first added to the NYC police department when Rockaway Beach became part of the city of New York and left as a city in Nassau County!
The Founding Fathers would be shocked to learn the organs they thought of as the "press" had become statist propagandist organs. They would be pleased to discover alternative media had filled the vaccuum of the fourth estate they though to protect with the First Amendment. I think they would be thrilled to realize it the vaccum was filled simultaneously by an old technology (AM Radio) and a new technology (The Internet). Who can doubt the Constitution is mankind's greatest achievement yet?
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
This was too good to let stand with a typo …
The Founding Fathers would be shocked to learn the organs they thought of as the "press" had become statist propagandist organs. They would be pleased to discover alternative media had filled the vaccuum of the fourth estate they sought to protect with the First Amendment. I think they would be thrilled to realize it the vaccum was filled simultaneously by an old technology (AM Radio) and a new technology (The Internet). Who can doubt the Constitution is mankind's greatest achievement yet?
Like previous "Progressives" only they had more success, McCain was caught in an unconstitutional position and the Progressive giant was cut down!
Essentially.
Do some reading yourself. Start with the transcript of the oral arguments presented to the SCOTUS regarding the recent decision.You're so far off base, as usual.
What M-F did was open the door for any part of "perceived" political donations(be it cash, FILMS or PRINTED mediums to be censored) to be held up to scrutiny of the most unbelievable levels.But your hero, BHO, and his minions, obfuscated the issue to be one of "Big Corporate and Foreign Bogeymen" against the valiant defenders of Truth, Justice and the American Way.How does it feel to be a dupe, and regurgitate vomit that you've been spoon fed?Hmmm?
Do you think I'm surprised by the traitor Sandra Day O'Conner? The one decision by RR that I regreted.
Have a nice night, mika. ;^),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Hanzo
Why would you want to waste your valuable time conversing with brain dead pinko proglibs? Are you just looking for a homeopathic way to raise your blood pressure?
Fat chance of getting rid of the Ronulan moon bat. Looks like he'll die in office. Let's hope it's sooner rather than later.
Stop parroting daily kos blogs, they lie, it doesn't work that way, read the supreme court ruling, you will see your statement is wrong.
Since you are evidently ignorant, or so you say, of the Southerners on line, on various different right of center sites, who are still fighting the CIVIL WAR, I'll explain why your post led me to believe that you were one of them.
As stated above, there is such a group, on line, They spend a great deal of time trashing Lincoln, refighting every battle, usually ending their replies with "THE SOUTH HAS RISEN" or a variation on that theme, playing the victim card, about how everyone "hates" Southerners, how they aren't "rednecks"/how they're PROUD to be "rednecks", that it's just awful/has caused them all kinds of mental anguish, that Hollywood portrays Southerners in a terrible light, and on and on. One of their MAIN/LEADOFF talking points is that Lincoln did away with Habeas Corpus rights.
So yes, it was a visceral reaction on my part, after seeing this junk posted for more than a dozen years, on line. Proving that your point, supposedly "against" me, works against YOU, since you were then ignorant of and your failure to know just what's out there, that I have witnessed and no context thereof.
I didn't take your out of context, at all; but rather, took it in the context of what I was very familujre with, without you having shown any reason why I should not have done so.
And I have read "THE POLITICALLY INCORRECT GUIDE TO AMERICAN HISTORY", BTW.
I missed nothing in the post of yours, that I originally replied to. You, OTOH, posted blurbs, without any relevant context with which to detract one from an erroeous reading of same.
If you don't want to be associated with the LP and/or Ron Paul, it would behoove you to spell "libertarian" as I just did, with a lower case "L"; not with it capitalized one. Just a helpful hint, which would preclude others from making the error I did, as to where you are coming from.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh…………..I see. I was about to add Rockaway Beach, but decided that I has already listed more than enough place names. Thanks for the answer!
I'm a born and bred Manhattanite ( no longer living there ), whose family settled there, a paltry few years later than your family settled in RB.
don't waste your time, it's ( Randolph Bourne Institute ) try googling, I did, I almost threw up.
You do know that the poster can edit the post until someone replies, don't you?
And your point would be. what exactly …
I'm stupid?
No, I'm a terrible typist, especially when I'm enjoying a good Rielsing.
Maybe I could enjoying kicking your a$$ sometime after enjoying a glass of good Riesling?
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
I'm just pointing out that one can edit a post without repeating it. I think it's important for like-minded people to help each other out. We can be more effective in our message if we use the tools of the forum, including the edit button.
But it is OK in your view for UNIONS to 'flood the political process' not just with money but with voter fraud. SEIU BOUGHT OBAMA HIS OFFICE. They actually admit to it. Get your biased head out of your a$$. Also as you amy have missed, Obama raked in millions of dollars in contributions through the internet, and conveniently turned off the programming that would indicated from where those contributions were coming. Just like Clinton raked in millions of dollars from the chinese and got away with it. SCOTUS just leveled the playing field!
And then there is Robert Shiller's "America is in need of a pep talk…" in the Financial Times the other day. He so boldly states that "Now the danger is that we will languish in a period of under-confidence."
Yes Bob. Our government is a lie. The propaganda is a lie. Under-confidence? I wonder how long it took you to see that coming. Summer of 2006 here Bob.
Anyway. What About Bob?
Bob took the time to piece together a 1000-plus word description of this financial calamity and FT decided to publish it. I wonder why. Do they? 1000 words and not one made reference to the GSE's. Not one made reference to the ratings agencies.
And this Joker is a professor at Yale. I've been conditioned my entire life to believe that the "Ivy League" experience is unparalleled. I had my suspicions. And when a professor at an Ivy League school refuses to connect the dots or acknowledge that other have already connected the dots one wonders what is going on behind closed doors.
I know they think we are YO YOs. But what does that make them? Aren't they on another plane intellectually? Aren't they on scholarly plane we can only hope to look up to?
And then there is Ben Shapiro. He went to Harvard. So I think I have reached a conclusion. The Ivy League experience is another hoax. Another lie. 'What About Bob' Shiller needs the Ivy League. He needs Yale for credibility.
In the other case I realize that Harvard needs Shapiro and not the other way around. The poll I conducted is also at 80%. Good grief. Shiller. Name speaks for itself.
[...] is an article from Tim Slagle of Biggovernment.com I’ll post parts of what he said, and offer a rebuttal. I wonder how many realize that the first [...]
Progressives are the book burners and censors. The citing of such polls described in this article is just an example how a fact can masquerade as a lie.
The omissions are legion. Acorn, liberal violence, Obama's background, Van Jones, Gobal Warming scam implosion, and the list is endless. Thanks for the internet, sites like this one and the awakening giant.
Biggest epoch domestic story of the last 25 years is the corrupt media.
.
Actually I was being dramatic for effect. Obviously you should not take me so literally. Perhaps you are the one who needs to be educated.
Perhaps you should learn how to post on line, so you can stop embarrassing yourself. ;^)
Perhaps you want more humiliation? Come one, a test of wits, would find you crying on the floor in a very short time.
Oh ya, let me clarify – BEST REPUBLICAN candidate – he was clearly superior to Ocommunist!
That is clear to ALL now.
I wish… those were the days.
No, you won and I congratulate your facility to get out of a situation with self deprecation and wit; though the "blowhard" remark is unwarranted and off the mark..
The comparison with movie censorship is odd at worst and irrelevant at best, tbh. And you evidently aren't much of a poll watcher if you've never seen a published poll showing Americans opposing same-sex marriage. Most polls do show a degree of pro-choice views, though, even if the pro-life label is more popular, so I do agree with that point, but I would question a poll's methodology if it did so say Americans support overturning Roe, even if Americans are supportive of restrictions. I realize this is all opinion, but it should still be pointed out that it somewhat less than objective.
I don't disagree in premise and do agree for the most part, but there were obviously a couple of mistakes. Majority does not necessarily rule in a republic.
I really don't think the founding fathers would have agreed with the concept of foreign owned corporations spending unlimited amounts of money through their US subsidiaries in order to elect politicians sympathetic to their views.
If it were that simple, we wouldn't be having this discussion and the supreme court decision would have been 9-0, not 5-4. Corporations are made up of people, but they are not persons with Constitutional rights. That has been a rather recent invention.
Who will you put in their place?
tossing the cats with the dogs then complain about the noise is not
going to cure the problem with the rats
fired up today 1rc?
Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw…….not much and only posting a tiny bit, as nI'm watching some movies I recorded a few days ago.
How're YOU doing, HC? Haven't seen you around the last couple of days; been busy ?
whats to be INTERPRETED?
”…..Do you Support the recent Supreme Court decision that prevents the Federal Government from controlling which movies you can watch in your own home on Pay-Per-View?……..”
It's all in how you ask the question and this is the honest version, but I suspect most victims within Modern Liberautism are all too eager for government control in all things. Of course they favor censorship if dissenting views are suppressed.
[...] [...]
Gentle Readers,
This should be on BIGJOURNALISM. The Media feel they should have the right, as under McCain-Feingold, to endorse candidates, but someone who makes a $30,000 film and gets $150 to pay for it from a dentist shouldn't be allowed that same right?
Their polling is misleading, to say the least: campaign contributions have nothing to do with this! It's a question of whether or not someone in a government agency decides which corporations are allowed to have free speech and which corporations are not. More to the point, huge multinational conglomerate media companys were being allowed speech while mom & pop businesses ( yeah, they're incorporated, so what! ) were being suppressed.
Kindest Regards to all,
I am,
John Lepant
Brighton
Colorado
Interesting… I knew about "Hillary….the Movie" before this case, but did not know that they were connected. I merely thought that this was a test to a campaign finance law. Amazing how the news gets spun when the Dems are losing.
No thanks, I really don't have the energy or desire to engage you – so you win. But I will say that I think we probably agree on many issues so it's not at all hard for me to forfeit to such a blowhard.
Anyway crying on the floor is my favorite past time. Usually I do it in fetal position.
As always, a good point john, no harm in leveling the playing field…
Pray him with Psalms Ch 91….."Bad Wishes for Our Enemy(s)"
Clinton set the pace when he said: "What does IS mean?"
wow, I read the whole thing! All I can say right now about this book is the fact that if you want to learn about history, it will help to read the period you're studying from the perspective of the eyes of many different people of that time. All reports will be inaccurate to a certain extent. If you continue to read works by a larger number of perspectives you will get a fuller and richer picture of what was truly happening.
The sad part is the fact most people don't know where they came from,why they're here, or care where Society is heading. Apathy is our greatest resource.
The only ones who's hands are busy are your "leaders" and those hands work overtime while we sleep…
Whether or not you agree with the Court's decision is missing a fundamental point. McCain-Feingold didn't prevent influence dollars from impacting legislation. Instead, it necessarily narrowed the circle of influence down to a field of a mere 535 U.S. citizens. It became legal and entirely possible to effect legislation without bothering those other 300 million folks with all the pesky details. I prefer the influence dollars be used in the open; in print, on radio, and on television where I can make up my own mind on the issues. Rather than be confined to K Street and the backrooms of D.C.
It also bears mentioning that citizens owning corporations are effected by legislation above and beyond those citizens that don't own corporations. I find it a difficult position to defend that those citizens have their voices be excluded from the debate. Or in the case of McCain-Feingold, not even be allowed into the debate.
I'll put my faith in the voters of America who can neither pencil in a cozy little earmark, nor can they be purchased with a nominal contribution to a campaign re-election fund. I say, make the corporation with so much to either win or lose spend the money on a multi-million dollar ad campaign to persuade ALL the voters as to why their position should even matter to me.
sold? no. gave it willingly, with love in their (bleeding) hearts. virtually foisted it upon them like an obsessed stalker.
People despise unions even more than they do large corporations, the question as asked sides the Supreme Court decision as being against the people and for their oppressors!
""Do you believe, as the right wing nuts on the Supreme Court obviously do, that big corporations and foreign powers should be able to influence elections in the United States?"
close- you left out: …should be able to SPEND UNLIMITED BILLIONS & BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO influence elections AND COMPLETELY OVERWHELM THE COMMON MAN & WOMAN'S ABILITY TO influence elections…
There actually is a mechanism to do just that: goooh.com. It's short for "get out of my house" and is a real plan to replace all 435 members of the House and put in place true "citizen representatives". At lease check it out.
All I know is that nothing, and I mean NOTHING can do any worse than the current crop.
The only thing i have to add to this article and if it has alreadt been mentioned, i apoligize. But newspapers are corporations too and publish articles up too and including the day of elections, the same with news organizations like NBC , CBS, MSNBC, and FOX. None of these groups are unbiased, they all have there favorite candidate and push that person relentlessly. While in my opioion FOX does try to be somewhat even handed a lot of people will disagree with that. So if GE has the right to push for a certain candiate by hiding behind NBC why should another corporation have the same right without hiding and pretending they do not have an agenda??
If you allow your vote to be swayed by a commercial by Hewlett Packard , Wal-Mart or even ABC then you are an idiot.
i made the same point further on in the comments as you. GE can push a candiate via NBC or MSNBC but its wrong for PAR Corp ( not a real company, just an example) to do the same somehow. I do not understand the reasoning behind it
[...] Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this | // Posted by Editor at 1:54 PM Tagged with: Barack Obama, campaign caps, campaign finance, Citizens United, Congress, Culture, Featured Story, FEC, issue polling, james madison, Justice/Legal, Media Criticism, News, politics, Polling, Supreme Court, Washington Post [...]
What? you actually believe unions have more money than corporations? Are you joking? You are wrong by a very very large degree.
You didn't really read/understand what I wrote; just admit it, we'll all applaud you for doing so.
Now get someone to read it to you and explain what posted.
the only thing 'accurate' about that poll was in determining the percentage of constitutionally illiterate people in this country. in that regard, i found it somewhat heartening. i would've pegged it closer to 95%…
If you could provide competition in education through removing property taxes etc. from forcing customers to go to public schools, but rather choosing what kind of school they want to go to, good schools would develop and retain customers, and bad schools would fail.
You can apply the same types of ideas to police departments.
I'm sorry, I couldn't follow that.
***[] » Freedom to Censor – Big Government – http://biggovernment.com/tslagle/2010/02/20/freedom-to-censor -
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