This is cross-posted at StewartAcuff.com
As most of you know, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling in the Citizens United case that corporations are entitled to the same free speech rights as people. The Supreme Court ruled that corporations can speak out on politics and issues all they want, spending all the money they want only if they do not cooperate with candidates they support.
Does the Citizens United sound like the dumbest decision in the history of democracy? Of course it does, because this ruling undermines the very necessities of democracy.
Democracy requires that every individual of a certain age have the same right to vote, to petition the government for the redress of grievances, to run for office, and to participate in the political life of the society.
By giving corporations the right to speak as people under the Citizens United ruling, the Supreme Court has dangerously, perhaps fatally, destroyed the equal rights and equal protections under the law.
If the companies owned by the Koch boys are allowed to spend 100 million dollars on tv telling everyone they shouldn’t vote for President Obama, the Koch boys have effectively wiped out the free speech rights of millions of Americans because the rest of us cannot command an institution to support a candidate.
Remember when you were a kid playing ball at park? Doesn’t matter what kind of ball. If one team was clearly much better than the other, the better team would give the weaker team extra points, for example 2 touchdowns in football, 10 points in basketball, 5 runs in baseball or softball. That is what the Supreme Court has now done to corporations, the Financial Elite, and the Radical Rightwing. The Supreme Court has said that the rightwing has a head start, extra runs or points to allow them to win elections by cheating.
That is only one reason I am so worried about the health of our democracy and the agenda of the Radical Rightwing to destroy democracy, free speech and expression, and our right to petition the government for redress of our grievances.
We are living in a dangerous time for our country and our people – a most dangerous time.
The only real chance we have to secure our rights and our democracy now and into the future is to organize ourselves, our families, our neighbors, our co-workers, and members of our civic associations to support only those who oppose Citizens United and those who support our sacred democracy. It is that dire.
Please get a copy of my book Playing Bigger Than You Are: A Life in Organizing to learn more about what you can do.
Send this blog everywhere you can. Print it and distribute it. The Radical Rightwing intends to take over our country.
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Stewart Acuff is America’s best-known and foremost labor organizer. He is the former organizing Director of the AFL-CIO. Acuff has also written two books: Playing Bigger Than You Are: A Life in Organizing, and Getting America Back to Work, coauthored by Dr. Richard Levins.