Thom Hartmann on SCOTUS "This is OBSCENE" -- SIGN the motion to amend the Constitution

[omega minimo]

"This should be this generation's Dred Scott Decision."
http://www.thomhartmann.com

SCOTUS: Corporations=People, Spending=Speech
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7530515


SIGN THE MOTION TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION
http://www.movetoamend.org/
"We the corporations"

On January 21, 2010, with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons, entitled by the U.S. Constitution to buy elections and run our government.

Human beings are people; corporations are legal fictions. The Supreme Court is misguided in principle, and wrong on the law. In a democracy, the people rule.

We Move to Amend.

We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United, and move to amend our Constitution to:

Firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.
Guarantee the right to vote and to participate, and to have our votes and participation count.
Protect local communities, their economies, and democracies against illegitimate "preemption" actions by global, national, and state governments.

[tabatha]

1. Agreed, it is Roberts obscene.

[Jim Sagle]

2. Signed!

[FiveGoodMen]

3. Bought-off White House, Bought-off Congress, Bought-off SCOTUS

Don't look now, but I think we're surrounded.

(Hell, yes, we should amend!)

[villager]

4. Hmm. Well, we know what the Dred Scott decision ultimately led to.

n/t

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

10. Bring it....

Seriously.

[villager]

16. Well, the now-inevitable economic/environmental collapse should make all that interesting...

As in the sense of "interesting times..."

[omega minimo]

19. "history teaches us is that people and governments have never learned anything from history"

“What experience and history teaches us is that people and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it” -- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

23. Ever see "The Road Warrior" (nt)

[omega minimo]

26. Apparently a remake of "Thunderdome" is in the works

Two politicians enter, one politician leaves.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

29. I'll watch, but only if Tina Turner is involved...(nt)

[omega minimo]

36. Tina Turner and Johnny Depp

:yourock: for PRESIDENT!!

[omega minimo]

13. African Americans aren't persons but Corporations ARE?

:wtf:

[DB1]

5. Capital K Capital R

[wtbymark]

6. signed and rec'd

I guess the revolution starts today

[AndyA]

7. Signed, and sent link to friends to sign.

Thanks for posting. K&R

[flamingdem]

8. signed nt

[BonnieJW]

9. Petition signed

kicked and recommended

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

11. We need some members of Congress....

who would be seriously willing to propose an amendment to the Constitution to strip corporations of their citizenship.

[omega minimo]

18. We can help them by pointing out how feeble the justification for the decision as

Thom went into it on his show. And he was HOT. This IS obscene. And insane. And unfortunately, not a surprise.

[TornadoTN]

20. Rep. Grayson is a good starting point

There are others, but it's going to be really tough to get people willing to stand up to this, now that they risk the wrath of corporate America spending millions against them unchecked.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

24. I think you're right....

We need an organized letter-writing campaign to flood the offices of some friendly members of Congress -- and I hold out hope that there might even be a stray Republican or two who might see the danger in this SCOTUS ruling -- who would be willing to take action.

[omega minimo]

33. LINK HERE TO GRAYSON'S PETITION

http://salsa.mydccc.org/o/30019/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4

[beac]

69. Thanks for the link. Signed & forwarded.

Wish there were more like Grayson on The Hill.

[beac]

73. I had suggested you make this an OP, but I see EarlG has already done that:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7540552&mesg_id=7540552

[Luminous Animal]

12. Signed.

Firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.

[B Calm]

14. Signed

[kdsimantel]

15. I signed it and posted it

to my Face Book. We need to take this seriously. This is something that should encompass the ideological spectrum.

[derby378]

17. Signed it!

:bounce:

[omega minimo]

21. Thanks all. Fast board today ... if we can keep this kicked .....

:yourock:

[omega minimo]

25. .

[omega minimo]

22. Thanks all. Fast board today ... if we can keep this kicked .....

:yourock:

[SaveOurDemocracy]

27. K&R Thanks for the links! :o)

[SalviaBlue]

28. Signed

[omega minimo]

30. Hey there!

:hi:

[inna]

31. Petition signed. Kicked and Recommended.

Thank you for posting this.

This is a sad day in history of democracy.

[jillan]

32. Done! Lets keep this kicked.

[DKRC]

34. K&R

:kick:

[dogfacedboy]

35. DONE!

[omega minimo]

37. MUST SEE Olbermann's rant

[MikeH]

38. Petition Signed. K & R

[ClayZ]

39. K and R

[DisgustedInMN]

40. Even got some righties...

.. on another board awake with this travesty. Even they went over to the movetoamend site and signed the petition. It's finally starting to sink in, Fascism is always The End Game of unfettered capitalism.

[solara]

42. signed, sent - k&r

:patriot:

[MessiahRp]

41. So just a question... how is Judicial a co-equal branch of the Constitution?

Because if Congress wrote up stricter campaign finance laws, the Supreme Court can strike it down. If someone fought through the courts to defend the new laws, the SC can just take the case and rule to defend their stance.

How can one circumvent a branch that has lifetime appointments and can strike down the work of Congress any time it chooses?

[DisgustedInMN]

43. "They" not only CAN...

... "they" did.

[MessiahRp]

54. That's my point...

Aside from an unattainable constitutional amendment, how can one change anything if the SC has a contrary opinion?

Rp

[DisgustedInMN]

62. Ahhh...

... oh dopey me...

Not too good at catching subtle some mornings...

Mea culpa.

[optimator]

44. The American People don't give a shit

we deserve to be fucked by corporations at this point.

[Mithreal]

46. That is not true. I have talked to people from all over the spectrum.

Despair is not an option, don't buy the hype about people not caring.

Organize. Organizing has been the weak link, not caring, and you would know that if you were a boots on the ground type.

[DisgustedInMN]

55. What?

Where in the world have you been? Ever hear of Organizing For America?

We threw all we had into it. What are the results?

Despair is about all we have left. Lots of it here, under the bus.

[Mithreal]

58. I was an organizer in the Obama campaign. I saw firsthand.

I have also seen what has happened since the election.

Believe me when I say I understand frustration. I already called my Senator's and Representative's offices in DC this morning. Please do so as well. Here is a toll free number 1-877-851-6437

Realize who Organizing For America represents is all I have to say about them at the moment though I have shared my experiences in the past.

DLC'er, New Dems, conservative parasites in our party must be rooted out. Take a breather if you need it then get back in there fighting.

I am scarred but I am not broken. Neither are you. You have power, know it and take action.

[DisgustedInMN]

61. I've written, called, emailed ..

.. my Senators, and my President almost daily. I'll admit I haven't called my Rep. in the House, didn't figure that I'd have much effect on Batshit Crazy Bachmann anyway. I've yet to receive anything other than a form letter acknowledge from a single one of them. Most just asking me to "donate and make it happen." Sorry my friend, I'm tapped out. Haven't worked in 23 months and there's ZERO prospects of that changing any time soon. I have "power" alright, the power to know when I've been suckered. Had to sell my pompoms, so I could afford the price increase in my prescriptions.

[Mithreal]

64. Believe me when I say I send warm thoughts and love your way

I haven't worked for some time either.

You might stop what you are doing and contact the Census office today. They are still testing for positions and pay is around $16 an hour though it is temporary. I worked in the last Census and worked a good long time and received plenty of overtime. For some reason I doubt there will be much overtime this time around.

Anyway, I get what you are saying. If you are tapped out, we still have to keep the focus on empowering people. Though a single voice has little power when singing in a choir we are more than our sum. So, if you have fought and are tired, let's work to make sure someone else can take your place and help carry the burden.

[mod mom]

45. gladly done. thanks for providing the contact info.

[LuckyTheDog]

47. Make THIS your Facebook status

"Money is not speech and human beings -- not corporations -- are persons entitled to constitutional rights. If you agree, copy this into your Facebook status and encourage others to do the same."

[NoFace]

51. Done.

:)

[LuckyTheDog]

87. Thanks. Has anyone else you know done that?

[Overseas]

48. K&R. Thank you! Petition signed and passed along. //nt

[Ganja Ninja]

49. While we're amending the Constitution how about ...

term limits for SC judges? 10 to 12 years is enough.

[jimmyzvoice]

50. I signed the "Motion to Amend"

And I encourage others to sign the Motion also. Yes we should
attempt to amend the Constitution on this issue, but meanwhile
we need to attempt to overturn this Supreme Court Decision in
any way we can.

I suggest that we all contact our Senators and Congressmen,
write letters to our local newspapers, and keep close tabs
with Thom Hartmann.

This is maybe the ultimate issue which we cannot let go
unanswered.

[NBachers]

52. Can't sign the petition

I've tried three different times from a couple of different browsers, but I keep getting this error message:

"Unable to send e-mail. Please contact the site administrator if the problem persists."

Has this happened to anyone else?

[LoKnLoD]

56. I got the same thing

unable to send

[ladywnch]

68. same here. n/t

[Altoid_Cyclist]

77. Ditto.

I tried twice so far and received the same message.

[Mari333]

53. knr

[brindis_desala]

57. As usual we have no clue how to affect real change.

"Regardless of the method of proposing an amendment, final ratification requires approval by three-fourths of the states."

Good luck on getting that done in the next fifty years. I pointed to a Clean Elections strategy in a previous post which naturally sank like stone. Far more productive to hyperventilate about a predictable decision when we all know big money has long corrupted the system.

The Constitution does not need amending. Congress can now be pressured to implement the Fair Elections Act: http://www.publicampaign.org/newswire/2010/01/22/delegate-public-financing-program.
Of course that can only succeed if the public is sufficiently outraged by this ruling.

[omega minimo]

82. Thank you for your insights BD

"Sufficiently outraged" being the question......

If you want to help me comprehend why people will let the obvious approaching crises run over them like a train while they line up on the tracks ... and decide after its run them over that it's time to start to think to plan to organize to possibly do something about it, it would be appreciated.





I will unbury your post and look in to this suggestion.

[AspenRose]

59. Thom has been warning about this for I-don't-know-how-long

K&R

[steveorg]

60. Call it the Anti-Fascist Amendment.

Government for the benefit of large corporations = Corporatism = Fascism.

Even right-wingers would have a hard time being publicly against anti-Fascism.

[RoccoR5955]

63. Signed

I thought something like this was going to come up, when Shrub appointed the dirtbag, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon.

[Vincardog]

65. Signed K & R

[SlingBlade]

66. Yep. SIGNED and Delivered :)

[tranche]

67. Oh, he's moved on from demoralizing MA voters...

[Mithreal]

70. Oversimplistic to the extreme. Oddly weird slant too.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=425556&mesg_id=425556

[yurbud]

71. DONE! Did it yesterday. Kick this to heep it up.

[Jefferson23]

72. Maybe the reason I received a message that my email would not send,

is due to the number of people signing simultaneously.

I will keep trying to send it through...thanks for posting this!

[Mithreal]

74. Received the same message here.

email would not send

[Stuckinthebush]

75. Never will happen now

The corporations will buy off the politicians (even more now). It will never get through congress.

[Oldtimeralso]

76. Done and Sent to Progressives on my E-mail List n/t

[Joanne98]

78. Done

[Phlem]

79. Hmm, I signed it but

when I hit sign the petition button after filling everything out, I get "Unable to send e-mail. Please contact the site administrator if the problem persists."

Does that mean it's not signed? I'm hoping it's because the servers getting hammered.

Guess I'll keep trying till it's a win.

-phlem

[wizstars]

80. "Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Citigroup, votes No..."

this is how we'll have to identify our politicians now. Not by state or district by by the corporation that paid for them.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[vkkv]

81. It's Blackmail

If this recent Supreme Court decision on unlimited corporate
and union spending during elections stays, watch for character
assassination advertising against politicians who do not vote
the way a particular corporation wants them to, this is
essentially Blackmail. The negative advertising during an
election will likely be unrelated to the issue of concern of
the corporation , the ads will be unchecked lies and
propaganda to keep the politician on the defense. Again,
Republican and Rightwing leadership is attempting to break
government by the people any and every way they can.



Call your Congressman to promote:

PUBLICLY FINANCED ELECTIONS.  We are already paying for
elections as individuals through high prices of INSURANCE,
DRUGS, WAR (thanks Boeing, Halliburton and Locheed-Martin!),
GAS, ENERGY, TOXIC SITE CLEAN UP, EDUCATION. Justa bout
everything we consume would be cheaper if we had publicly
financed elections and a true, unmanipulated by corporate
favors, free market. TV, cabe, radio would all dedicate time
for election adverts when they renew their broadcast license.
They're OUR airwaves. Let's keep that in check. 

[omega minimo]

83. Good point. brindis_desala provided a link on this issue, something effective.

http://www.publicampaign.org/newswire/2010/01/22/delegate-public-financing-program

[Uncle Joe]

84. Kicked, but too late to recommend.

Thanks for the thread, Omega.:thumbsup:

[barb162]

85. It IS this generation's Dred Scott Decision.

The WORST fucking thing these 5 idiots have done to this country.

[sandyj999]

86. Damn I'm Glad that I'm Getting Old!

I feel terrible for the people younger than I am that have at least 20 years or more left on this planet because it's a freaking mess and will only get worse. We are owned by corporations and are the "worker bees". Serfdom is alive and well.

[lunatica]

88. To late to rec but here's a kick

I signed the petition.

[roamer65]

89. Worst court since the Hughes SC.

The Hughes SC was the court that tried to block FDR's New Deal.

[amborin]

90. signed!