Hello, my name is Corporate Corporation

(did you say something? speak up, i can't hear you)

Oh my gosh, I have SO much to rant about these days!

The Supreme Court has said that corporations are people with all the same rights as you and me but way more money to produce stupid political commercials. So I need to figure out a couple of things.

Like, if a corporation comes to my door selling Palin For President Girl Scout Cookies am I allowed to swear at them, even if it makes them cry? Or if a corporation invites me over for dinner and then wants me to watch The Obama Deception Full Screen Surround Sound Blu Ray Extended Version with them should I put my fingers in my ears and go "la la la" for three hours?

I could just go home, of course. But the only thing playing on my TV will be The Obama Omen, The Devil's Advobamacate, and old reruns of John Kerry: The Flip Flop Chronicles.

So if I shoot the corporation instead, would I be put in jail? Cuz after all, corporations can deny my health care or pollute my water or convince my teenagers to smoke or collapse the entire economy and nobody puts them in jail.

It's all so confusing.

Meanwhile, as our friendly corporations meet at the country club and smoke cigars, there are some movements afoot to try to get our puny little insignificant people-ish voices heard.

Here are some websites you might want to check out. If you know of any others, let me know and I'll add them to my list!

SaveDemocracy.net - by the fabulous Alan Grayson, who rants even better than me
Corporations are NOT the People - A fax petition that probably won't do any good but might make you feel better
Impeach the Supreme Court Five - ditto

~~~

I had a dream. Not any more.

(stop smiling. y'all just destroyed the country.)

I had a dream that one day this nation would wake up and realize how far we have strayed from our own ideals. Freedom. Equality. Open arms that welcome people who don't look like us, or speak like us. Open minds that are willing to listen to other points of view.

I had a dream that one day the people would take the power back from corporate interests and lobbyists and Washington insider politics.

I had a dream that my voice would count.

That dream is over.

Yesterday, our conservative Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4, along party lines, that corporations are free to spend unlimited funds on political campaigns.

Unlimited funds. Think about that.

The original lawsuit was filed by Citizens United. Kind of an ironic name, I think.

This is the group responsible for the famous Swift Boat attack ads that destroyed John Kerry's campaign. They launched a smear campaign against Hilary Clinton. The founder spearheaded the "vast right-wing conspiracy" Hilary complained about during the Clinton presidency, relentlessly pursuing stories, rumors, and outright lies about Whitewater.

Citizens United has this heart-warming mission statement on their website:

Citizens United is an organization dedicated to restoring our government to citizens' control. Through a combination of education, advocacy, and grass roots organization, Citizens United seeks to reassert the traditional American values of limited government, freedom of enterprise, strong families, and national sovereignty and security. Citizens United's goal is to restore the founding fathers' vision of a free nation, guided by the honesty, common sense, and good will of its citizens.

Unfortunately, the exact opposite is true. If WalMart and Bank of America can spend unlimited funds backing the candidates of their choice, then our voices have just been drowned out. Completely.

Am I exaggerating? I don't think so.

Over the past couple of years, I have learned four things:

1. The American people tend to believe the loudest voices. We've seen that over and over. The truth doesn't matter. Most people won't bother to look for it.

2. The radical, far-right wing has the loudest voices. President Obama has flat-out lost the message war.

3. Big corporations, who will soon be behind all of our political messaging, are not guided by honesty, common sense, or good will. They are guided by profits. Period.

And 4. No offense, but the American people are morons. If they see an ad, hear a slogan, read an email, watch Fox News - then that's what they believe. End of story.

End of dream.

Citizens United does not speak for me. They never will. They have a right-wing corporate-sponsored mission, dedicated to keeping the power in the hands of the wealthy. And the Supreme Court ruled in their favor.

The dream is over, my friends. The nightmare is just beginning.

~~~

Bumblehead Geniuses of the Week

(duh ... hey ... i have an idea)

This week, our Bumbleheads are all Geniuses! Funny how that happens sometimes.

I found our 3 brilliant idiots in today's headlines. Here are the headlines, along with a brief decription of the bumbleheads:

Headline # 1:
Man Arrested In Newark Airport Security Breach
(from news.yahoo.com)
NEWARK, N.J. – A man believed to have breached security to bid his girlfriend goodbye, triggering the shutdown of a busy Newark Airport terminal that led to snarled flights worldwide, was arrested in New Jersey and faces a trespassing charge and a fine of up to $500.

Ok, so who was this dummy? Who would be stupid enough to slip under a security rope and walk down the terminal with his girlfriend? (I'll ignore the obvious question about the dummies who think a security rope makes us secure in the first place - not to mention the dummies who think $500 is an appropriate punishment)

Was he a teenager? A senile old person like me? An idiot? Not quite. He's a Chinese doctoral student in a joint molecular biosciences program at Rutgers University. A genius. And yet, clearly, a bumblehead.

Moving on ...

Headline # 2:
Supreme Court Ruling Expected To End Limits On Political Contributions From Corporations, Unions
(from Huffington Post/NY Times)
Many legal experts say they expect the court ... to eliminate the remaining restrictions on advertisements for or against candidates paid for by corporations, unions and advocacy organizations.

Come on, genius bumbleheaded black-robed guys and gals. Do the American people really need further proof that our entire political system is owned and operated by corporations? The good news, I suppose, is that non-stop 24/7 political ads just might mean we'll stop seeing those annoying Ten Questions To Ask Your Doctor ads over and over and over and over and over and over. And over.

And last but not least, I'm afraid to say ...

Headline # 3:
Obama Highlights Benefits Of Health Care Bill
(from news.yahoo.com)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, eager to sign a health care overhaul bill into law, on Saturday highlighted some of the changes that would come in the first year and permanently ban "the worst practices of the insurance industry."

Sadly, Mr. President, I must include you in my list of bumbleheads this week. In spite of your happy-happy-joy-joy speeches lately, I am not excited in the least about the health care bill. I think it benefits the insurance companies more than anyone else. Certainly more than me.

I am fed up with the whole thing.

And if I hear one more person claim that subsidies will make insurance "affordable" I'm going to scream. I'd rather hear about the ten questions I should ask my doctor. I'm sure the first question is "why is my blood pressure so high?" ... but then, I already know the answer to that one.

~~~