The U.S. Supreme Court, in all its infinite, unbiased wisdom, decided 4-3 that corporations and unions are people and, as such, have free speech and, since money talks, can contribute as much speech as they like toward the candidates of their choice, making voting and buying synonymous.
As an aside, anyone that has not noticed the funds of the ever-shrinking unions and those of the exponentially growing corporations has been vacationing on another planet, but that is secondary.
One person, one vote is and has been our process of electing our leaders, and it had worked pretty well for some time — the electoral college being the one deviation that will hopefully be abolished. This outrageous decision by the Roberts court will go down in history as the most blatantly politically biased decision and, hopefully, will lead to term limits and elections for these untouchables.
There have been a number of voices that should be considered, which are not coming from the left. U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said, “I think there will be scandals associated with the worst decision of the United States Supreme Court in the 21st century.” He also said that allowing such an incredible amount of money to enter political races opens the door for corruption and foreign influence.
But what does an aging military hero know about the integrity of our country? Besides, he and many others will soon be relics. That is because they got things done through deeds, which are now considered despicable terms like “compromise” and “working across the aisle,” which have been supplanted with obstruction and “no,” even to their own ideas when espoused by President Barack Obama.
Then there is retired Justice John Paul Stevens. He was nominated during a Republican administration by President Gerald Ford. On Jan. 27, 2010, in his State of the Union address, Obama declared, “With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections. I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities.”
Stevens, a past guardian of American law, stepped forward and agreed with Obama on all scores and urged the court to explain why the president’s words were “not true” as Justice Samuel Alito mouthed on camera, breaking justices’ usual stoic appearance during the annual speech. “Disgracefully mouthed” is a less gentle but more accurate description.
Let’s hope that after reassessing the un-American implications and repercussions of the lamentable decision, patriotism will overpower partisanship.
Nicholas Zizelis
Bayside
