One of my favorite parts of the State of the Union address this week was when President Obama called out the five justices who ruled so broadly in the Citizens United v. FEC case that overthrew more that a century of clean elections laws. The ruling gave corporations the ability to pour unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns and relabels legalized bribery as "free speech."
"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," the president said. "I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people. And I'd urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to correct some of these problems."
At this point, at least one justice dropped the pretense that the highest court in the land was above politics. Samuel Alito shook his head and said, "Not true." Glenn Greenwald who, like the president himself, is a constitutional law expert, points out that this court has insinuated itself into the political arena more and more as time goes on -- citing the most obvious example; Bush v. Gore. As a result, Greenwald argues, the court's credibility in claiming to be nonpartisan "has -- justifiably -- declined substantially over the past decade."... [CLICK TO READ FULL POST]
"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," the president said. "I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people. And I'd urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to correct some of these problems."
At this point, at least one justice dropped the pretense that the highest court in the land was above politics. Samuel Alito shook his head and said, "Not true." Glenn Greenwald who, like the president himself, is a constitutional law expert, points out that this court has insinuated itself into the political arena more and more as time goes on -- citing the most obvious example; Bush v. Gore. As a result, Greenwald argues, the court's credibility in claiming to be nonpartisan "has -- justifiably -- declined substantially over the past decade."... [CLICK TO READ FULL POST]
