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Corporate Supremacy --Still!
by
Mumia Abu-Jamal | 03.01.2010
The recent Supreme Court decision on corporate personhood, The Citizen's United case, has evoked considerable comment, and even some indignation: "Corporations have the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on politicians?!" - "outrageous!" Really? While people have every right to be outraged, we should inform our outrage, for, in truth, corporate interests have owned the political process -- and politicians -- for the better part of a century. Radio essay Corporate Supremacy --Still! The recent Supreme Court decision on corporate personhood, The Citizen's United case, has evoked considerable comment, and even some indignation: "Corporations have the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on politicians?!" - "outrageous!" Really? While people have every right to be outraged, we should inform our outrage, for, in truth, corporate interests have owned the political process -- and politicians -- for the better part of a century. In the classic history book, The Robber Barons, by Matthew Josephson (Harcourt: 1969), one encounters scenes of major industrialists buying politicians outright with satchels of money - on the floor of State Senates!! The buying is not so overt now, but politicians are still being bought like hot dogs. What is a modern congressional, presidential or judicial campaign today - but a race for the money? For the man (or woman) who gets money can buy media - and the media decides races. In a real sense, all the court did was open up the spigot for more dough from corporate coffers. In essence, the court said, it's not enough to rent politicians; now you can own them. And they will own them. And where will much of this money go, but into the pockets of corporate media? And what is this but a corporate media stimulus package? What makes this case remarkable isn't so much the result (for this was politically predictable), but the court's reliance on precedent that actually wasn't precedential. For, in the case Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co. (1886), used as the foundation for the principle of corporate personhood, that principle appears nowhere - but the court clerk wrote it into the head notes of the case, which is not legally part of the case - and 124 years later an error became law, which became precedent, which guides decisions today, which favors corporate wealth and power over democracy. In the 1880's, during the age of the captains of industry who came to be known as the "robber barons", multi-millionaire Andrew Carnegie, threatened with legal action to restrain his corporate excesses, remarked: "What do I care about the law? Ain't I got the power?" (Josephson 15) Thanks to the Supreme Court, they've got even more. --(c) '10 maj PLEASE CONTACT: Send our brotha some LOVE and LIGHT at: WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!! Submitted by: Sis. Marpessa Subscribe: mumiacolumns-subscribe@topica.com [Check out Mumia's latest: *WE WANT FREEDOM: "When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it is For additional information and to order Mumia's new book We Want Freedom, visit: southendpress.org Check out Mumia's NEW book:
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Comments
And
Submitted by jon peppers (not verified) on Mon, 03/01/2010 - 8:31pmto repeat a quote from above..."when a cause comes along, and you know in your bones it is just, yet you refuse to defend it,at that moment you begin to die." The ONLY corpse I know not walking and breathing or enjoying the "freedom of press" is Officer Daniel Faulkner who was executed by Mumia Abu Jamal and our cause is to see justice is done and to defend against those who put forth disinformation as to this murderer, Mumia Abu jamal under the "label" of "political prisoner". Just my opinion
Jon Pisano
Justice for Officer Daniel Faulkner, executed by Mumia Abu Jamal...Guilty..proven and affirmed
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