The corrupted Supreme Court strikes again! No limits from donors after the election

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ivwshane

Lifer
May 15, 2000
32,548
15,425
136
This case is a continuation of the same policy reiterated several times by this "conservative" court in the last two decades or so-which pretty much precludes shortsightedness. The current Supreme Court is extremely hostile towards the basic concept of democracy. I'm at a loss to understand what constitution they are purporting to interpret and enforce.

That’s kind of my point, where exactly are they getting this idea from? Like what in the constitution are they pointing to?
 

kt

Diamond Member
Apr 1, 2000
6,015
1,321
136
That’s kind of my point, where exactly are they getting this idea from? Like what in the constitution are they pointing to?
If you haven't noticed, they have been making their own laws now. If not directly, then indirectly by signaling to conservative lawmakers to make the laws and if they get challenged in court for being unconstitutional then they will strike them down. Rinse and repeat.
 

brycejones

Lifer
Oct 18, 2005
27,651
26,752
136
That’s kind of my point, where exactly are they getting this idea from? Like what in the constitution are they pointing to?
They've determined that since it takes money to run an election then money is the same as speech. Once you agree with that then most (if not all) restrictions on money in campaigns are invalid if you take an absolutist approach to the 1st amendment.

Basically we're fucked as long as the court is this extreme.
 

JTsyo

Lifer
Nov 18, 2007
11,817
952
126
No one could possibly anticipate horrendous consequences from this...
Dissenting opinion by Justice Kagan nails it:

“And as they paid him, so he will pay them. In the coming months and years, they receive government benefits ― maybe favorable legislation, maybe prized appointments, maybe lucrative contracts. The politician is happy; the donors are happy. The only loser is the public. It inevitably suffers from government corruption.”
 

ivwshane

Lifer
May 15, 2000
32,548
15,425
136
If you haven't noticed, they have been making their own laws now. If not directly, then indirectly by signaling to conservative lawmakers to make the laws and if they get challenged in court for being unconstitutional then they will strike them down. Rinse and repeat.

Oh I’ve noticed but I’m used to at least some kind of connection to the constitution and not this complete fabrication.
 
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fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
85,634
50,860
136
So if I understand this right the Constitution does not prohibit rigging electoral maps so the other party can never win but the Constitution DOES prohibit any limits on the amount of money parties with interests before the government can directly place in the pockets of elected officials.
 

kt

Diamond Member
Apr 1, 2000
6,015
1,321
136
So if I understand this right the Constitution does not prohibit rigging electoral maps so the other party can never win but the Constitution DOES prohibit any limits on the amount of money parties with interests before the government can directly place in the pockets of elected officials.
Well, the way you worded it sounds so bad. Couldn't we just call it exercising free speech with our money? /S
 
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fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
85,634
50,860
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Well, the way you worded it sounds so bad. Couldn't we just call it exercising free speech with our money? /S
The Constitution protects political expression, just not the type of political expression that actually results in the public's preferred candidate taking office.
 

Thump553

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
12,757
2,533
126
What's crazy is Thomas and Alito could be there for another 10-15 years.

Trump's three appointees are currently 50, 55 & 57. The Court is going to be a huge negative factor in American life for the next several decades at a minimum. And Clarence Thomas-currently the oldest justice, is only 74. Barring multiple miracles we are screwed for a long time.
 

rza_757

Junior Member
May 16, 2022
18
17
36
If money is speech then my taxes represent speech that’s being taken away from me. Therefore taxes are a violation of my free speech. That’s level of retarded logic this court is using right now.

I will never make sense of some of it... Kinda like when they ruled corporations are people...
 

rza_757

Junior Member
May 16, 2022
18
17
36
The same one that said that only rich old white men should be counted as full citizens.
This is the problem with originalists. The Constitution as it was written is a terrible guide for the modern world.

My kid was taking an AP Government class and thought it was kinda boring so I showed her the 3/5 of a man part in the constitution and showed her that was the foundation of what we're dealing with here. I did not want her to be naive to how she's viewed by the ruling class, though it is a lot slicker nowadays...
 
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Zorba

Lifer
Oct 22, 1999
15,244
10,818
136
My kid was taking an AP Government class and thought it was kinda boring so I showed her the 3/5 of a man part in the constitution and showed her that was the foundation of what we're dealing with here. I did not want her to be naive to how she's viewed by the ruling class, though it is a lot slicker nowadays...
It would've been better for the slaves to not be counted at all. And better for the slave owners to count them 100%. I've never understood why the ”3/5" part is held up as the racist part and not the "All other persons" part.
 

SMOGZINN

Lifer
Jun 17, 2005
14,221
4,452
136
It would've been better for the slaves to not be counted at all. And better for the slave owners to count them 100%. I've never understood why the ”3/5" part is held up as the racist part and not the "All other persons" part.

Because it emphasis just how dehumanized they were. It would have been less insulting to declare them not human at all rather than 3/5 a human.
It shows clearly that they accepted that they are human and still chose to treat them that way.

It is way more complex than that even, but this is not the place to write a dissertation on the compromises that were needed to form the United States at all.
 
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compcons

Platinum Member
Oct 22, 2004
2,203
1,230
136
I used to think the revolution was not going to happen for 30-50 years when the middle class finally ran out of money and had to riot for food. I felt it would take that long for it to get so bad that even the both-sides idiots would realize how bad the GOP is and finally get their heads out of their asses. I need to amend that and say with the current pace that the GOP and their bullshit court are destroying our democracy, we will be there in 15-20.

For all the dumbasses who sit at home and don't vote or didn't like how awful Hillary was or felt Bernie got screwed, the impending doom is for you. The GOP is cementing their power through restricted voting, gerrymandering and now unlimited secret cash before and after elections. In 8 years, they will have secured the majority and rigged things so thoroughly that no amount of voter turnout will change the makeup of our government. Welcome to your banana republic.

People are too fucking stupid to see what is going on. The Dems have fucked up and let this go too long. They should be pouring money and resources into messaging now to get people fired up to vote during the mid-terms. They should be talking about how important those votes are. Those dumbasses think that the common voter understands civics and how the government works. it is too late for them.

Mid-terms will be pretty uneventful and I do not think that this trajectory changes. We are on the downward slide now. The next change will come on the heels of an in-the-street revolution and civil war.
 
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SMOGZINN

Lifer
Jun 17, 2005
14,221
4,452
136
They should be pouring money and resources into messaging now to get people fired up to vote during the mid-terms. They should be talking about how important those votes are.
They are. It is just that there is no real way to counter fear in the 128 characters you get before most people, even politically interested ones, tune you out.
You get a headline. That is it. And that is not enough to explain why 'They are coming for your JERBS!' is wrong.
And if you manage to do it with one they just rapid fire more fear at the public. It is Gish galloping taken to the next level.


The next change will come on the heels of an in-the-street revolution and civil war.
No, this will be a quiet revolution. They will just take the power and hold it through increasingly underhanded means, and people will continue to talk about how terrible it is and do nothing about it. Democracy ends in apathy not anger.
 

nickqt

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2015
7,695
8,095
136
I used to think the revolution was not going to happen for 30-50 years when the middle class finally ran out of money and had to riot for food. I felt it would take that long for it to get so bad that even the both-sides idiots would realize how bad the GOP is and finally get their heads out of their asses. I need to amend that and say with the current pace that the GOP and their bullshit court are destroying our democracy, we will be there in 15-20.

For all the dumbasses who sit at home and don't vote or didn't like how awful Hillary was or felt Bernie got screwed, the impending doom is for you. The GOP is cementing their power through restricted voting, gerrymandering and now unlimited secret cash before and after elections. In 8 years, they will have secured the majority and rigged things so thoroughly that no amount of voter turnout will change the makeup of our government. Welcome to your banana republic.

People are too fucking stupid to see what is going on. The Dems have fucked up and let this go too long. They should be pouring money and resources into messaging now to get people fired up to vote during the mid-terms. They should be talking about how important those votes are. Those dumbasses think that the common voter understands civics and how the government works. it is too late for them.

Mid-terms will be pretty uneventful and I do not think that this trajectory changes. We are on the downward slide now. The next change will come on the heels of an in-the-street revolution and civil war.

They are. It is just that there is no real way to counter fear in the 128 characters you get before most people, even politically interested ones, tune you out.
You get a headline. That is it. And that is not enough to explain why 'They are coming for your JERBS!' is wrong.
And if you manage to do it with one they just rapid fire more fear at the public. It is Gish galloping taken to the next level.



No, this will be a quiet revolution. They will just take the power and hold it through increasingly underhanded means, and people will continue to talk about how terrible it is and do nothing about it. Democracy ends in apathy not anger.

I've quoted the following passage before on these forums, and I'll quote it again here.

The quote comes from a book called They thought they were free: The Germans 1933-1945 by Milton Mayer (a German who lived through totalitarian fascism).

I underlined a passage that I find relevant to the above quotes, for emphasis.

But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That’s the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked—if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in ’43 had come immediately after the ‘German Firm’ stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in ’33. But of course this isn’t the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying ‘Jewish swine,’ collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in—your nation, your people—is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves; when everyone is transformed, no one is transformed.