Another proposed memorial name for yesterday -

SuperCorp Day.

Another question for any legal eagles out there - Can a case be made that the SCROTUS decision violates the 14th amendment of equal protection?

My arguement in favor of it being in violation is that the corporate power holders are now able to exercise their Free Speech rights with TWO voices - their own voice and the corporation's voice. The rest of us have only one voice each, and are thus "less equal".

Rebuttal, anyone?

@Rick in Canadia

1. Do you mean to be "Rick in Canada" rather than Canadia?
2. Is your avatar a moose humping a mail box?

mstaggerlee - certainly corporations are legally distinction from shareholders (and the Board); that's the whole point of a corporation: it limits shareholder liability to the value of their shares.

What the rights/responsibilities of a corporation, as distinct from the shareholders is defined in part by the contract between shareholders that create the corporation, the contract between the corporation and the State which gives the corporation State sanction. The precise terms vary from state to state but never before has it been to create an individual with the same rights as actual human beings: the shareholders lack the power to do so, and no state (nor federal constitution) has ever expressed the intent of doing so.

That's part of why the SCROTUS (...Stephanie Miller's term!!!) decision is obviously corrupt. Just as in Bush v. Gore they revised the law of the stay to take into account only the interests of the plaintiff and not that of the defendant (in the initial stay), and (in the ultimate decision) rewrote the law of Equal Protection to invent a category of protected persons never seen before (people whose votes were counted, as distinct from people whose votes were not counted) ... so too, they rewrote the law of what "We The People of the United States" may be.

As the saying goes, they are not Supreme because they are right; they are right because they are Supreme.

DDay,

OMG. How tragic. We need an email blitz RIGHT NOW to all DFLers about what this decision really means. Any ideas?

Know your enemy. If we are going to have a revolution it is always good to know who the bad guys are especially if you expect to win. The decision by the Supreme court to give ghosts/spirits all the rights of a real living human being was a good thing. Now I know who the enemy is. Giving ghosts rights and allowing them to manifest themselves with money, tells me what it is the United States Supreme Court holds to be the most important upholding and critical factor in our democracy. Money. Not rights, not real people, not the Constitution, not the Bill of Rights. Plain and simple. Money.

Money is not the enemy here. A Justice system that seeks to promote, defend and protect money accumulated and instituted by spirits is the enemy. I am not a ghost. I am a real person. Clearly this ruling by the Supreme Court was a direct, frontal attack on me and every other living breathing person that is guaranteed the inalienable right to be recognized as a person in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Know your enemy. Knowing the enemy is half the battle. The Supreme Court knows exactly what they are doing and what they have done. It is their job to know. They have declared war on real people. This is good. It is good because we now have no doubt as to where they stand. I know who I am and what I stand for. The line in the sand has been drawn.

Nothing is all-powerful. If it were there would be no wars. Every power has some weakness even the Supreme Court and ghosts. Knowing the enemies weakness is our greatest strength. The Supreme Court's greatest strength is, it insures laws are upheld. Congress makes laws.

A Ghost's greatest strength is also their greatest weakness,invisibility. The Supreme Court did us a favor when they ruled that in order for the ghosts to be recognized they had to manifest themselves in the form of money. Now the enemy must by law show itself to us. Still money is not the bad guy here. The spirit using the money to manifest itself is now very visible, vulnerable and at it's weakest point.

This is when we are at our strongest. The ghostly corporate American spirit waves and weaves itself in shinning 100 dollar bills before our Congress teasing and taunting it to embrace and embody it.

Congress is tempted by the seductive and alluring appeal of the spirit of money. If Congress gives in to their temptation the spirit now possesses them body and soul.

Our greatest strength at this point is to clearly and distinctly forbid Congress to, no I am not going to say forbid them to take the money. That would be silly. As long as their is money to be had the temptation is going to be there and someone is going to give into it. That is fine. Let Congress take all the money they can or want. It is going to happen anyway and taking money is not the issue here. The issue here is the spirits need to be able to influence and control the laws Congress makes. What is critically and vitally important to corporate American spirits is Congress' ability to make and pass laws. So our greatest strength and power as real persons is to simply forbid Congress from voting on any Bill that has any ties to, connections, suggestions, or appearances, of ties to money from a fictitious Supreme Court approved and recognized 'person'.

We have all the power people. The Supreme Court did their thing and made this ruling. We couldn't do a darn thing about it. Congress is doing it's thing making laws we don't want or care about and we can't seem to do anything about that either. What we can do is use all that stuff against them in a way they can not refuse or otherwise do. We are independent of the Supreme Court and the Congress. As independent voters, people, persons, we rule. And nobody died.

@glenn N.: "..if corporations are people, can I sleep with victoria secret, inc tonight please?"

Sure! You can sleep with the Director of Personnel, 44-year-old Jaim Coxfurtry (he has at least 2 venereal diseases!)

"..I never metaphor I didn't liken." -harry ashburn

Know your enemy. If we are going to have a revolution it is always good to know who the bad guys are especially if you expect to win. The decision by the Supreme court to give ghosts/spirits all the rights of a real living human being was a good thing. Now I know who the enemy is. Giving ghosts rights and allowing them to manifest themselves with money, tells me what it is the United States Supreme Court holds to be the most important upholding and critical factor in our democracy. Money. Not rights, not real people, not the Constitution, not the Bill of Rights. Plain and simple. Money.

Money is not the enemy here. A Justice system that seeks to promote, defend and protect money accumulated and instituted by spirits is the enemy. I am not a ghost. I am a real person. Clearly this ruling by the Supreme Court was a direct, frontal attack on me and every other living breathing person that is guaranteed the inalienable right to be recognized as a person in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Know your enemy. Knowing the enemy is half the battle. The Supreme Court knows exactly what they are doing and what they have done. It is their job to know. They have declared war on real people. This is good. It is good because we now have no doubt as to where they stand. I know who I am and what I stand for. The line in the sand has been drawn.

Nothing is all-powerful. Every power has some weakness even the Supreme Court and ghosts. Knowing the enemies weakness is our greatest strength. The Supreme Court's greatest strength is, it insures laws made by Congress are upheld and interprets the Supreme Law of the Land.

A Ghost's greatest strength is also their greatest weakness,invisibility. The Supreme Court did us a favor when they ruled that in order for the ghosts to be recognized they had to manifest themselves in the form of money. Now the enemy must by law show itself to us. Still money is not the bad guy here. The spirit using the money to manifest itself is now very visible, vulnerable and at it's weakest point.

This is when we are at our strongest. The ghostly corporate American spirit waves and weaves itself in shinning 100 dollar bills before our Congress teasing and taunting it to embrace and embody it.

Congress is tempted by the seductive and alluring appeal of the spirit of money. If Congress gives in to their temptation the spirit now possesses them body and soul.

Our greatest strength at this point is to clearly and distinctly forbid Congress to, no I am not going to say forbid them to take the money. That would be silly. As long as there is money to be had the temptation is going to be there and someone is going to give into it. That human nature. Let's not try to change that. Let Congress take all the money they can or want. It is going to happen anyway and taking money is not the issue here. The issue here is the spirits need to be able to influence and control the laws Congress makes. What is critically and vitally important to corporate American spirits is Congress' ability to make and pass laws. So our greatest strength and power as real persons is to simply forbid Congress from voting on any Bill that has any ties to, connections, suggestions, or appearances, of ties to money from a fictitious Supreme Court approved and recognized ghost of a 'person'.

We have all the power people. The Supreme Court did their thing and made this ruling. We couldn't do a darn thing about it. Congress is doing it's thing making laws we don't want or care about and we can't seem to do anything about that either. What we can do is use all that stuff against them in a way they can not refuse or otherwise do. We are independent of the Supreme Court and the Congress. As independent voters, people, persons, we rule.

Thom, I think we need to start making a distinction between "free" speech and "purchased" speech. A CEO's free speech is no more impaired or prevented than mine is just because he can't run commercials. He is still just as free as I to write a letter to the editor, call a talk show, speak up at a town hall meeting, stand on a soap box and give a speech to anyone who'll listen, etc. We have equal treatment under the law. However, when it comes to running commercials in favor of a candidate of your choice, that speech is anything but "free", and this wrong headed Supreme Court decision has literally used the law, or at least their interpretation of it, to create significant inequalities among people in our society in their ability to express their preference for one candidate over another, and therefore violated the protection of equal treatment under the law. "Purchased" speech is not the same as "free speech".

Yi Yo, Yi Yo, it's off to war we go!

Get set for another war!!!

http://news.antiwar.com/2010/01/21/us-missiles-spark-buildup-along-russo...

We have all kinds of laws that protect equal opportunity under the law. Realistically, I no longer have equal opportunity under the law to express my preference for a candidate the same way a much wealthier CEO of a corporation does. Whether that was their intention, or it was inadvertent, they've created an inequality of opportunity just as much as if they had made the lightness or darkness of someone's skin a litmus test for how much opportunity they would have to express their opinion for one candidate over another. I encourage you to start to make the distinction between “free” and “purchased” speech in addressing this issue.

This SCOTUS decision along with Bush's atrocities, along with bank atrocities is due in part to NEW free information available to the masses. What? The Gutenberg Bible mass produced on 1st european printing press created war because people read the truth of the bible for themselves. What? The internet. What? We take it for granted. What? Everytime in history where the masses received "the truth" (new truthful revealing information) there has been a WAR. (example Gutenburg Bible mass produced created religious war in europe) The internet is ultimately the true enemy of corporations. For example how many people would know about "corporate personhood" if they hadn't downloaded one of Thom's podcasts? Sure maybe they heard it on XM or sirius or public radio But? The internet is free information on steroids and it is revealing the truth to the masses in so many ways that corporations are insecure about maintaining power and have began to lose power.

The Scotus decision put a chip on the shoulder of corporations and corporations are daring the American people to knock it off.

If Al qaeda incorporated then wouldn't they be given retroactive immunity from prosecution for 911 because they are a corporation working in Iraq?

Corporate advertisements are everywhere on your computer in your snail mail in the paper etc... In the new corporate fascist police state will you be required to "listen" to a certain quota of 3D Halogram corporate advertisements? Not at the time of your choosing, but at the time corporations determine you should watch it? Where? In the privacy of your bedroom, bathroom, etc... And if you don't watch the corporate advertisement will you be reported to Central Congressional Corporate Command? For discipline?

When I say "discipline" It is inevitable that you will be "renditioned" to a corporate "reeducation" camp to purge you of your evil sinning attitude of not "listening positively" to corporate propaganda advertising. While? Your family lives in a tent eating 1 can of soup a day.

Define the future! That's the fight with Neocons. If you don't? They will

Will this be a whole new definition to 'shoplifting' as political protest? They think it is still 1907, the age of Teddy Roosevelt, but it isn't. Times have changed. [I'm bying myself a teddybear by the way] Stores can get hit - easy. And what about mall dolls? those models and corporate chicks who wear store clothes, brand names. Thom sees politicians wearing logos, like sports, but I see models sporting not just clothes - like Gap say - but also posing with a candidate. Model wars are huge. Talk of media coverage and dirt flying!
You'd think political wars would be the LAST thing stores want to deal with. Will they have to create lobby offices - what to do with all those customers lobbying them? Go the the "return counter" ?! Customer complaint office?! It's gonna backfire on the corporations - I can feel it. They don't think about being HERE NOW - as opposed to back there, back then.