Judicial Corruption

Welcome to "The United Corporations of America" !

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Thom's blog

This is judicial corruption at it's worst, and these men should be impeached or prosecuted

Last week - Common Cause petitioned the Department of Justice to look into possible improprieties on the part of Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia for not recusing themselves from the Citizens United decision. Both Justices had headlined speaking events at political strategy sessions hosted by the billionaire Koch brothers - brothers who certainly benefit from the Citizens United decision. Now - thanks to reporting from Think Progress's Lee Fang - we can throw Justice Samuel Alito into the mix too. Last year - Alito was the headline speaker at a fundraising event hosted by the Manhattan Institute - a right-wing think tank funded by big corporations like Exxon and CIGNA. So here we have 3 Supreme Court Justices headlining political fundraising events for organizations and corporations that benefited directly from the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision last year. This is judicial corruption at it's worst, and these men should be impeached or prosecuted.

-Thom Read more at campaign.r20.constantcontact.com

 

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Citizens United decision should be overturned!

What a Koch! The "Citizens United" decision by the Supremes was totally disgusting!

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Thom's blog

Could the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision soon be overturned?

One year after the ruling - could the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision soon be overturned? The progressive organization Common Cause is asking the Department of Justice to look into possible "conflict of interest" behind the scenes of the Citizens United ruling. In the petition to the DOJ - Common Cause argues that Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia should have recused themselves from the Citizens United case since they were actively involved in political strategy sessions hosted by the billionaire Koch Brothers - two men who benefited considerably from the Supreme Court's ruling.

The allegation is based on documents obtained by ThinkProgress and the New York Times that suggest the two Justices attended a Palm Springs event hosted by the Koch brothers around the same time the high court was hearing arguments in the case. If the petition is successful - the DOJ could disqualify Justices Scalia and Thomas from the ruling - and thus overturn the decision altogether. Of course this wouldn't be the first time Scalia and Thomas demonstrated a "conflict of interest". Thomas didn't recuse himself from the Bush v. Gore decision in 2000 that handed the presidency over to George W. Bush even though Thomas's wife was working on the Bush transition team. And Scalia went on a hunting trip with former Vice President Dick Cheney right before he ruled in favor of Cheney in a case before the high court. Overturning Citizen's United based on these guys' impropriety should be just a start - they should also be impeached for corruption.

-Thom Read more at campaign.r20.constantcontact.com

 

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More Guns More Violence, More Guns, More Violence...etc.etc.

Makes no sense!

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Thom's blog

We need to retreat from this culture of violence, not reload again...

Since the shooting of Representative Giffords - Members of Congress are now worried about their own security - both in DC and their home districts. In the nation's Capitol - Congress has access to enhanced security thanks to the Capitol police. Though that's not good enough for Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert - the guy who's just about afraid of everything from gays to terror babies. He's proposing legislation that would allow Members of Congress to carry guns in DC and get this - even on the House floor. I guess he took Sarah Palin's speech to heart on Wednesday when she talked about how politicians of old settled their difference with pistol duels.

Outside Washington - back in their home districts - Members of Congress must rely on local law enforcement to provide security. A task that's increasingly difficult as states are bankrupt and are forced into laying off police officers - mainly thanks to irresponsible tax cuts and fiscal policy brought to us by Republican state Governors and right-wing ballot initiatives over the last few decades. In response - Republican Peter King - is calling to borrow money from China to provide Members of Congress with personal security when they're outside of Washington, DC. King is also introducing legislation to ban carrying firearms within 1,000 feet of himself or any of his 534 colleagues.

It's unclear how average citizens like us can qualify for that same protective barrier. Fear isn't exclusive to Congress though - it's also felt among gun owners in the wake of Tucson. Owners of gun shops across Arizona have seen weapon sales nearly double in the days since the massacre as people fear tougher gun laws could be coming down the pike. Reagan and Palin and the rest of the GOP are right - we are an "exceptional" nation. Of all the advanced nations in the world - we're the only one that thinks more guns equals more security. And after each new gun massacre jolts our nation year in and year out - we refuse to change. We need to retreat from this culture of violence, not reload again.

-Thom Read more at campaign.r20.constantcontact.com

 

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Guns and Butter

Eisenhower was "Supreme Allied Commander" in WWII.....seems like he knew exactly what he was talking about when he made these pronouncements against militarism, and defense spending. I have a real hard time understanding why nothing is ever mentioned about the unbelievable cost of our current wars. The Republicans are constantly talking about our national debt, and yet it's never pointed out that taxes were cut during a time of war, and the war costs were never covered in the budget. Why is that!! ?

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The Tyranny of Defense Inc.

In 1961, Dwight Eisenhower famously identified the military-industrial complex, warning that the growing fusion between corporations and the armed forces posed a threat to democracy. Judged 50 years later, Ike’s frightening prophecy actually understates the scope of our modern system—and the dangers of the perpetual march to war it has put us on.

By Andrew J. Bacevich

“Every gun that is made,” Eisenhower told his listeners, “every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” Any nation that pours its treasure into the purchase of armaments is spending more than mere money. “It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.” To emphasize the point, Eisenhower offered specifics:

The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities … We pay for a single fighter with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.

Yet in Cold War Washington, Eisenhower’s was a voice crying in the wilderness. As much as they liked Ike, Americans had no intention of choosing between guns and butter: they wanted both. Military Keynesianism—the belief that the production of guns could underwrite an endless supply of butter—was enjoying its heyday. Read more at www.theatlantic.com

 

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Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan

Two of our country's great poets

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In today's excerpt - in the wake of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote the song "This Land is Your Land," a satire and protest against what he saw as the unrealistic vision of Irving Berlin's "God Bless America."

"Folk music's hero was, of course, Woody Guthrie. Guthrie led by example, not by precepts, although his charisma and songwriting skills gave him a certain messianic quality. ... Musicians simply followed Guthrie. He was a journeyman, traveling across the United States to learn traditional folk and blues songs, trailing migrant workers from Oklahoma to California. Guthrie's observations of the economic and environmental hardships of the Dust Bowl era inspired him to write his own lyrics about working people, which he set to traditional folk music.

"In the late 1950s, growing pools of folksingers in Cambridge and Greenwich Village took Guthrie's lead and focused on the issues of the day, especially civil rights. Though all these musicians knew and admired Guthrie, the one to seek him out in his declining years at the Greystone Hospital in Morristown, New Jersey, was Bob Dylan. Dylan idolized Guthrie, calling him 'the true voice of the American Spirit'

Author: Michelle Mercer Title: Will You Take Me As I Am Publisher: Free Press Date: Copyright 2009 by Michelle Mercer Pages: 34-35 Read more at campaign.r20.constantcontact.com

 

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