politics | From The Hips

Quote:

“This is a corruption — a corruption of the very institution of our democracy.
And this corruption makes it harder for both Reagan Republicans and
Progressive Democrats to achieve the substantive ends that each seeks. For 20
out of the last 29 years, we’ve had conservative Republican Presidents. But
Reagan Republicans have yet to see the size of government shrink, or the tax
code simplified — because Congress has no interest in smaller government or
simpler taxes, since both would make it harder to raise campaign funds.
Likewise, despite the election of Barack Obama with a super-majority
Democratic Congress, Progressive Democrats have watched with disgust as
every substantive reform of this administration has been stymied by special
interests expert in preserving the status quo.”

Change Congress | After Citizens United: Lessig on a Constitutional Amendment

As much as the right loves to complain about “legislating from the bench”, it’s a legitimate fear, and we need to start amending constitutions rather than letting judges have their way.

fleetfootedfox 27 Jan Tags politics

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Link:

Obama to skip jury duty in Bridgeview - Chicago Breaking News

tissie:

mattpayton:

Start the fake outrage in 3…2…1.

bridgeview’s where i go when i get in car accidents.

Bleh. presidents being called for jury duty is non-news.

from boston marriage

fleetfootedfox 25 Jan Tags politics 3 Notes

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Quote:

“The conceit that corporations must be treated identically to natural persons in the political sphere is not only inaccurate but also inadequate to justify the Court’s disposition of this case.

In the context of election to public office, the distinction between corporate and human speakers is significant. Although they make enormous contributions to our society, corporations are not actually members of it. They cannot vote or run for office. Because they may be managed and controlled by nonresidents, their interests may conflict in fundamental respects with the interests of eligible voters. The financial resources, legal structure,and instrumental orientation of corporations raise legitimate concerns about their role in the electoral process. Our lawmakers have a compelling constitutional basis, if not also a democratic duty, to take measures designed to guard against the potentially deleterious effects of corporate spending in local and national races.”

Justice JOHN PAUL STEVENS, in his dissent against the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of a key aspect of campaign finance law that prohibits corporations from paying for TV ads backing political candidates. The majority in the 5-4 decision said such laws curbed corporations’ free speech rights, which, you know, LOL.

Read the ruling here. Justice Stevens’s dissent begins on pg. 88.

(via inothernews)

(via onedropcolors)

I’m sure I’ll be getting an email from change congress about this shortly. bleh. The Corporations-as-people metaphor is so broken. But now it would be even harder to go about changing that, because they have even more influence.

from Onedropcolors

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Photo: gunstreetgirl:katoleary:robot-heart-politics:catbus:notthatkindagay: Don’t Make My Decisions—Make Hers

gunstreetgirl:katoleary:robot-heart-politics:catbus:notthatkindagay:

Don’t Make My Decisions—Make Hers

High Resolution Version from Honey & Salt

fleetfootedfox 12 Nov Tags politics 335 Notes

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Photo: timblelog: (via bethinkr)

timblelog:

(via bethinkr)

High Resolution Version from Timblelog

fleetfootedfox 7 Nov Tags alice politics comics 44 Notes

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Text: Right Wing Street Art.

nedhepburn:

I haven’t had much luck in finding in the visual arts: interesting street art coming from a right-of-center perspective. In my search, raised in my Thursday post, “Where’s all the rightwing street art?,” I got in touch with artist Josh MacPhee, who founded Justseeds, an artists’ cooperative, online store, and blog. He couldn’t offer examples of artists, but he shared his thoughts on the topic of why they’re so hard to find.

He says the American political Left draws from a long history of visual agit-prop, whereas conservatives have used other vehicles. “When [the Right] is marginalized, it has built itself through local radio broadcasts, direct mailings, election to local office, etc.—channels that appear to be legal, mainstream, and legitimate,” he says. “The Left has no problem appearing to be speaking from the margins (even if they are speaking from a position generally held by the vast majority, i.e. the anti-war position right now), but the Right always wants to speak from the center, to claim they are being marginalized, but simultaneously appear to be legitimate and supported by the majority.”

He posits that illegal or guerrilla art has long been a way for people whose voices aren’t represented by corporate media channels to be heard. “For most of the history of this country, and more specifically for the past eight years, the ideas and opinions of the right wing, and even the extreme right wing, have been common currency. They are seen in daily newspapers, heard on the radio, even spread across billboards,” he says. “There is much less of a need for right-wing graffiti, when the right wing speaks to the hundreds of millions from TV screens and evangelical church pulpits.”

_____

really interesting full article by Paul Schmelzer here.

from ned hepburn

fleetfootedfox 8 May Tags politics graffiti 12 Notes

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Photo: nickdouglas: Last year, progressive tech worker Sean Tevis ran an innovative Internet-based campaign for Kansas state representative. He lost by 425 votes out of 10,103. But he’s lobbying for his campaign promises anyway. The state legislature is fighting him, once naming a bad anti-privacy bill after him. So he’s running again in 2010. I donated last time and I’m about to donate again — Sean needs to raise $9200 to lobby politicians right now. His autobiographical webcomic is a blast.

nickdouglas:

Last year, progressive tech worker Sean Tevis ran an innovative Internet-based campaign for Kansas state representative. He lost by 425 votes out of 10,103. But he’s lobbying for his campaign promises anyway.

The state legislature is fighting him, once naming a bad anti-privacy bill after him. So he’s running again in 2010. I donated last time and I’m about to donate again — Sean needs to raise $9200 to lobby politicians right now.

His autobiographical webcomic is a blast.

from Too Much Nick