Corporate Patriotism - A Contradiction in Terms

Our Constitution begins with three very significant words…."We the people…"  I haven't been hanging around the National Archives reading the original version, but I'm pretty sure that I can trust the copies I have found on-line and for the life of me I can't find any reference to "we the corporations…" or perhaps even "we the multinational corporations…"

Nevertheless, in January 2010, the majority of the Supreme court ruled that we were denying corporations their right to "free speech" when we denied them the right to contribute money to specific candidates in their election bids.   The dissenters sighted the likelihood that corporate money flooding into politics would corrupt democracy as part of their opinion.



OK -  they are about 30 years too late on that score.  Big money has been corrupting the system for years - this decision merely ensured that the problem would get a thousand times worse.  But thanks anyway guys - for the heads up and for stating the obvious.

What's wrong with Corporate Personhood?

To my feeble mind, it seems astounding that the majority of justices of the Supreme Court appear to have not read the document whose integrity they are charged interpreting.  Apparently, our Supreme Court does not have the capacity to make a distinction between a person and a corporation.  Since "We the people.." (which includes corporate moguls and CEO's) never been denied the right as individuals to contribute to campaigns.  How this morphed into an unconstitutional denial for rights for a corporate entity boggles the mind   By that same twisted logic  - corporations should have voting rights in every election as well.

Hmmmm  - I wonder how that would work?  For example - where would  IBM place their vote for Congress?  What State and district does it reside in?  - While we're at it -  who will actually decide who IBM will vote for and who will place the vote?   But I digress……

Here are just a few of the obvious issues:

• The biggest problem I have with the concept of a corporation somehow attains the rights and privileges of personhood is -  that a corporation is not a person.

• Extending on that first bullet - corporations are business entities and their loyalty is not to the United States.  I don't recall IBM standing next to me saying the Pledge of Allegiance when I was in school.  They have no patriotic obligations to our country.  Their loyalty lies with their stockholders and if forced to make a distinction between loyalty to God and country or its shareholders - its obligation lies clearly with the shareholders.  Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture?

• If past behavior is any indication of future performance on that score - this clip of David Stockman on the Dylan Ratigan Show will give you an indication of what is in store for us when corporations assume "personhood." Stockman - a former supply-sider from the Reagan Administration referred to our markets as casinos and the last 20 years as a "leveraged buyout of America."

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So essentially - the Supreme Court granted  "we the people" status to entities that have no hesitation about selling out America to the highest bidder.  For a country in desperate need of campaign finance reform, this was a major blow.  Need I say it?  Welcome to the world of the robber baron economy.

This is a boondoggle of massive proportions and the results are coming clear in the wake of the Republican take over of Congress. Boehner is already talking to business and trade groups a.k.a. his party's biggest supporters for "advice" on what he euphemistically calls "job-killing" regulations - you know - those pesky things that force corporations to play by the rules and not extort money from "We the people"   or should I say "We the forgotten masses…"

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