Freedom?

I can't put this one down without another comment.  

Mr. Will, true to his aristocratic upbringing and extreme condescension, states that political free speech is somehow the same, in a coroporate context, to "discuss" fairly with individuals in the political arena.  He equates  the economic power of Apple to Greg Beale.  Both deserve the same protections for speech.  Really?  

This is the rub.  I will bet if you ask 100 Americans what free speech means to them, they will speak of an individual's right to express themselves without recriminiation.  The First Amendment does not speak of political free speech for groups, or representatives of groups,  it addresses protections for individual citizens.  

In fact, any beginning political science student will tell you that the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution as a condition of its ratification, as amendments to address concerns that INDIVIDUAL rights be protected.  Hence the right to be protected from searches and seizures, the right to be informed of charges against you; etc.  Note, how the word  individual  

comes up again and again as we study the Bill of Rights.  

There is no corporate there.  A corporation is an organization, a group endeavor, usually for profit, or also non-profit.  Corporation groups were simply not in America in 1789.  And, the Bill of Rights was never intended to protect groups, it was specifically to protect individual rights.  That was part of the grand compromise that got the Constituion ratified.  Americans remembered the repression the British had used against them in pre-revolution times, many colonists could still remember why they fled Europe to America: individualism and individual rights.  

What the Supreme Court did was to treat corporate interests like individuals.  This goes to the infamous ruling by a former court, that, as Mitt Romney famously said, "Corporations are individuals too, my friend".  

So, as individuals we would expect a level playing field when it comes to the Citizen United political, free speech, right?  As Will smugly states, "we need to not regulate politics".  

And that is simply wrong.  Politics has been regulated from its inception.  The Congress of the United States makes laws through the political process.  And from it comes regulations of all sizes and colors.   Men are indeed political animals, but if left unregulated, you get war and violence.  Even a cursory study of the French Revolution will prove that.  

So, the "regulators" as Will states, are always out there, regulating free political speech and then are shocked by how their rules backfire.    And what does he consider a backfire...like the election of a Black President???

Finally, we need to ponder what this is doing to our political process.  By equating Apple Computer Corporation for example to me, Citizens United assumes fatally that we are both individuals and therefore should be regulated little if at all.  So I take my paltry retirement income and the resources it can buy, up against Apple Computer with its Billions.  I can buy 10 seconds on the local T.V. station, Apple can buy through a Super Pac, hours on the national scale.  This is fair?  This is a fixed game!

In the United States we use T.V. advertisements (and the Internet) as part of a highly materialistic political campaign process.  The size of monetary support for a candidate is reported constantly, or at least guessed  at, thanks to Citizens United, and is used to predict winners and losers.  Dark money runs the show.  

And sure enough, the size of a political war chest directly affects the future of a candidate's chances to win.  At last check, the Koch Brothers' corporation has dedicated over a BILLION dollars to elect the President.  

The Koch Brothers have poured money into state legislative races and governors races from Maine to California.  And the results have been spectaculor, the majority of governors are conservative Republicans and same with the state legislatures.  And these "representative" bodies in no way reflect the citizenry they represent.    The book, "Whats the Matter with Kansas" springs to mind.  Currently Kansas has a zealot for a Governor, who has bankrupted the state, but politically is protected by a right wing legislature and a election process that no longer can hold him accountable.

And accountability is essential to good government.  

Citizens United ended accountability in the United States.  

This occurs because voter turnouts are deliberately suprressed, people are sick of advertisement politics, and simply do not vote, leaving exactlly what the Koch brothers and others want, a political playing field tilted heavily in their oil interest favor and not accountable to the people they do not represent; the corporations is who they really represent.  

And if I decide to speak out, what resources do I have against their billions?  This is the point that Will and the other plutocrats don't bother to tell you:  THE GAME IS FIXED FROM THE BEGINNING.  EQUATING FREE POLITICAL SPEECH BY EQUATING CORPORATIONS WITH INDIVIDUAL FREE EXPRESSON IS A FATAL CONTRADICTION.  

 How in the world can I compete in a political discussion equally with the billions of the Koch brothers, the legions of political consultants they hire, the PACS and SuperPacs they employ?

So we slide further into the fascism they are pushing for so diligently.  And George Will loves it, since unregulated is his mantra, his religion; and unregulated gets lots of Republicans elected.   

Unregulated is good, he preaches,  it will always produce a better result.  Tell 1932 that.  Tell 1939 that.  Tell WWII surviivors that.

Unregulated political speech leads to death of democracy, and ultimately war, since the political process is regarded as unable to solve economic problems and issues.  So, sooner or later, a leader comes along that says, "forget democracy" follow me...Hitler, Mussolini; etc.  Or the people finally rise up and kill them all; witness Syria and the Middle East.  

Ironically, the poltical system that the corporations work to control, in the end always leads to the destruction of the economic stability they need to continue to profit.  E

ver seen the ruins of Germany in 1945?  Consider that the Krupp Industries gave millions to support HItler and his political madness, then watched in horror as their factories were bombed into oblivion.  

Our political system from city councils to the Congress is poisoned by special interests.  The Republicans have pushed for years that this is somehow politically healthy, as one bribery case after another occurs.  Again, government regulation of political speech is seen as the enemy of democracy.  One thing it is the enemy of, bribery. 

In fact, leveling the playing field, so ordinary citizens can express their political opinions with equal volume as corporations is the ONLY way we can preserve freedom.  And, it is also the only way to continue to provide a stable and peaceful economy in which corporations prosper.  

And thanks to George Will, we are failing miserably...