Supreme Isolation

Back in the sixties, I was a junior partner in one of the country's largest stock brokerage firms and I   represented the firm at a meeting of business leaders (I was a spear carrier in this parade) in Newark, NJ to discuss the city's problems. I met all the brass, including the city's very controversial police chief. He gave a fine speach emphasizing what his department was doing to ensure law and order and especially to protect property values, which were zero at the time because of the infamous Newark riots. Everything was low key and business like. And then there were some questions and one touched upon the US Supreme Court. The Chief went ballistic! The smooth veneer slipped off and he literally raved about those unspeakable morons on the Supreme Court of the United States of America. His audience cringed with horror.

I wonder what can and should be said about the men and women of today's Roberts Court? How about that a majority of them are blind to reality, blatantly political or simply out of touch with the world we live in? One could say none of the above, or only that five of them are capable of really monstrous error and it would be a serious indictment. What else can one call Citizens v. United wherein corporations are people and allowed to give unlimited amounts of money in political elections as a matter of free speach? Has it really brought about what they wanted? Would the founding fathers have approved?

Does anyone, except maybe David Koch, really believe that we need more money in American elections? Over and over we have seen what happens when big sums of money become involved in these campaigns which seem never to end - more mudslinging, nonstop attack ads, more dirty tricks. Money from wherever it can be found, pollutes the our political process to the point where facts don't matter and logic gives way to theater. Bucks trump (no pun intended) everything because they can buy the best spinsters, the most imaginative attack ad promoters and contrived public " moments", even if they are shortlived. Nothing matters except election day and, of course, the type of post election spin game that got George W. Bush elected by the Supreme Court we're discussing.

Things are going to change in American elections, but how soon, no one knows and how much more damage can our system take? Americans are deeply disturbed and disillusioned by the present horror of our political system, to which a misguided Supreme Court has contibuted mightily. It's ironic like a Greek tragedy, and look where the people who invented democracy are today. They are protesting in the streets of Athens. Will Americans follow in Washington? Without big changes very soon, you can be sure of it.

Let's look at Sheldon Adelson, the casino mogul. Why would he put tens of millions that we know about into Republican coffers? He is alleged to be singularly interested in the State of Israel and we assume that he wants the lowest possible corporate tax rates, but is it possible hes has invested secretly more millions in Mitt Romney because of some deal he's made to protect Israel against Iran? Romney has been outspoken about his determination to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon. If Mr. Adelson hasn't made a deal for his millions, what if the Koch brothers want to emulate him?

If you think such pay to play deals are nonsense, consider what former British prime minister John Major testified to a week ago in the parliamentary inquiry into whether Rupert Murdoch is fit to wield huge business power in England. Mr Major essentially said that it was a rare event for a visitor to sit before a British prime minister in his office and demand a major change of national policy in return for the support of Mr. Murdoch's newspapers. Mr. Major refused to comply with Mr. Murdoch's demands and lost his support and the next national election, at least partly as a result

Mr. Adelson's money couldn't save Newt Gingrich and maybe corporate billions won't put Mr. Romney into the White House, but what about huge money in state races. We saw recently where Gov. Walker won his recall election in Wisconsin by outspending his rival 7 - 1. That may be enough to turn any election, but it's clearly possible now. Maybe Citizens v. United will be reversed or modified one day, but for now we are self inflicting great wounds on our wonderful country with this kind of foul play which serves further to drive out decent people like Olympia Snowe and Richard Lugar. These are trying days for the Supremes and I wonder if they know they aren't living up to what's expected of them..