Scalia on unlimited political ads: Turn off the TV

[highplainsdem]

http://www.wect.com/story/16570699/scalia-on-unlimited-political-ads-turn-off-the-tv

By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia has a simple solution for people who don't like all the political advertisements unleashed by the court's decision two years ago that ended limits on corporate contributions in political campaigns. Scalia says: Change the channel or turn off the TV.

Scalia was asked about the decision during a presentation before the South Carolina Bar on Saturday, exactly two years after the court handed down the 5-4 decision in the case that led to the rise of Super PACs, which have no spending limits.

-snip-

[Fuddnik]

1. Me on Scalia.

Go fuck yourself, asshole!

[Joe Bacon]

59. Exhibit "A" for a Constitutional Amendment to limit judicial terms.

I'm at the point where I believe judges should be limited to 12 year terms on the bench. And the five conservative whores on the bench are Exhibit A for judicial term limits!

[monmouth]

2. He's like a short, fat Chris Christie, same type attitude..n/t

[jmowreader]

103. More like a short Chris Christie

Last picture I saw of Chris Christie indicated he's wider than he is tall.

[Cherchez la Femme]

3. "Not MY responsibility!"

What a Grade-A turd.

[socialindependocrat]

4. They need to do their jobs or resign !

[Octafish]

5. That drunk fascist wouldn't know democracy if it were to bite him in the ass.

So 99 percent of the people can't get their message out.

That leaves 1 percent in charge of the information environment.

How is that not fascist?

[MADem]

90. That's the way *uh huh uh huh* he likes it! *uh huh uh huh*

He wants his one percent pals to feel the love...and the power.

[socialindependocrat]

6. and another thing...

this whole thing about a job for life shouldn't hold when they
make wishy washy decisions based on their political beliefs instead of sticking to the letter of the law!

We need to have someone talk to them and tell them to do their job!

Isn't anybody in our government honest??

Yay, Bernie!!! and Yay, Elizabeth Warren!

We need anothrer Warren Commission!!

[wpelb]

85. Who decides what the letter of the law is?

The very same judges, that's who!

[socialindependocrat]

96. There is a difference

Laws are made to establish a legal presidence.

If one makes a decision based on their political leanings
the decision may go against the legal presidence.

That's why we have laws

[BlueJazz]

7. Change the channel ?? What the hell kind of idiot answer is that??

They're on ALL major channels. (cbs, nbc, abc, etc)
It's not like I'm watching American Idol.

[underpants]

26. Why are they on the air in the first place?

Oh that's right...Scalia

nice vicious circle there Anton

[BlueJazz]

30. Boy....isn't that the truth....plus the fact we get to look forward to...

....another (something like) 250 more days of this excitement.

...And I inadvertently "watch" maybe 15 of those ads per night, the rest I mute, which is about
3750 for the next wonderful year.

[SnakeEyes]

77. I live in Iowa

we seem to perpetually be in campaign season, getting bombed with ads all the time. This even occurred before CU.

[47of74]

95. So do I!

I live close to Dubuque. We're still trying to scrape the layer of Santorum that covers everything around here off.

[Neoma]

8. I hate to be the first one to say this.

He's right, TV sucks enough to cut ties with it entirely. It rots your brain and body. It makes you angry at people you shouldn't give a shit about anyways, and people need to get outside more.

The only channel worth watching is probably C-span.

[Pharaoh]

16. Well we don't watch them

But the morons watch them and believe all the lies, there in lies the problem.

[Neoma]

17. Then we need to facilitate the Internet into something better.

Because this is the only place we have a voice and a message. Someone needs to make a popular website like yahoo or facebook, that makes you smarter. Something beyond what TED and Wikipedia does. Because there needs to be an interconnection for people.

I probably need to think that idea through more. But you know what I mean. We can SO do better than yahoo and facebook.

[earcandle]

63. Try Noodle Brain Productions

It takes a noodlebrain to get out of this mess!

http://www.nooodlebrain.com

[The Wielding Truth]

71. If they were truthful responsible ads then I would agree with Scalia. But they are not!

[edhopper]

22. I fucking hate

anti-TV snobs. And that is so far besides the point of the horrendous CU decision letting in unrestricted spending.

[Neoma]

27. Not with what his reaction was.

We've all ready lost the battle with control of television, if there ever was one.

[muriel_volestrangler]

53. No, he's not right at all

This is not about the quality of TV that we get as a result of Citizens United. It's about the domination of political campaigning by unlimited corporate donations. You are enabling the weasling lies of Scalia, who is a smug partisan political hack posing as a judge, by following his misdirection of "turn it off if you don't like it".

This is not about whether TV sucks. It about his decision to allow money to buy elections. Hint: this was posted in LBN, not Entertainment.

[Joe Bacon]

60. Frank Zappa was right!

He said this in 1976. Since then, TV has become an even bigger cesspool than it was then!

[fasttense]

93. But it's NOT just on the TV

It's on the radio, it's on the Internet, it's in newspapers and magazines, they even call you on the phone with their push polls.

The only way to avoid the destruction caused by Citizen United is to turn off your TV, radio, computer and phone, and don't read magazines or newspapers.

But then you have no way to get information on the issues of the day and are left ignorant and uninformed.

[Journeyman]

9. Scalia through the Ages. . .

On Dred Scott decision: "Why, simply avoid getting caught!"

On Korematsu decision (upholding Japanese incarceration during WW2): "Try not to look Asian."

On Plessy v Ferguson (upheld separate but equal): "Smiling, keep on smiling, the whole world smiles with you. . ."

On Bush v Gore: "Get over it!"*


*Which is what he actually said, to 60 Minutes (http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2008/04/24/22268/scalia-on-bush-v-gore-get-over-it/)

[edhopper]

23. +100

[gristy]

28. Very good.

+1

[brooklynite]

10. Hmm..substitute "political ads" with "sexual content", and see if he'd apply the same standards...

[Ezlivin]

57. +1

Exactly. This sort of statement needs to be repeated every single time they talk about "decency" on the airwaves.

[neverforget]

11. I hope Obama gets to replace that turd in a 2nd term along

with his stenographer Thomas.

[young but wise]

12. +1

[sulphurdunn]

14. Thomas

has indeed committed impeachable offenses while on the court.

[AlbertCat]

13. So......

.... Scalia obviously would approve of nudity and gay or straight sex and obscenities on TV because you can just "turn it off".

Y'know, I wonder if Scalia has ever watched TV. Who cuts the TV off just during commercials?

I know... How about putting ALL political ads on a single station and nowhere else. Then if you don't want to watch, you can just avoid that station. If you want to watch, you can easily tune in any time.


What a fraud. What a lying fraud.

[phylny]

20. We are fortunate enough that our Directv has DVR capability.

During the campaign season, I'll start my favorite shows about 20 minutes late, and fast-forward through the commercials. Although I like your idea about a single station!

[Kingofalldems]

15. I thought the airwaves belong to us?

[baldguy]

29. Oh, now you're just being silly.

The airwaves belong to the people who pay for them. You don't have any money to pay for them, now do you?

[BiggJawn]

43. Not according to Julius Genachowski.

The "Free Public Airwaves" actually belong to Verizon and AT&T, the FCC just needs to get those pesky over-the-air TV stations off those channels so the FCC can "auction" them off to the telecom industry so they can lease them back to us for a profit.

All in the name of supporting the administration's "Broadband for EVERYONE!" initiative.

[SnakeEyes]

75. Uh, what?

Yes, the old spectrum used by the over-the-air stations is being sold off but the stations are still over-the-air in a different spectrum. The free public airwaves still exist.

[BiggJawn]

89. Genachowski has his eye on the remaining allocation.

Trust me, SnakeEyes, I feed myself off of TV.

The push is on to get OTA broadcasters to "voluntarily" surrender their channel allocation so this spectrum can be repackaged as wireless broadband. some of the ideas they've come up with at the FCC include such gems as reducing the number of stations in a market, forced "sharing" of channels (you can put 4 SD feeds in one channel, but then you can't do HD) and spreading the myth that "nobody watches TV with an antenna anymore" when antenna manufacturers post increased sales year after year.

the FCC is extremely closed-mouth about the next move if Broadcasters don't "volunteer" to go out of business.

[SnakeEyes]

100. Got some sources to link to?

It was the change last year that was to free up spectrum and sell to wireless. I've seen/read nothing that the plan is to take what they have just moved to and sell that too and put local broadcasters out of business.

[BiggJawn]

102. Here's a start

http://www.enewsbuilder.net/texasbroadcasters/e_article002081354.cfm?x=b11,0,w

The first spoonful's on me. don't expect me to chew it for you.

I don't get what it is with people who can't do a damn Google on their own in the time it takes to type "Got a link for that?"

[woo me with science]

48. Free speech, baby!

Got a wallet?

[Gregorian]

18. Likewise, if you don't like the demise of democracy, just don't pay attention to it.

Problem solved!

Too bad we have to be so polite in how we change politics, when those who are elected are so impolite.

[SaintPete]

19. Conservatives, your voice has spoken. If you don't like:

Abortions? ... Don't get one.
Pot? ... Don't smoke it.
Same sex marriages? ... Don't have one.
Religious freedom?...Live in a bubble.

Do whatever it is YOU want, as long as you don't get in my way to do whatever it is that I want.

[Faygo Kid]

21. One of the worst justices in U.S. history

And that's saying a lot.

[Blacksheep214]

24. TV and Cell is not free

And since I'm paying for it, get your gaddamned crap off my screen you fucktard.

Just like do not call!

But do go fuck yourself you piece of shit!

[txlibdem]

25. RECALL THE SUPREME COURT

Who's going to start the petition site?

These 9 (5) cretins have made our country a mockery to the rest of the world. The Supreme Court was never intended to have the power to MAKE laws... as they did in the Citizens' United case and others.

I say let's recall the lot of them, get people in there with expertise, brains, and a fervent belief in economic equality and social justice. NO LAWYERS. NO JUDGES. I'm talking real people with actual experience in the USA these boneheads have created. And Pres. Obama should appoint them all during a congressional break.

That's a good start in taking back our country from the rich psychopaths and their corporations.

[socialindependocrat]

42. +1000

We've got to do something!

What has this country come to ?

We elect a government that doesn't do anything for their pay.

Then the idiots we elect help put morons on the SC who make rulings
that nullify the people's power in the rest of the political system.

AND we have middle class people who vote for the Repubs
who take our money and give it to the wealthy.

I'm with you - RECALL THE LOT OF THEM!!

(except Bernie, of course)

[txlibdem]

68. I was only calling for a recall of the members of the Supreme Court

But I think I like your expansion of that as well.

CLEAN HOUSE, fresh start with new rules that make it impossible for them to receive anything of value (including trips, gifts, "insider" deals, etc.). Hell YES!

[Richardo]

83. Well, there's a recall election of the entire House and 1/3rd of the Senate this November...

...so that's a good start.

As for the Supreme Court, you're limited to impeachment.

[MADem]

91. Recall the ones who are jerks, anyway. nt

[Peggy Day]

31. That's just what I've done.

They aren't any legitimate news corporations anymore. A bunch of puppets-all of them. Even current tv is biased. The Sunday shows were the first to go.

The Daily Show and Colbert Report are about all I can stomach. They take a good spin on the news (that I get on the internet).

[Mosaic]

32. Tv is on it's way out

It has at most 20 years more before a whole new entertainment option takes over. Of course the rotten CU decision will be overturned and corporation personhood will be outlawed. OWS is clear about these things and will triumph.

[unkachuck]

33. "Change the channel or turn off the TV."

....talk about a smart-ass off-handed remark regarding one of the major threats to our democracy today....and this is what passes for American intelligentsia?

[Deep13]

34. We own the airways, asshole. nt

[47of74]

37. Damn right

[Marie Marie]

35. I thought his first name was Antonin?

Sure seems more like a Dick to me.

[L. Coyote]

36. He thinks we still watch T-V?

Dude, the New Age dawned!

[saras]

38. He's right. We have to turn the TV off, on a NATIONAL scale.

If we ALL joined anonymous maybe we could pull of a "no ads" election, but it's going to take a lot of work by a lot of people, no matter how it's done.

[caseymoz]

39. For a guy who is praised for his intellect.

that response is pure arrogance and testiness.

[era veteran]

40. The wrong person for the Court

I'd like to turn your fascist ass off.

[ck4829]

41. Don't like the Constitution being turned into confetti? Stop thinking about it then.

[lunatica]

44. I'm sure he included his famous Sicilian Salute too

[alterfurz]

51. and/or his famous chin flick

from a Boston Herald story (2006):

[Peter] Smith was working as a freelance photographer for the Boston archdiocese’s weekly newspaper at a special Mass for lawyers Sunday when a Herald reporter asked the justice how he responds to critics who might question his impartiality as a judge given his public worship.
The judge paused for a second, then looked directly into my lens and said, "To my critics, I say, ‘Vaffanculo*,’ ” punctuating the comment by flicking his right hand out from under his chin, Smith said.
_______
*"go take it in the ass"

[earcandle]

64. This is not appropriate modeling from a Supreme Court Judge. This defiance is treason.

[wordpix]

45. "If the system seems crazy to you, don't blame it on the court" ---WTF? He voted for Citizens United

What's more appropos: "Even though I voted for it and made the system much worse, don't hold me accountable."

[lonestarnot]

46. Hey Scanklia, black liquorice is good for asshole plugs too and liquid plumber works for hairballs.

[Doctor_J]

47. When the real history of the US is written, it will show

that the populace's failure to deal summarily with the Felonious Five in Dec 2000 was the final nail in the coffin of the greatest nation on Earth. In an actual functioning democracy, those people would have been dragged from their offices and over to the guillotine, and the real result of the election enacted, regardless of how much time and effort it took. Ever since we let that slide, it has been a rapid slide into fascism.

[earcandle]

65. Agreed!

[Paladin]

49. Fat Tony On Unlimited Guns: Learn How To Dodge Bullets. (n/t)

[Blacksheep214]

50. Might want to clarify that a touch.

I get it, but...........

[Major Hogwash]

84. Fat Tony doesn't dodge bullets, he absorbs them in his many layers of personal body armor.

Remember that bill that Congress passed a few years ago making gun manufacturers immune from being sued for producing faulty weapons?
Doesn't this Citizens United decision made by Robert's court make those same corporate gun manufacturers "people"?

So, I wonder if those gun manufacturing people/corporations can now be sued if they produce faulty weapons.

[russspeakeasy]

52. I hope his remaining days are filled with pain and suffering.

[wilt the stilt]

54. We will turn off the TV

when you stop stuffing your fat face with food.

[mike_c]

55. oddly enough, I agree with him-- turn that noise off!

TV free for 20+ years!

[Doctor_J]

58. You turning off your TV does not counteract the horrific affect of CU

[mike_c]

74. of course it doesn't....

But it achieves a similar objective, and if everyone did it, a very worthwhile objective.

sub·tle·ty (stl-t)
n. pl. sub·tle·ties
1. The quality or state of being subtle.
2. Something subtle, especially a nicety of thought or a fine distinction.

[truthisfreedom]

56. Truthisfreedom on Scalia: Step down from the bench.

It's really that simple. Do what's best for America and quit already.

[AllyCat]

61. While I agree with the sentiment of turning off the teevee most of the time

this man is once again failing to understand this issue is much bigger than annoying ads during election season. He's a complete a$$ and completely a disgrace to the bench.

[Islandlife]

62. It's a gold mine for the media. Limitless ads.

The media does have the option of self limiting commercial space.

[earcandle]

66. We need The Fairness Doctrine back in place. Why did Obama trash it?

[penndragon69]

70. It was Saint Ronny Reagan

who killed the fairness doctrine 30 years ago.
Which of course allowed REICH wing media
to dominate the airwaves.

[txlibdem]

72. Obama didn't. Two Repuke chairmen of the FCC did.

Why were there Repukes in ANY position of power in the Obama administration??? Now that's a question I'd like an answer to.

[The Wielding Truth]

73. Obama did not do it. It was Ronald Reagan! It bares repeating.

The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both ...present controversial issues of public importance ...and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission's view, HONEST, equitable and balanced. The FCC decided to eliminate the Doctrine in 1987, and in August 2011 the FCC formally removed the language that implemented the Doctrine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine

[earcandle]

78. Thanks! Posted on my Facebook page. I hope we can get it back somehow.

[The Wielding Truth]

87. Without rules for mass communication, propaganda gains control. We need FD.

[The Wielding Truth]

88. Not censorship but responsible journalism. Fact checks and back up source research.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

67. How much more spectularly could he have missed the point?

The point is not that the ads are a nuisance. It's about the pernicious influence on money on our politics. How could he say something so dumb?

[penndragon69]

69. Evil, Scalia is your name.

Along with Clarence Thomas.
Impeach them both and save
America!

[Guy Montag]

76. This man is a cancer on the body politics of the United States

He should be impeached.

[Marnie]

79. But isn't turning off the TV and not listening to the ad, limiting the

advertiser's freedom of speech?

Scalia is an abomination to a the the concept of humanity.

[Broderick]

80. I frankly don't care what he thinks

[GOTV]

81. As if the problem with the ads is that they're personally annoying ...

... and not that the problem is that they distort democracy.

[Veilex]

82. Hey, if you dont like all the racism thats happening in your town...

Move to another town....
If you don’t like all the murder and thefts happening in your state, just change states.
Don't like having your vote not count due to a hacked voter machine, Just don't vote.

Realy? Yeah cause, ya know, everyone is an island and nothing that happens to one person could ever possibly affect another...
cause that would be simply socialist.

/sarcasm off

Grrr

[DallasNE]

86. When You Turn On Your Favorite TV Show

You have no control over the ads that you will be bombarded with. The only escape under Scalia's formula is to never watch TV until after the 2012 election. I will concede that these ads misinform rather than inform so you have to block them out, for the most part.

[madrchsod]

92. i always change the channel....

i change the channel on all commercials

[ChairmanAgnostic]

94. My question: Does Scalia come with an off switch?

Can we turn him off on some critically important votes temporarily?

[WeRQ4U]

97. He sure didn't seem to take that tone with the FCC's censoring of radio...

...saying "These are public airwaves. The government is entitled to insist upon a certain modicum of decency."

So, what's the difference here? Why is it that the "just turn it off" works for Big Business Political Ads and not public radio?

[Pakid]

98. Idiot

What needs turned off in this country is conservative bull shit like his!

[Bluestar]

99. Dear Scalia

I turn off the tv whenever I see you or hear your name. That doesn't prevent me from being affected by you and your unconscionable rulings.

[itsrobert]

101. Don't check your mail, don't answer your phone, don't surf the web, don't read your newspaper,

turn off your radio, don't check your email, don't drive and look at a billboard, don't attend NASCAR event (Rick 2012 car), don't attend a sporting event and see a plane pulling a banner, etc, etc. Just don't do squat.