Citizens United should be overturned - help me think this through....

[jillan]

A SCOTUS is supposed to be non-partisan. But of course, they are human and have their own political ideologies, and we know what those are.

BUT we now know that Thomas and Scalia have taken their political ideologies to a whole new level, they have become active in one of our major political parties. It is for that reason that they should recuse themselves from any case that comes before the court that is political in nature because we can no longer trust them to have an open mind.

If we knew about their political involvement while Citizens United was before them, you can bet that the NYT, the majority of Msnbc, some at CNN would be discussing this ad nauseum. Not to even mention the activism that would be coming from the blogs.

I guess the question really is, were Scalia and Thomas involved with the Koch bros while Citizens United was being debated by the Supreme Court?
And if they were, shouldn't they have recused themselves?

And if they weren't involved politically at that time, shouldn't they be expected to recuse themselves from here on out on all political cases?

Am I on to something here? Discuss :)

[lonestarnot]

1. Ugh, all cases are political. We would have to throw them off the bench. I'm all for that.

:D

[jillan]

2. Yeah, but the rest of the Scotus haven't been politically active, as far as we know.

I just feel that Thomas and Scalia have crossed the line in their private meetings with the Koch Bros.

[LiberalFighter]

3. Thomas should recuse because his screwed up wife is connected with the Teabaggers

and who knows what else. Doesn't she have a political organization?

[jillan]

4. I really hope legal experts are looking into all of this. I just can't accept that any of this is ok

Yes, she does have a teabag organization...I don't know the name of it off of the top of my head.

[donheld]

5. He and Scalia both seem to be tight with the Koch Brothers.

[DavidSegal]

6. New Hampshire Chamber of Commerce Disaffiliates from National: Let's Make it the First of Many

Cross-posted at HuffPo-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-segal/new-hampshire-chamber-of-_b_773226.html


The Greater Hudson Chamber of Commerce has had enough: It's so fed up with the shameless politicking that's being done in its name that it disaffiliated from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce earlier this month.

Will you help make sure it's the first of many by signing on to Demand Progress's letter urging local chambers of commerce to disaffiliate?

http://demandprogress.org/chamber/

The so-called United States Chamber of Commerce -- flush with donations from foreign lands -- has spent countless millions lobbying Washington against progressive policies. That includes more than $81 million so far this year to work against health care, workers' rights, social security, environmental initiatives and more. Combined with its anti-consumer rights Institute for Legal Reform, it spent $144 million on lobbying in 2009 alone.

Now the Chamber's being used as a laundromat, through which corporations like Chevron, Dow Chemical, and Goldman Sachs are washing millions of dirty dollars as they try to throw next week's elections. The Chamber is taking advantage of the Citizens United decision by spending more than $75 million this cycle, with over 90% of its money going to support Republicans.

But the Chamber is also spending your money: It's supported by a network of dues-paying local affiliates -- some representing small towns, and others whole states. You can look for affiliates over here.

The Chamber is controlled by the big boys -- Wall Street, Big Oil, Big Pharma, and the rest of the gang. But the hometown affiliates help pay for its bureaucracy and give it a good name -- one that's steadily being sullied as the Chamber pushes a radical agenda that hurts most Americans.

The national chamber's egregious political spending is already the object of consternation in many local chapters: they include plenty of all small businesses, and even non-profits and social service agencies, that sure as hell aren't happy about the dirty politicking that's being done on their behalf or the potential that their plight will be made even worse by a Republican-controlled Congress. Even some bigger companies, like Apple, have already severed their ties.

Combating corporate control of the government is the fight of our lifetime: If we don't fix the way people get elected, we will never be able to address any of the other issues that we all care about. We need to figure out ways to fight back, and fast: This session's Congress -- elected in a pre-Citizens United world -- failed even to pass the pathetic Disclose Act this summer. As congressmembers get elected based on the new rules they'll have even less incentive to change them.

It's a daunting undertaking. But you can help us hit them where it hurts: Please join us as we call on more local chapters to disaffiliate.

We'll make sure the chapters hear your calls -- and we'll keep you informed as our effort proceeds, so you can choose where to spend your money without worrying that you're forwarding the radical right's attempt to usurp our democracy.

[PBS Poll-435]

7. Think of other injustices that have been mandated from 'The Bench' in our history

Citizens will be overturned eventually.

We must continue to be involved to make sure that the appointments to 'The Bench' are made by folks who disagree with such a flagrant misunderstanding/misinterpretation of our Constitution.

[COLGATE4]

8. To be brutally frank, the chances of Thomas and/or Scalia (or Slappy

for that matter) being impeached are worse than slim to none. Scalia committed a far worse conflict of interest when he went duck hunting with Cheney and a group of industrialists whose case was going to be heard shortly by the Supreme Court. Nino the Fixer just shrugged it off, and didn't recuse himself. Nothing we can point to for Thomas or Scalia in Citizens United comes even close to that violation by Scalia. Dreaming about impeaching these jokers is, unfortunately just wishful thinking.