Today the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, gave corporations the same rights as citizens when it comes to the freedom of expression implicit in campaign donations. In other words, legislation limiting corporate donations to politicians and political causes have been overturned.

In terms of the effect this will have on elections, it is a terrible decision. However, Constitutional decisions are not based on fairness or the consequences of those decisions so much as what rights we are given by the Constitution. For years the ACLU has opposed many of the strongest campaign finance laws because they view them as limiting free speech. This is not the ACLU trying to help the rich and powerful. It is, in their eyes, the correct way to interpret the constitution and the civil libertarian view.

I have never decided whether I agree with them or not. It is a gray area. Usually, when faced with a gray area, I tend to prefer the civil libertarian view. Better to err in favor of rights than go too far the other way. So, despite being very much in favor of campaign finance reform and wanting as strict rules as possible, I have also been open to the ACLU arguments.
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This comes today from the National Jewish Democratic Committee (NJDC):

The Senate Judiciary Committee started hearings today for the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court...

NJDC has joined with other leading organizations in a letter to Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) calling on the Senate "to confirm Judge Sotomayor" and "not to be swayed by the efforts of a small number of ideological extremists to tarnish Judge Sotomayor's outstanding reputation as a jurist."

We in the Jewish community have an all too familiar understanding of what the impact of "a small number of ideological extremists" can be. While we understand that some may disagree with Sotomayor's judicial rulings, the public discourse over her nomination has been replete with hyperbolic and baseless charges. As Jews, we must remain vigilant against attacks aimed at nominees that appear to be motivated by gender, race, religion, or ethnicity.

Get the real facts about Sotomayor with NJDC's Fact Sheet.
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Meticulously anal pundits, like Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh, intellectual heavy weights Tom Tancredo, and ex-convict/current actor/ radio personality G. Gordon Liddy have exposed Judge Sotomayor for what she really is: a KKK-supporting, racist, menstruator/pre-menstruator who hates white people and speaks to aliens.

Sotomayors' own beliefs confirm she is a Racist, Sexist, Elitist, Class-Warfare-Inciting Nazi. You be the judge!
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Everyone is speculating about the ways Sotomayor's personal background will compromise her judicial integrity. I mean, it's pretty hard to hold a gavel while eating arroz con pollo, let alone while having a vagina. Here is a list of some glimpses into the personal lives of Supreme Court judges.
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from Talk to Action

The deadline for filing new bills in the Texas Legislature passed some weeks ago, but State Senator Dan Patrick is so very special that he's been granted a very special suspension of the rules to file yet another of his very special anti-abortion bills. His Texas Baby Purchasing Act of 2007 drew more snickers than sponsors, and his co-effort with Rep. Warren Chisum to ban abortion entirely remains in committee, but the legislative session's not over yet. And the religious right never gives up.

Women in Texas already are denied abortion care until after a doctor warns them of nonexistent risks of breast cancer and mental illness, after which they must spend at least 24 hours pondering misinformation that no responsible physician would have given them, nor ever did, until forced by law to do so. Patrick's SB 920 adds yet another moralistic barrier by denying a woman abortion care unless she examines an ultrasound image of her pregnancy, whether she wants to see it or not.

Patrick (left), a Christian conservative talk show host and first-term senator who broadcasts his radio show from the Capitol, had his own vasectomy performed live and on the air. Had a compulsory ultrasound viewing been a part of that procedure, we would all be grateful that Patrick is one publicity hound who didn't have a television gig.

Women who seek abortion care deserve to have much more medical privacy than that, along with a lot more respect for their constitutional rights.
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Three things to make note of before we start wading into this blog entry together, folks...

But you know what? For those in the audience who've been wondering WTF a guy like me is doing posting to feminist blogs, this is a significant chunk of the backstory for that. So make of it what you will.

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One of the things that really, really chaps my ass is what a small percentage of the people bloviating away about abortions, on both the right and the left sides of the fence, actually have any first-hand experience with them.

I'm sorry, SCOTUS. And I'm sorry, Fux News Channel. But... if you ain't been there done that, then you can't know. You just can't fucking know.
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