Lawyers around Washington, D.C., love to joke that the highest court in the land is not the Supreme Court of the United States-
, but rather the basketball court located on the fifth floor of the Supreme Court Building. Either way, five justices committed a flagrant foul last week.
On Jan. 21, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. It was an opinion legal commentators, politicians and law students had been awaiting for some time. In a bitterly divided 5-4 opinion, the court overturned more than a century's worth of precedent and cleared the way for corporations to flood elections with an exceptional amount of money.
The decision was announced to an audience that only half-filled the court gallery. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, a one-time advocate of restrictive campaign-finance laws, delivered the majority opinion. It took him about 5 minutes to read a summary of the court's opinion, but astounded observers immediately grasped the wide-ranging impact of the decision.
It was clear that the court was extending an American citizen's right to freedom of speech to corporations — fictional individuals. Kennedy's new interpretation opened the door to corporations using general funds to support or oppose candidates in elections, and overturned restrictions enacted in McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reforms that limited independent corporate expenditures in elections. Corporate spending in electoral politics may be both direct and unlimited for the foreseeable future.
And, if spending money is speech, corporations are screaming. They are screaming at politicians over you, me and anyone else unable to empty millions of dollars from their coffers, unfettered.
This case, more than any other of my generation, has the potential to threaten American democracy. Every generation witnesses pivotal moments. This is ours.
Bush v. Gore is seen by many as a political decision. Roe v. Wade is seen by some as immoral. Dred Scott today is seen as unconscionable. Each, depending on your point of view, had potentially corrosive effects on our nation's history and identity. Each, however, was delivered within a political system that possessed legitimacy and provided an opportunity for recourse through its checks and balances.
The court in Citizens United abandoned this balancing of power. It inserted itself, and a substantial amount of new money, into the body politic. A vital check within our system of government vanished, only to be replaced with one of the monetary kind.
As I listened to Kennedy, I slumped over and contended with a roller coaster of emotions. But then, reminiscent of John Paul Jones' famous cry of "I have not yet begun to fight," Justice John Paul Stevens delivered a rousing summary of his dissenting opinion, which is one page longer than his age — 89 years, 90 pages. He spoke for about 20 minutes, and I could see that he and the minority were grappling with the same emotions as I was.
He said aloud, and reiterated in writing, "I regret the length of what follows, but the importance and novelty of the Court's opinion require a full response."
And, oh, what a response it was.
I urge you to read the passionate pleas of the elder statesman of the court and to consider the effect Citizens United will have on American democracy. It is an effect I fear.
I agree with Stevens when he concludes: "It is a strange time to repudiate … common sense. While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics."
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Showing posts with label D.C.Secretary Of Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label D.C.Secretary Of Love. Show all posts
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
DC School Chief's 'Sex' Remarks Stir Controversy
Washington, D.C.'s schools chancellor is facing harsh criticism for her claim that among the 266 city teachers she fired last October, some "had sex with children."
Speaking with the magazine Fast Company, Michelle Rhee was explaining the criteria she used to determine which teachers the city let go in the face of a $43.9 million budget shortfall. "I got rid of teachers who had hit children, who had sex with children, who had missed 78 days of school," Rhee said. "Why wouldn't we take those things into consideration?"
The problem for Rhee is that if school authorities knew of teachers whose behavior had endangered the welfare of the district's children, the names of those individuals are, by law, supposed to be reported to the police.
On Tuesday, Rhee added additional detail to her claims, telling a local news affiliate that one of the teachers fired had been on administrative leave for sexual misconduct with a student, six others had served suspensions for a variety of corporal punishment violations, and that two of the 266 teachers fired had been suspended for unauthorized absences.
Rhee has so far declined to provide the names of the teachers in question.
"Why was an alleged budget problem used as a basis for dismissing people who, according to her, engaged in abuse and sexual molestation of children?" D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray asked in an interview with WTOP News.
Gray says he is considering a subpoena for Rhee to compel her to testify and provide names of the teachers accused of abusing children.
Rhee's decision to terminate 266 teachers has further exacerbated an already difficult relationship with the city's teachers' union.
"The statements are not only an affront to every single teacher that was [laid off] but every single teacher currently employed in D.C. public schools," the union's general vice president, Nathan Saunders, told The Washington Post. "It's irresponsible, and she needs to be taken to task for it."
Since being appointed in 2007 to head one of the nation's worst school districts, Rhee has clashed with the union on issues like merit pay, which she advocates and the union staunchly opposes. Efforts to sign a new contract with the city have so far proved unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, under Rhee's leadership the district's test scores have risen and the high school dropout rate has eased.
While Rhee faces potential troubles in the nation's capital, she is being heralded in the new documentary "Waiting for Superman," which made its debut over the weekend at the Sundance Film Festival.
After seeing the film, Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert wrote the following about Rhee's battle with the union: "The most powerful opponents to better teaching are the teachers' unions. I am a lifelong supporter of unions. But 'Waiting for Superman' makes this an inescapable conclusion. A union that protects incompetent and even dangerous teachers is an obscenity."
As to the matter of naming those teachers whom Rhee claims may have had sex with or physically abused students, it remains to be seen whether her remarks will result in any further disciplinary or legal action, be they against Rhee or the alleged perpetrators.
Filed under: Nation, Only On Sphere
Source:sphere.com/
Speaking with the magazine Fast Company, Michelle Rhee was explaining the criteria she used to determine which teachers the city let go in the face of a $43.9 million budget shortfall. "I got rid of teachers who had hit children, who had sex with children, who had missed 78 days of school," Rhee said. "Why wouldn't we take those things into consideration?"
The problem for Rhee is that if school authorities knew of teachers whose behavior had endangered the welfare of the district's children, the names of those individuals are, by law, supposed to be reported to the police.
On Tuesday, Rhee added additional detail to her claims, telling a local news affiliate that one of the teachers fired had been on administrative leave for sexual misconduct with a student, six others had served suspensions for a variety of corporal punishment violations, and that two of the 266 teachers fired had been suspended for unauthorized absences.
Rhee has so far declined to provide the names of the teachers in question.
"Why was an alleged budget problem used as a basis for dismissing people who, according to her, engaged in abuse and sexual molestation of children?" D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray asked in an interview with WTOP News.
Gray says he is considering a subpoena for Rhee to compel her to testify and provide names of the teachers accused of abusing children.
Rhee's decision to terminate 266 teachers has further exacerbated an already difficult relationship with the city's teachers' union.
"The statements are not only an affront to every single teacher that was [laid off] but every single teacher currently employed in D.C. public schools," the union's general vice president, Nathan Saunders, told The Washington Post. "It's irresponsible, and she needs to be taken to task for it."
Since being appointed in 2007 to head one of the nation's worst school districts, Rhee has clashed with the union on issues like merit pay, which she advocates and the union staunchly opposes. Efforts to sign a new contract with the city have so far proved unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, under Rhee's leadership the district's test scores have risen and the high school dropout rate has eased.
While Rhee faces potential troubles in the nation's capital, she is being heralded in the new documentary "Waiting for Superman," which made its debut over the weekend at the Sundance Film Festival.
After seeing the film, Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert wrote the following about Rhee's battle with the union: "The most powerful opponents to better teaching are the teachers' unions. I am a lifelong supporter of unions. But 'Waiting for Superman' makes this an inescapable conclusion. A union that protects incompetent and even dangerous teachers is an obscenity."
As to the matter of naming those teachers whom Rhee claims may have had sex with or physically abused students, it remains to be seen whether her remarks will result in any further disciplinary or legal action, be they against Rhee or the alleged perpetrators.
Filed under: Nation, Only On Sphere
Source:sphere.com/
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Dr. Ruth, DC’s Secretary of Love and Relationships
Local NBC News in Washington DC reports that the city’s tourism department has just named famed sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer as its honorary Secretary of Love and Relationships. In this new role, Dr. Ruth has helped launch a Web site called Date Night DC.
It’s all a play off of the Obamas’ well-publicized date nights in DC. And in addition to the First Couple, the site also has a list of power couples who got their start in the capitol including NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, political consultants Mary Matalin and James Carville and actress Alexandra Wentworth and ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
The site was launched in advance of Valentine’s Day as an effort by DC tourism officials to play up the city’s romantic side and bring in tourist dollars to its restaurants and museums.
The site also aims to help singles and couples in the nation’s capitol plan dates, gives singles a place to meet other singles and lists DC’s top 28 most romantic spots like the Tidal Basin, the Reflecting Pool and the FDR Memorial. We’re just going to have to trust locals on the romantic value of that last one, but no matter what side of the aisle you fall on, here’s a stimulus package we can all get behind.
Source:tonic.com/
Monday, January 18, 2010
Gitmo Detainee Tried in DC?
A Gitmo detainee tried in DC? Really? Apparently the present administration believes it is a good idea to try Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, in Washington D.C. for his crimes. Hambali is accused of being the chief architect of the bombings at a Bali nightclub that killed 202 people.
Nobody is saying exactly what Hambali is going to be charged with before he is brought to the U.S. for a criminal trial. The administration is currently discussing holding a number of trials in the U.S., in either Washington D.C. or New York City, in an effort to show that they do not accept the policies of President George W. Bush in dealing with terrorists. Seems like a pretty high risk move, bringing dangerous terrorists to the very places targeted on September 11, 2001. Read more about the administrations plans to have a Gitmo detainee tried in DC and see a video below.
According to the story here, Hambali was held for years in secret CIA prisons prior to being detained in Guantanamo Bay, and is now going to be brought to the United States for a criminal trial. I can’t tell you how bad of an idea I think this is. Hambali is thought to be Bin Laden’s chief deputy in Indonesia and during interrogation was said to have revealed a plan that consisted of suicide bombings in the United States.
President Obama is going to miss a self-imposed deadline to close Gitmo. I guess the President is finding out that it’s pretty easy to criticize when you don’t have all the information, but once you have all the information that went into the decision you begin to see that the decision wasn’t so bad in the first place. It is pretty easy to say “Close Gitmo!” but it’s not so easy to figure out what to do with those being held there.
I agree with those who say that conducting the trials in Washington D.C. and New York City are going to make those cities even more of a target than they already are. It makes no sense to me to subject those cities to threats that they simply do not need. That’s how I feel about this, but I’d love to hear your opinion. Should we bring suspected terrorists to the United States to hold criminal trials, or should the trials be held outside the U.S. at a place like Gitmo?
Source:aw.rightpundits.com/
Nobody is saying exactly what Hambali is going to be charged with before he is brought to the U.S. for a criminal trial. The administration is currently discussing holding a number of trials in the U.S., in either Washington D.C. or New York City, in an effort to show that they do not accept the policies of President George W. Bush in dealing with terrorists. Seems like a pretty high risk move, bringing dangerous terrorists to the very places targeted on September 11, 2001. Read more about the administrations plans to have a Gitmo detainee tried in DC and see a video below.
According to the story here, Hambali was held for years in secret CIA prisons prior to being detained in Guantanamo Bay, and is now going to be brought to the United States for a criminal trial. I can’t tell you how bad of an idea I think this is. Hambali is thought to be Bin Laden’s chief deputy in Indonesia and during interrogation was said to have revealed a plan that consisted of suicide bombings in the United States.
President Obama is going to miss a self-imposed deadline to close Gitmo. I guess the President is finding out that it’s pretty easy to criticize when you don’t have all the information, but once you have all the information that went into the decision you begin to see that the decision wasn’t so bad in the first place. It is pretty easy to say “Close Gitmo!” but it’s not so easy to figure out what to do with those being held there.
I agree with those who say that conducting the trials in Washington D.C. and New York City are going to make those cities even more of a target than they already are. It makes no sense to me to subject those cities to threats that they simply do not need. That’s how I feel about this, but I’d love to hear your opinion. Should we bring suspected terrorists to the United States to hold criminal trials, or should the trials be held outside the U.S. at a place like Gitmo?
Source:aw.rightpundits.com/
Friday, January 15, 2010
Washington D.C. To Swear In Secretary Of Love
Tourism officials in the nation's capital have picked Dr. Ruth Westheimer to be the honorary secretary of the "Department of Love and Relationships." She'll help announce a new "stimulus plan" for the city's tourism business. Dr. Ruth will be sworn in Thursday.
DEBORAH AMOS, host:
Good morning. I'm Deb Amos.
Move over, Mr. Geithner. There's a new secretary coming to the nation's capital. Today, D.C. will introduce the secretary of love and relationships. And officials have tapped the queen of romance herself, Dr. Ruth, to fill that role. It's all part of D.C.'s month-long stimulus plan to boost tourism. Officials say the effort has been inspired by the Obama's romantic date night. The romance is in time for Valentine's Day. It's MORNING EDITION.
Source:npr.org/
DEBORAH AMOS, host:
Good morning. I'm Deb Amos.
Move over, Mr. Geithner. There's a new secretary coming to the nation's capital. Today, D.C. will introduce the secretary of love and relationships. And officials have tapped the queen of romance herself, Dr. Ruth, to fill that role. It's all part of D.C.'s month-long stimulus plan to boost tourism. Officials say the effort has been inspired by the Obama's romantic date night. The romance is in time for Valentine's Day. It's MORNING EDITION.
Source:npr.org/
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