Three Cheers for the Supreme Court

Well, two anyway. The Supreme Court has done plenty of damage with their retarded “reasoning” that money and speech are the same thing, and corporations are people. And they also just ruled today that fraud — along with bribery — is a cherished Constitutional freedom that our Founding Fathers envisioned.

But back to that silver lining: They ruled today, 8 to 1, that people who sign petitions — for the purpose of getting an initiative or referendum onto the ballot — can NOT run and hide and keep their names secret. If you’re going to take part in the political process, man up. Or else stay on the sidelines and shut the fuck up. One or the other; you can’t cherry-pick the best of both.

This case was scary, mostly because of the slippery greasebag, James Bopp, who brought this case to the Supreme Court. James Bopp has a long range incremental plan. In his twisted little dream world, corporations will not only be free to purchase elections (like they already are), but ALL disclosure laws will be ruled unconstitutional as well.

As corrupt as things already are, diligent voters can follow the money to see who’s bribing which congressman and who’s funding those “grass roots” demonstrators who keep screaming that health care reform equals Nazi Germany. And if you see one of those intelligence-insulting political hit pieces on TV, you can move up really really close to the screen and see the .01 font lettering that says “this crock of shit was paid for by ___________________.”

Keeping petition-signers’ names secret was Step One of James Bopp’s master plan. Now that he’s been kidney punched by the Supreme Court, maybe James Bopp will slink back under his rock and go back to pulling the wings off of flies, smelling bicycle seats or whatever his favorite hobbies are.

And yesterday the Supreme Court, in an 8 to 0 ruling, dealt a slight setback to those anal retentive property owners who think they own the beach, the ocean, the view, the air supply…

I realize that access to the beach isn’t exactly up there with the economy or health care. But if you live — or have ever lived — in a coastal community, you know what a contentious issue this is.