How we defeat the Supreme Court

Yesterday, five members of the Supreme Court of the United States did a reprise of their 2000 coup: this time they decided to allow anyone with a lot of money to spend that money on election propaganda. In one ham-fisted, anti-democratic, precedent-busting move, they eliminated the already weak limits in place under McCain-Feingold, reasserted that corporations have the same Constitutional rights as actual human beings, and affirmed, beyond doubt, the possession of money as the most important resource in American politics.

Now we know why Roberts flubbed the Oath last year: he was eager to help destroy the nascent progressive movement that allowed Barack Obama to stand before him and take that oath. Now he’s done what he can to ensure Obama and others of his ilk are unable to forget their place and get uppity.

Not to mention, fuck “one person, one vote”. Now, more than ever, it’s the Golden Rule: “Those with the gold, rule”.

However, just like the defeat of Coakley in Massachusetts earlier this week, I refuse to let this be a setback. I am not going to join the woe-is-me, wailing and gnashing of teeth crowd. This is a horrible decision, and it does huge damage. But like every piece of shit that rolls down from on high, if we do not look for and build on the opportunity that is implied, we simply concede defeat and declare ourselves as morally bankrupt at the five who decided to fuck-over democracy in this manner. We only recognize light because of the darkness; these awful events eliminate confusion and, for those looking to move forward and do better, clarify what is possible.

In this case, because we know where that money is going — tv and radio ads, chock full of lies and propaganda — and because we know we’ll never have the money to match (unions gain the same freedom to spend as corporations, but they’ll never come close to having the same resources) we have to find other ways to win. The great thing is, of course, we already know what those ways are, and we’ve used them successfully in the last two elections.

The one and only way we overturn the Supreme Court’s decision is through grassroots activism. Since we know our causes and candidates are going to get pummeled on tv, we have to take a different route: dialog with our friends and neighbors. We must continue to get our message out the slow, old-fashioned way: one person, one conversation at a time. This fall, when the big money is being used to attack Kurt Shrader and other Democrats who are vulnerable, including many members of the Oregon Legislature, we have to be countering the tv ads with our bodies, our faces, our voices.

We have to go stand in front of the tanks. We have to be the ones who counter the ads with our message, delivered with our own words, our own voices. It’s not the easiest thing to do; most people are reluctant (to put it mildly) to “intrude” on other people’s lives, especially to talk about politics. But “politics” is much more than an election: it’s how we fund schools, what kind of safety regulations we’ll have, will we stop polluting the earth to death, will the military continue to take the bulk of our nation’s wealth, can we force Wall Street not to keep robbing us to fund their evil schemes to destroy the world? Yes, I’m being a bit flip, but what is at stake is not winning elections.

What’s at stake is what kind of state and nation do we live in?

If you want your life to be controlled by corporations and religious fanatics, please, do nothing. Hide at home and worry about the fairness of the judging on American Idol. Text your $10 to Haiti and wipe your conscience clean. But if you want a better world, you have to do something. Not everything, not everyday, and not as part of some left-wing army. Just something. On a regular basis, do something tangible. Talk to people at work. Hold a house party for a candidate. Attend a fundraiser and take someone with you who has never been to such a critter. At election time, do a few shifts of phonebanking (new technologies are making it more pleasant and effective).

Do something outside your comfort zone. If we commit ourselves to on-going action of some kind, all year, every year, regardless of whatever might be going on in terms of elections and campaigns; if we commit to speaking up on the issues with the people in our lives (which means keeping informed about those issues, which takes perhaps half-an-hour a day); then we can undermine the Supreme Court’s decision from below. Those at the top, with all the money and power, will find out their message, produced and broadcast at huge expense and with little regard for anything other than corporate and political power, will discover their foundation is weak and collapsing. We can make that happen, despite and because of the Court’s horrific activism.

We can take back our country and leave those who thought they won a massive victory yesterday holding nothing but wads of cash that buy nothing but noise.