Headlines are all that matter.  The MSM will parrot the talking points without any context as proof that the Obama economy is improving.

Citizen’s United was decided 5-4 in favor of not limiting the free speech of corporations and unions.  The case originated in a dispute over whether a non-profit corporation could air a film critical of Hillary Clinton.  The decision struck down provisions of the McCain-Feingold Act that had the effect of prohibiting political speech by corporations within a window of time near an election.  Further ripple effects are sure to follow.  

To any sane person, this would seem to be the correct finding.  As Justice Kennedy wrote in his opinion:

“If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech.”

But, to opponents of free speech such as Ms. Lithwick, there is evidently an “insane” amount of speech going on.   Political speech is very dangerous and should obviously be left to the professionals.  That is, professionals such as the New York Times, NBC-Universal , Washington Post; corporations all.   Only some corporations can be trusted with this much power.  Only the right-minded and fair institutions of the media can be trusted to inform that average schmuck about the ways of the political world.  We can’t have just any Tom, Dick and Harry exercising there first amendment rights and informing their fellow citizens about something they believe to be important.  Lest people be exposed to speech that is “noxious” or “insane” from the result of this “politically naive” court ruling. 

Colbert’s argument amounts to no more than parroting snappy one-liners about corporations being people. Yuk Yuk.  This superficial observation is all that Colbert needs to amuse himself and his fans.  This is the argument against which the Supreme Court has no chance? Mockery is not an argument, legal or otherwise.

To believe the hyerbolic rantings of the anti-speech crowd, one would think that the Citizens United had usurped Tom, Dick and Harry’s 1st amendment rights when in fact it is the opposite.  To give them the benefit of the doubt, I don’t believe that anyone wants to stifle the speech of any individual (unless they are too rich).  So, in their view of the first amendment, Tom, Dick OR Harry can say anything they want.   But when OR turns to AND, well then, we have a problem.  Presumably, one person may purchase advertising to spread his point of view, but if two people pool their money to do the same, that would be illegal.  

By the way, “Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Division of the Washington Post Company.”   Can we assume that Slate will go dark 30 days before the next election, or at least, stop accepting advertising revenue from corporations?

The Sierra Club disclosed Thursday that it received over $26 million from natural-gas giant Chesapeake Energy Corp. between 2007 and 2010 to help the group’s campaign against coal-fired power plants.

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2012/01/actress-cynthia-nixon-in-trouble-for.html?m=1

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-maher-wants-to-know-who-the-fk-is-saul-alinsky/

Unexpectedly?

Just a joke, the real punchline is Abortion! 

There’s more to the story than you are hearing in the media. Marianne Gingrich is no innocent, and she was the one who broke the marriage and cleaned out the house…

» When Marianne cleaned out the house – Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Plus according the to the linked article she got the couple’s 1984 Ford Thunderbird.

 
It’s a tie for the ages.

There are too many holes in the certified totals from the Iowa caucuses to know for certain who won, but Rick Santorum wound up with a 34-vote advantage.

Results from eight precincts are missing — any of which could hold an advantage for Mitt Romney — and will never be recovered and certified, Republican Party of Iowa officials told The Des Moines Register on Wednesday.

GOP officials discovered inaccuracies in 131 precincts, although not all the changes affected the two leaders. Changes in one precinct alone shifted the vote by 50 — a margin greater than the certified tally.

The certified numbers: 29,839 for Santorum and 29,805 for Romney. The turnout: 121,503.

It’s not a surprise that the ultra-thin gap of eight votes on caucus night didn’t hold up, but it’s tough to swallow the fact that there will always be a question mark hanging over this race, politics insiders said.

Who won the Iowa caucuses? Er … « Hot Air

What a joke! Christie — responding to hecklers who used the words “going down” in connection with jobs — said: “You know, something may be going down tonight, but it ain’t going to be jobs, sweetheart.” Torie Bosch calls this “an offensive oral sex joke” and acts amazed that Christie put video of it on his YouTube site as if he were “proud” of it “rather than recognizing it as flagrantly demeaning, even misogynistic.”

Bosch has propagated the lie, and her liberal allies — who would love to destroy a rising conservative star — are hard at work spreading it. And I do mean hard at work. These slimy little dweebs who write at places I won’t link to, but whom you can find by clicking on that last link, get obscenely excited at the prospect of wrecking a righty.

Althouse: A Slate resident feminist hears Gov. Christie talking about oral sex when he’s obviously not.