Rick Raw: Supreme Court’s Shocking Decision Clears The Way for Corporate Takeover of

Elections–Say Goodbye to The Democratic Process

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

When I heard that the Supreme Court struck down the twenty-year old law that prevented corporations from using their profits to endorse or oppose political candidates, I threw a tirade of epic proportions. My stream of profanity was unprecedented and sent my dogs running for cover.

My rampage lasted for ten minutes after which I shredded my voter registration card and my copy of the constitution. It was the most outrageously damaging decision the Court has ever made. What the hell were they smoking.

In a 5-4 decision, 5 mentally incompetent Justices ruled that the restriction was unconstitutional In so doing, the Justices cleared the way for corporate branding of candidates.

In the future, important national elections will be a joke, electing a puppet of the corporation that spent the most money backing the candidate. Then, by the time the lobbyists of the same corporation corrupt the elected official, representation for and by the people will be nonexistent. Rest assured, I’m not using hyperbole. This is serious.

The case that was presented to the Supreme Court was by a conservative group, Citizens United, that made a 90 minute documentary slamming Hilary Clinton as she campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Citizens United wanted to air ads for the anti-Clinton documentary and distribute it through video-on-demand services on local and cable systems during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign.

The Federal courts ruled that the documentary looked and sounded like a long campaign ad and therefore should be regulated like one. So the producers advertised the movie on the Internet and sold it on DVD. It did have a short theatrical run.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in March, then asked for another round of arguments about whether corporations and unions should be treated differently than individuals when it comes to campaign spending. The 5 conservative Justices were itching to dump the law. They just needed a case on which to rule.

Last week, the decision hit the news media like a 8.0 earthquake. President Obama condemned the ruling as a victory for big oil, Wall Street, banks, insurance companies, and other powerful interests.

Indeed, the ruling was a victory for critics of big government like the GOP leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) who filed the first lawsuit against the campaign finance law. Ayn Rand’s Society (cult) members were ecstatic, since their mantra of government laissez-faire or "Objectivism" was upheld by the Justices’ decision.

Still, as the recent economic apocalypse confirmed, the government needs to regulate campaign contributions from corporations. That was the purpose of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. Without control, the corporations will now have the freedom to buy their own candidate.

The measly campaign matching funds from the government will be a paltry sum compared the corporate spending on their puppet candidate. Only billionaires who decide to use their own money will be free of corporate influence during their campaigns.

Sadly, we know from recent elections, the candidate who has the most money in their campaign war chest will probably win. In the end, it will be a race by the corporate interests to see who can spend the most money to get their candidate elected. Months before the election, the TV airwaves will be clogged with corporate paid commercials for their candidate. Negative and attack ads will proliferate like a virus.

This ruling will have a profound effect on the electorial process, shutting out the will of the ordinary people. Our democracy has taken a serious blow to its foundation as a government for and by the people–not soulless corporations. We need to organize a protest movement to put pressure on our lawmakers to reinstate campaign finance law to throttle big corporations from getting carte blanche.

Rick Raw: Gilbert Arenas Pleads Guilty to Gun Charges– Another Mindless Thug Infecting Professional Sports

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

In the past, my utter disgust at the behavior of professional athletes has led me to write scathing commentary and personally boycott pro sports all together. Now, another million dollar basketball player, the Wizards guard, Gilbert Arenas has committed a string of felonies so egregious and stupid it defies common sense.

In 2003, Arenas (now 28) signed a $111 million contract to play professional basketball for the Wizards. So what does this golden boy do? He goes out and buys a fist full of guns and doesn’t bother to get permits to carry them. And then, as if he was a complete moron, he brought four guns into his team’s locker room.

What follows is an account of the incident that got Arenas arrested. Remember, these are grown men making millions of dollars playing professional sports acting like punks from the hood. Why?

Why indeed. It’s what happens when team owners throw truck loads of money at the unworthy.
The truth is: They are lowlife scum from the ghetto who just happen to have a talent to play basketball better than most of their peers. They cheated their way through college to get signed in the NBA.

These NBA millionaires come from the thug mentality of the hip-hop culture that feeds a billion dollar rap industry. This whole scene encourages violence, abuse of women, and criminal behavior. They call themselves the N word, and it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The events leading up to Arenas being charged with four felonies are incredibly juvenile. It’s a classic case of two fools with guns acting like street corner drug dealers. The headline could read: Basketball Thugs Brandish Guns to Prove Their Manhood!"

On Dec.19 the team (Wizards) flew on a chartered flight to the Washington area from Phoenix. Arena and a teammate, Jarvis Crittenton got into an argument over a card game.
The argument escalated to an exchange of threats involving guns. At the Verizon Center, Arenas brought four unregistered hand guns into the locker room. He placed the guns on the bench to intimidate Crittenton, who took one of the guns and threw it across the locker room. The two bozos exchanged threats which ended the locker room incident.

Wizards’ management heard about the guns and called the U.S.Attorney. The police were dispatched to Arenas’ home where they confiscated his guns. Arenas was indicted and charged with four felonies for owning unregistered firearms.

Finally, the U.S. Attorney offered Arenas a plea deal to plead guilty to one felony count, which he accepted. It’s up to judge Robert E. Morin’s discretion as to what sentence Arenas receives, but he’ll likely serve time–maybe six months. Since Arenas arrest, he was suspended from the NBA indefinitely. Arenas remains free on bail until he is sentenced on March 26, 2010. What a cretin punk.

This entire incident reads like a twisted grade B movie. These guys may be great basketball players and make obscene amounts of money, but they act like dumb-assses. Clearly, a high IQ is not a prerequisite to playing professional basketball.

I ask: What the hell was Arenas thinking and why did he bring four guns into the Verizon Center locker room? Did he want to be considered a badass? Probably. Was it an elaborate prank? Not likely.

With the gun culture out of control in the ghettos, Arenas’ behavior was unconscionable. It’s not the message community leaders, who are trying to stop the senseless murders in the projects, want to encourage. Arenas’ loutish behavior only verifies my criticism of the pervasive amorality in professional sports.

The rogues gallery of thugs in professional sports is long and shameful. Examples abound: Michael Vick’s sadistic cruelty to dogs in his dog fighting conspiracy. Tiger Woods’ hypocrisy for claiming to be a devoted family man, while he’s banging every VIP whore in Vegas. Kobe Bryant’s expensive lawyer getting him out of a rape charge. It goes on and on.

And just when I’ve had enough of these overpaid punks, the bloated steroid goons in pro baseball finally came clean. Mark McGwire’s tearful confession made me sick. What a cur. Yeah, he’s a sorry–a sorry excuse for a human being.

It’s time to put a stop to these overpaid criminals in professional sports. If everyone stops buying tickets to the games and refuse to watch the pro-sports on televison, the big money will dry up and players will make a reasonable wage for their craft. Ha! This is as likely as Lindsey Lohan will stop whoring and drugging herself stupid.

Yes, I know, a unilateral boycott is not going to happen. My one voice will be drowned out by the crazed sports fans who could care less if these thugs brandish weapons or abuse and hang dogs. The hysteria revolving around sports drowns out any concern about the behavior of the athletes.
Morality is lost in the cheap thrills fans get from watching pro-sports. If the fans don’t care about the morality of the athletes, then why should they care about their misbehavior. It’s something to ponder as you are chugging beers and cheering on the home team.

Rick Raw: Sen. Reid’s Faux Pas not Racist –Just a Statement of Fact

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

"In the near future, everyone will be fucking everyone until the entire population of America will be shades of brown." From the movie script of "Bulworth" uttered by Sen. Jay Billington Bulworth (Warren Beatty).

Sen. Harry Reid’s off-hand statement, back in 2008, in which he suggested that since Obama was a "light skinned black without a dialect," which was the reason he won the election. This statement of fact was recently flagged as a racist comment. Clearly, the ridiculous criticism of Reid’s comment was politically motivated by GOP interests since Sen. Reid, now 70, is up for reelection in his home state of Nevada.

Clearly, Reid’s comment raises other issues regarding our perception of racial issues. In no way was Reid’s statement racist. Obama is multiracial with a white mother. He was raised by white grandparents and given an ivy league education. Obama’s race was never an issue in the campaign since he did well in traditional WASP strongholds.

Reid’s statement speaks to a division between the more prosperous, well educated blacks and the poorer blacks from the ghettos of every city in America. Not that a coal black candidate who rose up from the ghetto and worked his way through college would not have had a chance, but it’s the WASP perception of the two classes of black America.

Even within the two black communities, this division is a prominent factor in their thinking. It’s street cred versus Anglo influended blacks–or, Uncle Toms. It’s the hood’s hip-hop fashions with baggy, below the butt pants and long tee-shirts versus the button down black lawyer.

We all see the struggle going on within the poorer black communities. It’s their poverty that holds them down, not their will to be successful. Teen pregnancy and high school drop out rates are soaring in the ghettos and projects. All social ills come from the poor neighborhoods.

Eliminating African-American poverty is at the root of solving their problems. It’s everyone’s responsibility to help make this happen. We’re all in this Earth trip together, and we have the means and ability to right this wrong. Of course, the economic apocalypse sent many former middle class people into poorer neighborhoods, creating a new class of poor.

Reid’s comment alluded to the media factor in presidential campaigns where the image is greater than the reality. Obama is a charismatic speaker and looks presidential. Yes, his multiracial background helped him overcome racist stereotypes..

But the minute he walked out to the podium, any racial prejudice disappeared by his mesmerizing media image and brilliant speaking ability combined with his message of change and hope.

Could Gary Coleman or Mike Tyson run for president. Of course not. Even if Mike Tyson wasn’t an idiot and a thug, his facial tattoo would cause problems. The first time someone heckled him, he’d jump off the podium and bite the guy’s ear off. There is no way a little person could be elected president. Gary Coleman couldn’t even see over the podium and would have to have a kiddie podium to speak. The point is: Both these fading black celebrities doesn’t have the right media image to run for president.

Indeed, media image was a problem for Ron Paul. The guy looks like he’s been beaten up by Mike Tyson. It hurts me to look at him. But he has some new and interesting ideas. It doesn’t matter. Media image is 90% of getting elected to any office.

So, we are still stuck with overwhelming over-sensitivity when talking about black people in public. Sen Reid wasn’t making a racial statement but a declaration of fact. The GOP dug up that remark to sabotage Reid’s chances of reelection in Nevada. Ironically, blacks still use the N word as slang when referring to each other, which irks whites, who have struck the word from their lexicon.

We’ve come a long way from Martin Luther King, Jr’s Civil Right Movement. We have the first president of color. But, we still have a long way to go in changing racial attitudes and overcoming white guilt over slavery. It’s time to end poverty and give all people the same opportunities.

Rick Raw: Middle Class Task Force Helmed by VP Joe Biden–What in the Hell is Going On in Biden’s Playpen

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

As 2010 came crashing into our reality like a comet hitting Earth, the Swine on the Hill continue to screw up everything most people cherish and waste billions of our tax dollars. Meanwhile, we continue to fight the global terrorist threat.

More disastrous: As the new Health Care Bill simmers in the Hill’s caldron, it turns out to be a brain numbing fiasco. The bill’s trillion dollars in new spending makes the National Debt clock spin faster than Tonya Harding’s truck wheels after an all-night binge.

Worse still, I find out that our cluless VP buffoon, Joe Biden is hosting the Middle Class Task Force– a panel of experts brought together to save the sinking ship known as the middle class, which has been blown apart by the economic apocalypse. "Tally ho, send them a case of Velvetta cheese," the panel shouts.

Now, Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis is hawking the Paid Leave and Healthy Families Act. Oh, isn’t that nice! What a crock! She’s assuming there is a healthy middle class out there in the suburban sprawl of foreclosures.

The reality is: Those vast suburban subdivisions are mostly empty–foreclosed on after the great land grab of 2007. In 2008, the excrement hit the fan and the bottom dropped out of the housing market.

Obviously, Secretary Solis is delusional thinking that this Act will help millions of American workers. Get a grip, Solis, there are 30 million people still unemployed. Memo to Ms. Solis: There is virtually no middle class "healthy families" to protect. Wouldn’t it be more helpful to throw her support to helping the unemployed find jobs and crawl their way back to middle class?
This brings up a pertinent question: Why is it that our lawmakers and leaders, like Secretary Solis, seem so out of touch with mainstream America? It’s simple, they’re not, or have they ever been, middle class. One has to be filthy rich to run for office or get appointed to a high position in the administration.

These curs never had to struggle, working their way up in a company to become middle class. They didn’t have to suffer the humiliation of being laid-off or fired during the great job purging of American corporations, under the guise of a bad economy. They didn’t lose their house because they couldn’t find a job and pay the mortgage. They didn’t watch their family fall apart from the stress.

No, the politicos and kiss-ass bureaucrats made money the old fashioned way–they inherited it or committed fraud to get it. Biden is in the "inherited" category. Nonetheless, he’s a piss-poor advocate for the middle class since he lives like a king and has a mouth problem.

Ms. Solis contends that workers who take leave because they or their children become sick must not lose their jobs or risk some other form of disciplinary action by their employers. The Paid Leave and the Healthy Families Act protects their job if they are sick or caring for a chronically sick child.

All well and good. But we have other pressing priorities such as jobs, jobs, jobs. In his favor, Obama has addressed this issue and is working hard to provide real jobs in green industries and new technologies. But it’s too little too late.

Biden should spend some time with real families in crisis as they implode from within. I’ve talked to many of these people who were blasted out of their middle class existence by the sudden collapse of the economy in 2008.

The stalwart jobless are coping but the lack of jobs has fractured many families, who have spilt up to survive. It’s like the middle class disappeared overnight.

The truth is: Many big corporations used the economic apocalypse as a convenient excuse to trim their work force substantially–enhancing the bottom line. These jobs will never come back.

These Machiavellian companies are learning to use fewer employees to get things done. Of course, the remaining employees have to work much harder to take up the slack. We’re back to indentured servitude before unions became a strong force for workers.

So we get bullshit from the Swine on the Hill telling us, "Yeah, it will be okay, trust us!" Well, hell no, we don’t trust them. The money grubbing bastards on Wall Street got us into this mess, and now they are getting rich off our bailout tax money.

Biden can gather all the panels he wants, but they are not going to solve this problem until more new industries are encouraged to build their plants in America not Mexico or China.

In fact, we need to forbid companies from outsourcing jobs to other countries. Screw them, we need jobs here in America. So what would I do? I’d pass a law that states that any corporate CEO who even suggests outsourcing jobs and plants to other countries be publically flogged on live television. Yeah, I like that.