Thank you for this much needed reminder and wake up call. There is so much insanity going on, it's hard to keep track of and prioritize all the steps that need to be taken to bring our country back from the edge of a cliff. Ending Citizen's United needs to be near the very top of the list. I hope Democrats are truly ready for the hard work ahead after the mid-terms next fall.
We had a movement that covered all of this---.it was Occupy Wall Street.
We protested every Wednesday afternoon for YEARS. My signs said: Corporations Are Not People and Money Is Not Speech. Then along came Black Lives Matter and now No Kings. Occupy and Indivisible are still leading the way. Now we know it's not just Wall Street. It is indeed the billionaires, tech bros, and crypto creeps too. Some of them are all three.
We are going to get our "nice things", because we are going to never stop. I think I'll ask to be cremated with my last protest sign. It may wake up the person that takes care of that. Get louder. Fight harder. Never give up. See you in the streets.
Thanks Thom, I never considered the wider ramifications of Citizens United decision beyond campaign finance. Trump and crew may well screw things up so badly for the vast majority of Americans that even some MAGA's will see the truth and quit voting against themselves. Additional wishful thinking ... young people get engaged and start raising hell on college campuses and in demonstrations in general.
In addition to the excellent list of atrocities listed in the letter today, we should add another. Trump and the oligarchs are dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative operated by the National Science Foundation which provides critical information on ocean currents, green house gas absorption and ecosystem health. What possible justification is there for doing this? It is madness!
Even the acidity and temp of the oceans, which ultimately affect all sea life and atmospheric aspects of the climate, have not escaped the ravages of the Republicans' fake hoax claims.
Without Citizens United, we wouldn’t have corporate Democrats. Without corporate Democrats we’d have an expanded SCOTUS, a Party willing to exercise the power of its convictions, ranked choice voting, unassailable voting rights, genuine campaign finance reform, a government of, by, and for the PEOPLE.
Here in Washington State, Fix Democracy First is leading the charge to "Undo Citizens United in WA." In our former incarnation, as WAmend, we worked with Move to Amend to secure passage of I-735 calling for a Constitutional Amendment. I believe you gave us some support at that time.
Now we are using the Citizen Resolution process to build public support for a bill (SB 6358) that is before the WA legislature. It would eliminate the ability of corporations and dark money groups to spend money in our elections, effectively nullifying Citizens United in the State.
I plan to attend the "Ask Thom Anything" program on Saturday and ask how you might be able to lend us a hand. In the meantime, anyone who see this and lives in Washington State can go here to read and sign the Resolution: https://bit.ly/WA-Undo-Citizens-United
Note: If you highlight the link and right click, there will be a menu option to go to the site.
I'd like more information on your actions. If they could work here in Massachusetts, perhaps they could work in every state. Thom should help publicize them!
Whyizit, Obama did not kill Citizens United when he took office with a majority in both houses? Why is it that most democrats view Citizens United as undermining our democracy, yet the DNC does not appear to have a strategy for overturning the worst decision in SCOTUS history? I bet the Heritage Foundation has strategies to undermine attempts to undo Citizens United.
Since the case was going through the federal court system I'm not sure what if anything Congress could have done. Separation of powers, you know. A serious attempt to pass a Constitutional amendment could immediately afterwards have been introduced, but as far as I know that wasn't done. And here the DNC has really fallen down. Obama did speak out against the decision in his next State of the Union, but that had no legal value.
Good questions Tom. After the 1964 election, I quit voting until 2016, when I had to vote to defeat Trump (I lost)).
In 64 I voted for Goldwater, I was a single issue voter, anti communist, the culture war was not on the agenda nationally, at least overtly, not like since Trump.
I didn't vote because I perceived that there was no difference between the two parties, that they were two sides of the same coin.
I have returned to that opinion, not that I consider the performance of the Democratic party.
Third parties are a strawman, a ruse, funded, like the Third Way, by the establishment.
The Democratic party needs to be reformed from within, to become a truly populist party,.
Populism has been given a bad name, because it has been co opted by William Jennings Bryan, Huey Long, and Trump. they speak populism, but act theocratic and over class.
Unfortunately, the door of populism swings both ways. So many MAGAs feel unrepresented and “taken over” by liberals. Our country is so divided and confused by voices they believe and trust, and yet are untrustworthy.
The majority of the people want the same things, though.
Much of it obviously is a matter of ignorance and ads—who’s buying them and where they are posted. Too many live in front of FOX, X, and those outlets owned by billionaires who only care for keeping what they believe is theirs at the expense of everyone else.
Yes the door of populism swings both ways, and that is what I said. Populism has been usurped by the Wm Jennings Bryans, Huey Longs and Donald Trumps.
Demagogues who recognized and latched on to public discontent, claimed to champion it, and then turned on the public once they had power.
What are the choices then: Establishmentarianism? Moderation? Extremism of left or right? Is our only choice communism or fascism, because both are authoritarian.
Is authoritarianism, the default of the human condition? It does seems so, whether it be it Gilgamesh of Sumer, the PhaRAohs of Egypt, King Agamemmon of Greece.
Roman Emperors, Charlemagne, or the Kings of Europe,. or Shakka Zulu
If not for Citizens United, the morbidly rich would have found another way to accomplish their objectives of deregulation and cutting their taxes. They're winning the class war for now, but there are many times more of us than of them.
Money = Speech . . . How do Rs [incl. USSC] do it?
America is actually feudal, a plantation, well-stocked with unthinking wage serfs and slaves.
One where, in the same way, African slaves could not be legally taught to read. US K-12 students will never be taught to think about themselves. Or for themselves. Never be trained to reason abstractly, to analyze critically. Forever oblivious to their self-interest.
Thanks to a 200-year-old Prussian public education system meant to produce workers and soldiers. Citizens who only follow orders. A system which elites gleefully imported. And which our present-day Secretary of A-1 Steak Sauce's [she thought A-1 was Artificial Intelligence.] her gutting of the Dept. of Education ensures said system is sustained in a never-ending nightmare of self-defeat.
So, every November, it's self-inflicted BOHICA* time for one and all. [*Bend Over Here It Comes Again]
#VOTE out Fascistic Crud #Eric to Hormuz
A question begged:
If dirty, foreign money is speechified, why can't A-1 steak sauce be Artificial Intelligence?!!
As I was watching the primary results last night I was struck with the thousands upon thousands of voters who were voting for Nazi Republicans whose as leader of the CNPP(Christian Nationalist Pedo Party) brazenly corrupts, lies incessantly, and shows by his actions he cares little for the American people he serves.
So not only candidates are aligned with this kind of behavior but have either morally accepted the facts that this is what they stand for as a person or they use a useful tool called denial to rid themselves of guilt of what they represent.
Let’s get this straight. There are candidates and voters who morally align themselves with a political party that stands for outright corruption at the federal level, is remarkably racist and bigoted, and is ok with having their taxpayer dollars fleeced to support an illegal war and pay for a ballroom that nobody wants.
How can this be, that a part of our democratic society is so morally depraved? How can it be that part of our democratic society blesses its demise into a feckless dictatorship and willing to throw away their freedoms that for 250y people have died for? There needs to be some serious reflection and introspection for who WE the People are and what WE stand for.
The psychos and degenerates have been with "us" since the beginning of this country and every other country. They had front-row seats at the Colosseum. Rape. Pillage. Ruin. Happened all over this planet throughout history and they gladly signed up for it.
The hopeful, the faithful, and the humanitarians are shocked by how MANY of them exist in 2026 America. I know I am. As a doc, I'll bet you know how hard it is to tell someone they are very sick---that truth must come out. I'm glad you are still trying to heal what is wrong. That's a beautiful thing.
Research at Harvard suggests we need 3.5% of us to protest actively and continuously to achieve social change. Non-violent revolutionary actions currently have about a 34% success rate, violent ones only 8%. Those are important fault lines. They tell us if we want change we will only likely get it through peaceful mobilization. I thank Thom and others in Substack and elsewhere who are urging all of us to act, which can include donating, writing letters to legislators, getting involved in protests from the local to the national level, and of course voting FOR progressive candidates and AGAINST anyone remotely MAGA.
As a Californian awaiting the outcome of yesterday's election results, I get the feeling we still lack the necessary conviction. A lot of establishment folks appear to be doing just fine on the Democratic side. That will not help sway independents or marginal voters. But November will be the true measure. If it happens, how it happens, how the results are received and preserved. Five months to make change happen. Can we do it? Will we? I am pessimistic.
Let us consider who was on the court when it ruled on Citizens United
Justice Anthony Kennedy (wrote the majority opinion)Chief
Justice John Roberts (joined the majority and wrote a concurring opinion)
JusticeAntonin Scalia (joined the majority and wrote a concurring opinion)
Justice Clarence Thomas (joined the majority and wrote an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part
t)Justice Samuel Alito joined the majority
And what has that court have in common with the present (6-3) supreme court, the ruling majority are Catholic.
What does this indicate? A consistent and unifying ideology (and religion is an ideology)
I wish to remind you that there is a symbiotic relationship between the Catholic Church and fascism.
Mussolini arrived at a concord with the Vatican. Franco's Spain had a concord with the Vatican, that existseven today (this video of the Spanish Legion is evidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XULTHbK5z8)
Hitler reached a concord with the Vatican, and provided an escape route (rat line) for fleeing NAZI's
The Russian Orthodox church is a partner with Putin in oppressing the Russians, and it's priests act as confessors and agents of the KGB,err FSB
Good observations. The church in Europe has a very long affinity with authoritarian regimes. Given that many of the organizational structures of the church trace back to its role as a Roman state religion, such an affinity is not surprising. There are some refreshing notes from the current Pope but they are drowned out with many other voices seeking to restore a state religion.
The Supreme Court will not permit limiting independent contributions, but by upholding disclosure and disclaimer provisions they allow essential transparency. Unfortunately, added disclosure requirements have been blocked by Congressional Republicans concerned that donors will be subject to economic retaliation for their protected speech. Consequently, we have lost the connection between the speaker and the speech. One simple solution is to link donors to their messages and to allow nondisclosure by some donors, but to require political speech without disclosure to be explicitly labeled as such.
Congress needs to restore transparency to political messages. It can be done by requiring a two-second opening statement of either “identified donor” or “nondisclosure” to all paid media. With unlimited contributions, we need robust disclosure as each political message is delivered. Identified donor organizations should have strict donor reporting requirements to use the identified donor statement, including only eligible voters as donors. More than a $5,000 contribution should qualify as a major donation. When major donations are used, the donor would be required to show their face and say or print their name in the ad. As an example, in upper right hand corner of the screen for two seconds could be donor’s name, city, and state, and in left hand corner could be their total donation amount. Disclosure simultaneous to speech would link the donor to their message, and contributions would no longer go into a black hole where the money could be used for any campaign activity. Disclosure puts a face and name to buyers of influence and turns contributions into speech.
Messages without disclosed donors can still be subject to another form of disclosure. I suggest requiring a spokesperson face away from the camera, with the organization’s name on their back. A donor ID number, state and congressional district of donor, and the total contribution amount would be listed on the screen for two seconds. This information is critical to the public but not specific enough to identify a donor. It would alert the voters that the organization wants to keep their donors’ identities secret. Also, it would identify how much influence was being purchased and whether this was from inside or outside a Congressional district. A law like this would not restrict speech or prohibit anonymous donations. It would increase transparency to help voters to decide the credibility of the message. Also, it ensures that unlimited contributions are used only for speech. It would both encourage speech and open up the process.
Making elections about who can entertain is a dangerous game. I am often taken back to our involvement with a school in Haiti. We visited in the mid 2010s and a family member spent months working with a privately funded school near Port-au-Prince. What we saw with the development of national governance in Haiti should provide lessons to us. Leading presidential candidates were favored because they were good singers, not because they knew much about governing. The breakdown in government in Haiti in the last decade is horrific but not unprecedented. We had better learn that governing is not just entertaining but a much more serious endeavor.
Thank you for this much needed reminder and wake up call. There is so much insanity going on, it's hard to keep track of and prioritize all the steps that need to be taken to bring our country back from the edge of a cliff. Ending Citizen's United needs to be near the very top of the list. I hope Democrats are truly ready for the hard work ahead after the mid-terms next fall.
We had a movement that covered all of this---.it was Occupy Wall Street.
We protested every Wednesday afternoon for YEARS. My signs said: Corporations Are Not People and Money Is Not Speech. Then along came Black Lives Matter and now No Kings. Occupy and Indivisible are still leading the way. Now we know it's not just Wall Street. It is indeed the billionaires, tech bros, and crypto creeps too. Some of them are all three.
We are going to get our "nice things", because we are going to never stop. I think I'll ask to be cremated with my last protest sign. It may wake up the person that takes care of that. Get louder. Fight harder. Never give up. See you in the streets.
Thanks Thom, I never considered the wider ramifications of Citizens United decision beyond campaign finance. Trump and crew may well screw things up so badly for the vast majority of Americans that even some MAGA's will see the truth and quit voting against themselves. Additional wishful thinking ... young people get engaged and start raising hell on college campuses and in demonstrations in general.
In addition to the excellent list of atrocities listed in the letter today, we should add another. Trump and the oligarchs are dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative operated by the National Science Foundation which provides critical information on ocean currents, green house gas absorption and ecosystem health. What possible justification is there for doing this? It is madness!
Oceans are our last largely unexplored frontier.
Even the acidity and temp of the oceans, which ultimately affect all sea life and atmospheric aspects of the climate, have not escaped the ravages of the Republicans' fake hoax claims.
Without Citizens United, we wouldn’t have corporate Democrats. Without corporate Democrats we’d have an expanded SCOTUS, a Party willing to exercise the power of its convictions, ranked choice voting, unassailable voting rights, genuine campaign finance reform, a government of, by, and for the PEOPLE.
Hi Thom,
Here in Washington State, Fix Democracy First is leading the charge to "Undo Citizens United in WA." In our former incarnation, as WAmend, we worked with Move to Amend to secure passage of I-735 calling for a Constitutional Amendment. I believe you gave us some support at that time.
Now we are using the Citizen Resolution process to build public support for a bill (SB 6358) that is before the WA legislature. It would eliminate the ability of corporations and dark money groups to spend money in our elections, effectively nullifying Citizens United in the State.
I plan to attend the "Ask Thom Anything" program on Saturday and ask how you might be able to lend us a hand. In the meantime, anyone who see this and lives in Washington State can go here to read and sign the Resolution: https://bit.ly/WA-Undo-Citizens-United
Note: If you highlight the link and right click, there will be a menu option to go to the site.
I'd like more information on your actions. If they could work here in Massachusetts, perhaps they could work in every state. Thom should help publicize them!
Whyizit, Obama did not kill Citizens United when he took office with a majority in both houses? Why is it that most democrats view Citizens United as undermining our democracy, yet the DNC does not appear to have a strategy for overturning the worst decision in SCOTUS history? I bet the Heritage Foundation has strategies to undermine attempts to undo Citizens United.
Since the case was going through the federal court system I'm not sure what if anything Congress could have done. Separation of powers, you know. A serious attempt to pass a Constitutional amendment could immediately afterwards have been introduced, but as far as I know that wasn't done. And here the DNC has really fallen down. Obama did speak out against the decision in his next State of the Union, but that had no legal value.
Good questions Tom. After the 1964 election, I quit voting until 2016, when I had to vote to defeat Trump (I lost)).
In 64 I voted for Goldwater, I was a single issue voter, anti communist, the culture war was not on the agenda nationally, at least overtly, not like since Trump.
I didn't vote because I perceived that there was no difference between the two parties, that they were two sides of the same coin.
I have returned to that opinion, not that I consider the performance of the Democratic party.
Third parties are a strawman, a ruse, funded, like the Third Way, by the establishment.
The Democratic party needs to be reformed from within, to become a truly populist party,.
Populism has been given a bad name, because it has been co opted by William Jennings Bryan, Huey Long, and Trump. they speak populism, but act theocratic and over class.
Unfortunately, the door of populism swings both ways. So many MAGAs feel unrepresented and “taken over” by liberals. Our country is so divided and confused by voices they believe and trust, and yet are untrustworthy.
The majority of the people want the same things, though.
Much of it obviously is a matter of ignorance and ads—who’s buying them and where they are posted. Too many live in front of FOX, X, and those outlets owned by billionaires who only care for keeping what they believe is theirs at the expense of everyone else.
Yes the door of populism swings both ways, and that is what I said. Populism has been usurped by the Wm Jennings Bryans, Huey Longs and Donald Trumps.
Demagogues who recognized and latched on to public discontent, claimed to champion it, and then turned on the public once they had power.
What are the choices then: Establishmentarianism? Moderation? Extremism of left or right? Is our only choice communism or fascism, because both are authoritarian.
Is authoritarianism, the default of the human condition? It does seems so, whether it be it Gilgamesh of Sumer, the PhaRAohs of Egypt, King Agamemmon of Greece.
Roman Emperors, Charlemagne, or the Kings of Europe,. or Shakka Zulu
If not for Citizens United, the morbidly rich would have found another way to accomplish their objectives of deregulation and cutting their taxes. They're winning the class war for now, but there are many times more of us than of them.
Money = Speech . . . How do Rs [incl. USSC] do it?
America is actually feudal, a plantation, well-stocked with unthinking wage serfs and slaves.
One where, in the same way, African slaves could not be legally taught to read. US K-12 students will never be taught to think about themselves. Or for themselves. Never be trained to reason abstractly, to analyze critically. Forever oblivious to their self-interest.
Thanks to a 200-year-old Prussian public education system meant to produce workers and soldiers. Citizens who only follow orders. A system which elites gleefully imported. And which our present-day Secretary of A-1 Steak Sauce's [she thought A-1 was Artificial Intelligence.] her gutting of the Dept. of Education ensures said system is sustained in a never-ending nightmare of self-defeat.
So, every November, it's self-inflicted BOHICA* time for one and all. [*Bend Over Here It Comes Again]
#VOTE out Fascistic Crud #Eric to Hormuz
A question begged:
If dirty, foreign money is speechified, why can't A-1 steak sauce be Artificial Intelligence?!!
The Primaries And Nazi Republicans
As I was watching the primary results last night I was struck with the thousands upon thousands of voters who were voting for Nazi Republicans whose as leader of the CNPP(Christian Nationalist Pedo Party) brazenly corrupts, lies incessantly, and shows by his actions he cares little for the American people he serves.
So not only candidates are aligned with this kind of behavior but have either morally accepted the facts that this is what they stand for as a person or they use a useful tool called denial to rid themselves of guilt of what they represent.
Let’s get this straight. There are candidates and voters who morally align themselves with a political party that stands for outright corruption at the federal level, is remarkably racist and bigoted, and is ok with having their taxpayer dollars fleeced to support an illegal war and pay for a ballroom that nobody wants.
How can this be, that a part of our democratic society is so morally depraved? How can it be that part of our democratic society blesses its demise into a feckless dictatorship and willing to throw away their freedoms that for 250y people have died for? There needs to be some serious reflection and introspection for who WE the People are and what WE stand for.
The psychos and degenerates have been with "us" since the beginning of this country and every other country. They had front-row seats at the Colosseum. Rape. Pillage. Ruin. Happened all over this planet throughout history and they gladly signed up for it.
The hopeful, the faithful, and the humanitarians are shocked by how MANY of them exist in 2026 America. I know I am. As a doc, I'll bet you know how hard it is to tell someone they are very sick---that truth must come out. I'm glad you are still trying to heal what is wrong. That's a beautiful thing.
Amen
Research at Harvard suggests we need 3.5% of us to protest actively and continuously to achieve social change. Non-violent revolutionary actions currently have about a 34% success rate, violent ones only 8%. Those are important fault lines. They tell us if we want change we will only likely get it through peaceful mobilization. I thank Thom and others in Substack and elsewhere who are urging all of us to act, which can include donating, writing letters to legislators, getting involved in protests from the local to the national level, and of course voting FOR progressive candidates and AGAINST anyone remotely MAGA.
As a Californian awaiting the outcome of yesterday's election results, I get the feeling we still lack the necessary conviction. A lot of establishment folks appear to be doing just fine on the Democratic side. That will not help sway independents or marginal voters. But November will be the true measure. If it happens, how it happens, how the results are received and preserved. Five months to make change happen. Can we do it? Will we? I am pessimistic.
Let us consider who was on the court when it ruled on Citizens United
Justice Anthony Kennedy (wrote the majority opinion)Chief
Justice John Roberts (joined the majority and wrote a concurring opinion)
JusticeAntonin Scalia (joined the majority and wrote a concurring opinion)
Justice Clarence Thomas (joined the majority and wrote an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part
t)Justice Samuel Alito joined the majority
And what has that court have in common with the present (6-3) supreme court, the ruling majority are Catholic.
What does this indicate? A consistent and unifying ideology (and religion is an ideology)
I wish to remind you that there is a symbiotic relationship between the Catholic Church and fascism.
Mussolini arrived at a concord with the Vatican. Franco's Spain had a concord with the Vatican, that existseven today (this video of the Spanish Legion is evidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XULTHbK5z8)
Hitler reached a concord with the Vatican, and provided an escape route (rat line) for fleeing NAZI's
The Russian Orthodox church is a partner with Putin in oppressing the Russians, and it's priests act as confessors and agents of the KGB,err FSB
Good observations. The church in Europe has a very long affinity with authoritarian regimes. Given that many of the organizational structures of the church trace back to its role as a Roman state religion, such an affinity is not surprising. There are some refreshing notes from the current Pope but they are drowned out with many other voices seeking to restore a state religion.
The Supreme Court will not permit limiting independent contributions, but by upholding disclosure and disclaimer provisions they allow essential transparency. Unfortunately, added disclosure requirements have been blocked by Congressional Republicans concerned that donors will be subject to economic retaliation for their protected speech. Consequently, we have lost the connection between the speaker and the speech. One simple solution is to link donors to their messages and to allow nondisclosure by some donors, but to require political speech without disclosure to be explicitly labeled as such.
Congress needs to restore transparency to political messages. It can be done by requiring a two-second opening statement of either “identified donor” or “nondisclosure” to all paid media. With unlimited contributions, we need robust disclosure as each political message is delivered. Identified donor organizations should have strict donor reporting requirements to use the identified donor statement, including only eligible voters as donors. More than a $5,000 contribution should qualify as a major donation. When major donations are used, the donor would be required to show their face and say or print their name in the ad. As an example, in upper right hand corner of the screen for two seconds could be donor’s name, city, and state, and in left hand corner could be their total donation amount. Disclosure simultaneous to speech would link the donor to their message, and contributions would no longer go into a black hole where the money could be used for any campaign activity. Disclosure puts a face and name to buyers of influence and turns contributions into speech.
Messages without disclosed donors can still be subject to another form of disclosure. I suggest requiring a spokesperson face away from the camera, with the organization’s name on their back. A donor ID number, state and congressional district of donor, and the total contribution amount would be listed on the screen for two seconds. This information is critical to the public but not specific enough to identify a donor. It would alert the voters that the organization wants to keep their donors’ identities secret. Also, it would identify how much influence was being purchased and whether this was from inside or outside a Congressional district. A law like this would not restrict speech or prohibit anonymous donations. It would increase transparency to help voters to decide the credibility of the message. Also, it ensures that unlimited contributions are used only for speech. It would both encourage speech and open up the process.
Making elections about who can entertain is a dangerous game. I am often taken back to our involvement with a school in Haiti. We visited in the mid 2010s and a family member spent months working with a privately funded school near Port-au-Prince. What we saw with the development of national governance in Haiti should provide lessons to us. Leading presidential candidates were favored because they were good singers, not because they knew much about governing. The breakdown in government in Haiti in the last decade is horrific but not unprecedented. We had better learn that governing is not just entertaining but a much more serious endeavor.
Better.