Corporate Supremacy

I think I know what has been missing from this country for the last three weeks -- satire. So, with open arms, I welcome back the Daily Show and The Colbert Report after a short (yet way too long) break.

And wow, Colbert tackled a big subject last night -- corporations. "Corporations do everything people do except breathe, die and go to jail for dumping 1.3 million pounds of PCBs in the Hudson River."

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The birth of corporate supremacy was, in truth, illegitimate, carrying no force of law. But like any good lie, repeat it enough times and everybody believes it.

Our founding fathers did not like the idea of corporations. Remember, it was corporate tea that they dumped into Boston Harbor in protest against huge tax cuts for the British East India Company. Ironically, this point is lost on the teabaggers, but I digress.

The little lie that roared is now going to the Supreme Court. The case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission challenges the restrictions on political speech by corporations.

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I can see how corporations are viewed as "super persons." They are immortal and have tons of money they can use to influence the democratic process. But limiting corporate freedom of speech would also apply to unions, the latest Michael Moore movie, my favorite commentators on MSNBC, and also Comedy Central.

The Supreme Court decision isn't in yet, but I just get this strange feeling that we're screwed.