Citizens Divided On Citizens United: Campaign Finance Reform And The First Amendment
CITIZENS UNITED: WILL AMERICANS SINK OR SWIM?
The recent debate over the decision is Citizens United has caused a split among the opinions of the American public about as big as the divide between the Justices involved in the Supreme Court ruling. In January, the Supreme Court held that electioneering communications funded by corporations could not be prohibited, allowing large corporations to fund and broadcast communications about political candidates running for election.
Many are nervous that the ruling threatens the integrity of the United States’ election process and believe that the larger corporations will use their propaganda to “brain wash” the American people, in essence giving corporations even more control than they have had in the past. President Obama joined the criticism when he suggested that Wall Street, health insurance companies, and other powerful interests will “drown out the voices of everyday Americans.”
So are we doomed to sink in the decision of Citizens United as President Obama suggests. I have to agree with the majority when I say that I believe we can and will swim, perhaps even farther than we have before. For instance, lets take an average blue-collared American. If you were to ask this individual (which make up the majority of the vote) where they receive most of their information about current events and politics, they would likely say the by watching television or searching the web. The fact is that these forms of communication are the quickest and most convenient ways to stay up to date with current events and the affairs of our Nation. As Citizens United held, the worth of speech does not depend on the identity of its source. Reading an article in a newspaper and seeing an election speech on FOX, or a documentary on HBO may very well hold the same weight.
I do understand the concern that corporate funding might allow corporations to take over election campaigns, but the way I look at it, I want to have as much information available at my fingertips as possible. Allow me the opportunity to digest everything and make my own decisions. Do not say that Citizens United is a “rejection of the common sense of the American people,” as Justice Stevens does in his dissent. Instead, believe that I, as an American, have the capacity to discern the honest from the dishonest, the BS from the truth, and allow me the freedom to come up with a conclusion.
We are a country that is constantly running (or swimming for that matter) from one place to the next, and change is inevitable. Communications such as broadcast, cable, and the Internet are simply the most efficient ways to access information and allow those who might not otherwise have the opportunity or patience to partake in the discussion of political issues. We need to have confidence that our fellow Americans will be able to sift through the obvious self-concerned corporate propaganda and swim with the truth.
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