A Sad Song Just to Turn it Around

Wooooooooooooooo. What a baaaaaaaaaaad day. Awful. Just awful. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwful. The Supreme Court has just put American democracy up for sale on Ebay. Not that it wasn't already leased. Here's what President Obama had to say about today's decision:

With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans. This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington—while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates. That's why I am instructing my Administration to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue. We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision. The public interest requires nothing less.

Isn't he cute? How the hell are you going to do that, Barry? Corporations can buy Congress now. And, by the way, how are you going to do all this banking stuff when corporations can buy Congress now? Hell. How are you going to do anything? There is nothing to be done about this legislatively, nothing that can be done quickly to change this. This is the main reason that progressives MUST support Obama through to a second term even if they find him lacking. Obama must be allowed to change the 5-4 imbalance on the Supreme Court. Or, the Constitution must be amended to clarify that a corporation—a word that DOES NOT APPEAR IN THE CONSTITUTION ONCE—IS NOT A PERSON. I say, if it can't scratch its ass, it's not a person. I do often wonder if the Tea Baggers understand what the Boston Tea Party was actually about—a protest of a multinational CORPORATION allowed to run amok. We're gonna need a new tea party, and I don't mean one of these lame and sometimes racist events we saw in Hot Stupid August. And OH! Poor Air America! I was such a fan. I even coughed up $50 when Danny Goldberg came around with his hat held out. AAR started out with the right idea bu soon lost its nerve after Evel Cohen screwed them. Then Goldberg screwed them from the back, cutting loose the network's finest product, the wonderful Morning Sedition. That would be the full arc of AAR's shark-jump. It was downhill from there. Having cut its finest ensemble cast, it allowed other casts to go by way of attrition, replacing them, likely to save a few shekels, with 1A1M* programming. THEN they fired their BEST 1A1M practitioner, one Randi Rhodes, ostensibly because she called Hillary Clinton a whore, not on the air, mind you, but in front of a crowd after dark in Sam Framcisco. And they fired Kent Jones. And so on, and so on. As of its current incarnation, the lineup is so awful I don't even know what it is. Lionel and Montel Williams? Please. I know this isn't a good time for the business of media. AAR's statement mentions this. But, Air America, I'm sorry, pal. You did it to yourself. Fortunately, AAR's near six-year run buoyed a lot of careers. It spawned the wonderful Rachel Maddow and sent her to the big time. Its turbulence caused many liberal talkers to strike out on their own or to strike deals with larger media companies. It also raised awareness of the existence of them and others who were never branded AAR. And, how could one fail to mention that Air America Radio was the bridge for one fellow from comedian to Senator? Ted Baxter of Fox "News" and his progeny will have a lot of fun with this. They'll gloat. They'll trumpet the failure of Air America Radio. And yes, at the core of it, AAR may have failed. But the success that has rippled as a result of its existence has been stellar. So long, Air America Radio. It's a shame because with today's decision by SCOTUS, we may actually need you now more than ever. *One Asshole, One Mic