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Some Voices Are More Equal Than Others

By assigning the same rights to corporations as to individuals, the Supreme Court, on the pretext of honoring the First Amendment, has instead done precisely the opposite: contravened its intent.

By assigning the same rights to corporations as to individuals, the Supreme Court, on the pretext of honoring the First Amendment, has instead done precisely the opposite: contravened its intent.

What can possibly be the purpose of the First Amendment other than to allow all voices to be heard in the marketplace of ideas? No one can argue that large corporations, with their vast resources, will have the same voice in influencing public debate that an individual has. Dominating that marketplace with the loudest voice can effectively silence opposing voices, which is precisely what the First Amendment was designed to foil and the recent Supreme Court decision will now permit. The inevitable conclusion is that the court’s decision is a violation rather than an affirmation of the US Constitution and is ideologically rather than rationally based.

Our system of government provides no recourse from decisions by an ideologically driven court. The court’s members are presumed to embody the wisdom of Solomon, but instead all too often manifest human frailty in revealing ideological biases. This is the worst decision the court has rendered in my 80 years on the planet. Even Bush v. Gore pales by comparison.

Shakespeare observed, “The evil that men do, lives after them.” One can argue that the horror of the Iraq war along with the other travesties of the last decade can be laid at the feet of the court’s Bush v. Gore decision. What fatal policies will now emerge from allowing corporations to dominate public discourse remains to be seen, but surely this decision is a major step away from the democracy that the country’s founders envisioned.

Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn

Dear Truthout Community,

If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.

We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.

Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re shoring up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.

There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.

Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?

It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.

We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.

We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.

Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.

We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.

With love, rage, and solidarity,

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