Selling America

John McCain is, or at least was, the good kind of Republican - the kind who talks sense, and proposes solutions to problems. I don't agree with him on everything, but if more Republicans were like him, the country would be better off. In recent years he has drifted further right as a result of his 2008 Presidential campaign and a primary challenge by a Tea Party nut job, but recently McCain proved that he's still got a lot of sense left.

Speaking on "Meet the Press" over the weekend, Senator McCain blasted the Citizens United ruling, calling it "arrogant, uninformed, naive." It is he said, "the worst decision of the United States Supreme Court in the twenty-first century."

John McCain couldn't be more correct. Granted, the worst decision of the twenty-first century is a low bar given that we are only slightly more than a decade into the century. There is plenty of time for the Supreme Court to do worse, but Citizens United is nothing short of a disaster. The flood of money unleashed by the ruling that has found its way into Super PACs will help inundate Americans with the messages of specials interest groups. By making corporations people - thank you Mitt Romney for that gem - the Supreme Court effectively declared that America was for sale. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are already often more beholden to their donors and special interest groups than they are to their constituents. 

Te rapid advancements in communications technology have made it possible for people to hide in their own little corner of the world and flood themselves with only the news they want to hear. The tidal wave of special interest money that has followed the Citizen United ruling will only strengthen the informationless bubbles in which some people choose to live. 

Democracy requires an informed electorate capable of making decisions about a candidate's views based on facts and realities. When we allow an unimpeded amount of money that is directly linked to the interests of a particular group into the system we are watering down democracy. Are the views of the NRA, public service unions, and eclectic billionaires valid and credible? Perhaps, and perhaps not. Those groups and people certainly deserve to have their voices heard, but their ability to summon vast amounts of money does not make their views any more valid and credible. Giving them a bigger megaphone at best makes it harder for us to hear opposing views which may also be valid and credible, and at worst leads to the election of people who are more concerned with repaying those special interests than serving the needs of the country. 

Over the past two decades of the 19th century, the United States endeavored to end the spoils system and replace it with a merit based civil service in order to prevent corruption and patronage. Strangely, we are now seeing a new manifestation of the spoils system, but instead of supporters being awarded jobs, their views and opinions are turned into laws that more often than not benefit their interests rather than the interests of the country. Citizens United will exacerbate that problem. Contrary to Mitt Romney's belief, corporations are not people. Neither are unions or other special interest groups. Treating them as such is a detriment to American democracy, and a hindrance to improving our future.