Today, huge numbers of Americans will gather in cities across the United States, and in front of the Supreme Court of the United States, to protest the Citizens United Supreme Court judgment that ruled that corporations have the right to anonymously pour unlimited amounts of money into Super PACs that only maintain the veneer of separation from the political campaigns that they support. The protest is called Occupy The Courts.
The Occupy The Courts web site explains, “The courts are the one place where there still exists some chance of a fair result for the 99%, against the power and influence of the 1%. Occupy The Courts is a people-powered movement to bring court cases against corporate power and government abuse, and is an extension of the Occupy Wall Street movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District.”
Mitt Romney won’t be there. Ron Paul won’t be there. Barack Obama won’t be there.
Two presidential candidates will be participating in the Occupy The Courts protest today, however. Their names are Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson.
Rocky Anderson, the Justice Party presidential candidate, had this to say last night in support of the upcoming protest: “The heart and soul of what people are has nothing to do with what corporations are. Corporations bear no resemblance to people. The idea that they’re persons under the Constitution and that they should enjoy the same rights to guide our political system in their direction, is no more than a call for a plutocracy, which is what we’ve got in this country now–rule by the wealthy, rather than a democracy and government in the public interest.”
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein will be on the steps of the Supreme Court today, along with other protesters. She points out that David Cobb, 2004 Green Party presidential nominee, is among the founders of Move To Amend, the largest organization behind today’s Occupy The Courts protest. Stein writes, “Since 1996, the Green Party has called for a constitutional amendment to abolish the doctrine of corporate personhood. Greens have been ahead of the curve, but today, the curve has caught up with us, and now this movement for a constitution that serves we, the people, has gathered a historic momentum.”
Today, you can take the Occupy The Courts even further, and work to Occupy the 2012 election. Give your support to the presidential campaign of Jill Stein or Rocky Anderson. (We have political buttons for Stein and for Anderson to help you spread the word.)
How are they on environmental and energy issues:
Obama may cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline (for now), but he’s still an environmental idiot:
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/19/405465/situation-normal-all-fracked-up-obama-embraces-fracking/
Both Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson have remarkably strong environmental platforms, supporting decisive climate action. Check them out at
jillstein.org
and
voterocky.org
I’m happy but not surprised that Rocky Anderson and Jill Stein are on their feet representing the 99% and Occupy movements and getting some positive publicity from web sites like this. Keep up the good and essential work.
I’m not very familiar with Stein, but she sounds like a fine candidate. Anderson is obviously head and shoulders above anyone running in the two major parties. The biggest problem right now is the mainstream media, which ignores the most capable presidential candidates in favor of those controlled by moneyed interests, such as Obama and all the Republican candidates. The Internet has become a means for overcoming media control in the Middle East. Anderson has stated the intent to use the Internet to do the same in this country. He needs a lot of help!