Double-speak, the group and individuals behind Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission would be more accurately described as Money United.

If the Supreme Court rules 5 to 4, as it very well may, to unleash the power of corporate money in US politics, we will be facing a very different political environment. This will not be just a demonstration of a shift to the right by the Court, it would be a huge lurch into corporatism. I think there is every reason to believe that Alito, Roberts, Scalia and Thomas will vote for their corporate masters. Anthony Kennedy gets to decide this matter.

I think it is clear that the US is at best a center-right country, if not a right-far right country. Need confirmation? Look at how centrist dems like the Clintons and now apparently Obama get cast as far left, wildly liberal, socialist political leaders. But look at how little concern there is in the country when the republicans dismantle important federal functions. Need examples: ok, Katrina? anybody remember the FEMA performance in that case? Madoff? How is the SEC doing at regulation and investigation. Oh well, there is nothing to do in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission but wait for a 5-4 decision and see which way Justice Kennedy rules.

The natural balance against a corporate Supreme Court would have to be a populist Congress. We don’t have that today and I don’t know how a populist Congress could get elected given the current influence of corporate money in Congress.

It will part of the continuing orwellian political nightmare if Citizens United overturns a century of legislation and precedent. It will be a moment when centrists in the Congress will have to ask themselves if they should have opposed the Alito and Roberts nominations. This could be the real legacy of the Bush-Cheney era.

[1] clipped from [2] www.washingtonpost.com A Test Case for Roberts Judged by the standard of an event’s potential long-term impact on our public life, the most important will be the argument before the Supreme Court (on the same day, as it happens) about a case that, if decided wrongly, could surrender control of our democracy to corporate interests. This sounds melodramatic. It’s not. The court is considering eviscerating laws that have been on the books since 1907 and 1947 — in two separate cases — banning direct contributions and spending by corporations in federal election campaigns. Doing so would obliterate precedents that go back two and three decades. President Obama’s health-care speech on Wednesday will be only the second most consequential political moment of the week. [3]