From street to court room

     Some of us still remember the 1960s when millions of us took the the streets of Washington D.C. and other major cities to protest social inequalities and the war in Viet Nam. I was in Washington for two of the biggest.  We took to the streets because, in the 1960s, politicians at least acted like they cared and ultimately gave in to the will of the people. 

     More than once in the years I have been blogging and writing about environmental and other issues, I've had readers reply with the idea that we need to take to the streets again.  I have absolutely no problem with that. In fact, the more people in the streets the greater the evidence that a majority of people do not like what the Washington Swamp is doing and want change.  I cheer every time students walk out of school or show up at a capital en masse.   They know it is their future that we are destroying.   BUT ... you knew that 'but' was coming, didn't you? ... we all know that politicians no longer need to appear to work for the people or care what the people feel, think, want, etc.  Especially since the Citizens United decision politicians do not need to appeal to the people. There is absolutely no doubt that the majority of politicians are controlled by mega-corporations because the corporations give them millions of dollars to get elected.  Would you "bite the hand that feeds you", i.e. the one who keeps you rich and employed? 

     In the 1960s it was still almost embarrassing for a politician to admit that they wanted to make politics their life-time occupation. We still lived under the delusion that going to Congress was a public service which entailed some degree of sacrifice. I well remember the first political science major I met at a large Midwestern university who was bold enough to say that, for them, college was preparation for becoming a life-long politician.  Suddenly public service had become an occupation and the politician was in a position of 'doing-what-was-necessary' to keep their job. With Citizens United they soon forgot for whom they were supposedly working.  Elections soon became totally about who had the most money - which was always relatively true - and not about issues. 

     I'm not going to try to address election reform, but we must realize that our real battle is going to take place inside a courtroom.  When you start deciding which environment or social-issue organization you are going to support I recommend that you check out their legal department.   Do they have attorneys with excellent success rates?   What's their win ratio against the government?  While there are many fine organizations which deserve our support, we must realize that we need to put the bulk of our meager funds into organizations that can beat the government in court.  Until we can get rid of Citizens United, this is the best for which we can hope.