Image NY times; Associated Press: Granny D
A recent posting on daily kos observes, “People mock, and wonder how truckers (most of whom are economically vulnerable) can afford to waste gas, and their own time, in an unprofitable semi-siege with no specific goal. Answer: they are funded by dark money. And I’d be surprised if they aren’t getting tactical advice as well.”
Dark money was made possible by the passage of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310, a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States concerning the relationship between campaign finance and free speech. It was argued in 2009 and decided in 2010. Wikipedia
Date decided: January 21, 2010
Argument: Oral argument
Docket no: 08-205.
It passed, despite the heroic efforts of Ms. DORIS (Granny D) HADDOCK, in 2010. She said that she worried with fewer people voting, the nation was letting democracy slip slide away. But she believed squeezing big money out of politics would help bring those people back. To protect democracy from being eroded by enabling powerful corporations, to have more power in elections than rank and file individuals, Granny at ninety years old completed a 3,200 mile walk across the United States, from California to Washington, D.C in 2000. Granny died some three months after the decision she opposed passed. She was one hundred years old.
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Gun Lobbyist Wrote Ohio GOP Law-makers’ Permitless Carry Speech, Document Shows: You may have read that less than a year ago two Republicans in the Ohio House told lawmakers their “constitutional carry” bill would ease the “bureaucratic hassle” of undergoing training and a background check in order to obtain a license to carry a concealed weapon. Chris Dorr, the “no compromise” gun lobbyist and executive director of Ohio Gun Owners, said he “maybe/probably wrote the speech According to an article in the Ohio Capital Journal by Jake Zuckerman, “Dorr writing the testimony is among the clearest signs of the close working relationship between gun lobbyists and Republican lawmakers.
“For instance, Sen. George Lang, a West Chester Township Republican, co-sponsored the permitless carry bill that was sent to Mike DeWine. “He owns an insurance company that sells firearms liability policies for those who shoot others in purported self-defense. His business partners include the Buckeye Firearms Association’s executive director and another lawyer with the lobbying group.”
Rep. Thomas Brinkman, a co-sponsor of the Permitless Carry speech, referred to the “bureaucratic hassle” of undergoing training and a background check. Requiring “government-mandated rigamarole first “which is a violation of their God-given rights stipulated under the Second Amendment.”
Wait a minute. Who profits by skipping background checks and gun safety training? These duly elected politicians must have a pretty dim view of a God who lets felons carry concealed weapons among us and not require gun safety and other training.
Current estimate of gun ownership in America is 120 firearms per 100 citizens.
QUESTION: How would January 6 have ended if “constitutional carry” was in effect in Washington, D.C.? Ohio was the 23rd state to pass permitless carry legislation, and Gov. DeWine signed the bill March 15, 2022.
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Shades of Granny D! If the Supreme Court in 2010 had taken another minute to think about it, they would have realized they were setting up a system that might never be reversed. Because they allowed big money to carry so much weight, that big money could forever be brought into any attempt to extinguish its own lifeblood. Tell me if I’m wrong. There is a movement continuing, however, still fighting for democracy under the name “Our Democracy Is for People Campaign.” (The campaign for an amendment to the Citizens United ruling of 2010 is “Democracy for All Amendment,” and is taking the form of hundreds of environmental, labor, faith, civil rights, economic justice and other groups.)
NANMYKEL.COM 
Reblogged this on Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News.
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Thanks so much, Ned.
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One of the clearest and most persistent voices against dark money is Sen Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who draws the linkages and names names.
And Jane Mayer’s book, Dark Money, is even more relevant today than it was when she wrote it. A must-read, IMO.
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Thanks, I’m on my way there!
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