"[A]scribing an outrageous decision to naiveté is actually the most sympathetic way of looking at what the court did in Citizens United. A more troubling interpretation is that a conservative majority knew exactly what it was doing: that it set out to remake our political system by fiat in order to strengthen the hand of corporations and the wealthy. Seen this way, Citizens United was an attempt by five justices to push future electoral outcomes in a direction that would entrench their approach to governance.
"In fact, this decision should be seen as part of a larger initiative by moneyed conservatives to rig the electoral system against their opponents. How else to explain conservative legislation in state after state to obstruct access to the ballot by lower-income voters — particularly members of minority groups — though voter identification laws, shortened voting periods and restrictions on voter registration campaigns?
"Conservatives are strengthening the hand of the rich at one end of the system and weakening the voting power of the poor at the other."
Fortunately, at this admittedly early stage, (progressive) people power is winning over (conservative) money power (yay Saul Alinsky!). Still, there are an awful lot of low- and no-information voters, aren't there?! Not to mention voters who won't even get into the voting booth thanks to Rethuglican-instituted restrictions.
