SOTU Address, Ethical Lapses of SCOTUS

1. A CBS poll showed that 91% of Americans who watched the State of the Union (44% Democrats, 25% Republicans) agreed with Obama's plans for the future. I liked his clarity on the unsustainability of more tax cuts for the wealthiest, but he didn't go nearly far enough in reining in the excessive spending of the military. Once again, it is the people who will suffer with a five year freeze on domestic spending.

Where was the acknowledgment of the foreclosure crisis, the vanishing middle class, climate change? What about the criminality of the finance sector that drove our economy into the ditch and walked away with billions more? How could he begin by paying respect to the victims of the Tucson shooting without mentioning the obvious need for better gun control in our country? Although I liked Obama's pledge for 80% of our electricity to come from clean sources- he lost me when he included gas, coal and nuclear as "clean". And more corporate tax cuts?? Wait, don't they have to pay corporate taxes first? In 2009,  Exxon Mobil made  $45.2 billion in profits, corporate taxes paid- $0 General Electric made $10 billion- they got a $1.1 billion refund!  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/01/26

2.What could be more important than addressing the threat to democracy of our time? I'm referring to the Citizens United decision one year ago that allows corporations to spend without limits from their vast corporate treasuries to influence our elections and hence to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.

But there is hope. From a leader in fighting this decision, Free Speech for People-

"A widening consensus has emerged over the past year holding that the spending of general treasury corporate funds to influence elections is not "speech," that corporations are not among "we the people," and that Citizens United is wrong. And a growing consensus is emerging that Congress and the States must closely examine and seriously consider a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United. Close to a million Americans have signed resolutions calling on Congress to send such an amendment to the States. A bipartisan group of more than fifty leading law professors and former prosecutors and government attorneys has called on Congress to explore the Amendment option. And a fast-increasing group of business leaders now call for a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision because Citizens United corrupts both democracy and a robust, competitive economy." http://freespeechforpeople.org/node/186
Read more about the Movement of the People-  http://www.truth-out.org/at-summit-people-call-action-citizens-united67104

  

3. Supreme Court Justices, Scalia and Thomas have gone too far this time! Scalia, speaking behind closed doors, before new Congress members from the Tea Party. Thomas "forgetting" to report his wife's almost $800,000 in income from groups that benefited from his Citizens United decision- the list of ethical lapses goes on.

“A reasonable person would question the impartiality of Justices Thomas and Scalia in the Citizens United case based on their attendance at political strategy meetings sponsored by a corporation (the right wing Koch brothers) that raises and spends millions to defeat Democrats and elect Republicans.” http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47855.html

"Are Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas the Bonnie and Clyde of Judicial Ethics? 'Citizens Robbed' " http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12254 

And this just in- Alito also has appeared before right wing political fundraisers. Members of the Supreme Court are supposed to be above the fray! And you notice who boycotted SOTU last night? Scalia, Thomas and Alito.

4. No mention of global warming in the President's State of the Union. Here's a story of a polar bear that was tracked, who had to swim for 9 days to find ice- her cub did not make it.

http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/polar-bear-must-swim-for-9-days-to-find-sea-ice/

5. From Witness against Torture- "We find hope in the community that gathered in Washington DC from Jan 11-22 (visit witnesstorture.org for re-caps of and reflections of their daily activities). We find hope in the men who remain in Guantanamo, whose protest within the prison walls on January 22 (the anniversary of Obama's broken promise) is both haunting and challenging.

Building on this hope, and faced with Guantanamo's tenth year as the shame of the nation, we begin planning... We now know for certain that the president has no plans to shutter Guantanamo before next January 11, so we have no plans to shut down our operations. Another Witness presence in Washington DC will come in June, and we plan to launch a mass education and recruitment drive, reaching parishes, congregations, and college campuses across the nation. When we return to Washington next January 11, we will number in the thousands - marching and witnessing and lobbying and processing and speaking out and being silent and haranguing and incommoding - until the people in power get the message: No Torture, No Bagram, No GTMO, No More"

Here are three videos from Ellen of New Paltz Women in Black who was a part of this DC action. We thank her for her unwavering dedication to peace and justice!
http://warisacrime.org/node/56278
http://warisacrime.org/node/56279
http://warisacrime.org/node/56281
 

"We'd like to thank the protesters from the depths of our heart. They are asking for justice even though they are not imprisoned."

- A Guantanamo Prisoner, in a recent message to Witness Against Torture