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A failed American fascist

In the bad old days, in company towns and other centers of American individuality and self-expression and exceptionalism, if you voted -- or even were suspected of voting -- liberal, you were fired.

In a company town, that made you homeless, too.

Nevertheless, the labor movement persevered.

Now we're back to then.

A disturbing piece in New Republic summarizes what Citizens United really means.

Here's one of many nut grafs:

It’s difficult for many of us who are educated, white-collar workers with relatively benevolent employers to appreciate the magnitude of the constraints on freedom that are routine elsewhere in the workforce. We might imagine we would quit if our boss ordered us to campaign for a candidate, even one we supported. But many Americans don’t have that freedom—nor the freedom to refuse a drug test or a work schedule that requires them to be on call at almost all times. They face strict parameters about what they can wear, how they can style their hair, when they can use the bathroom, and whether they have access to a phone in order to be reached in a child-care emergency. Libertarians, who believe that only government can restrict freedom, are blind to these encroachments on liberty.

In summary:

 the choice in Citizens United and other debates about political money is not between freedom and regulation, but between real freedom for individuals and the sweeping power of concentrated wealth. 

The plutocrats used to be more open about their antidemocratic beliefs. H.L. Hunt wrote a book (or had it written) that said rich people should have 7 times as many votes as ordinary Americans.

He was a piker. The new Malefactors of Great Wealth are thinking much more expansively.

And while Hunt never got more than one vote, the New Plutocrats have devised a kludge to work around that.