Mastodawn

Dan Gillmor Jul 16, 2024

Musk says he'll spend about $180 million to elect Trump.

They are the nation's two most powerful enemies of democracy (though Musk has some competition for second place) and, by extension, freedom of expression.

Everyone who buys a Tesla is supporting them.

Everyone who uses the deadbird site -- notably the journalists, who all know what they're doing -- is supporting them.

Don't pretend otherwise.

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Hans van Zijst Jul 16, 2024

@Dan Gillmor And apparently you can buy the presidency if you have enough money.

Combine that with a system of only 2 parties and a polarized population that's armed to the teeth, and you get present day America 😔

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Deborah Rose ❌👑Jul 16, 2024

@hans @dangillmor You can thank the Citizens United decision for that.

On Jan. 21, 2010, in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Supreme Court ruled to strike down a prohibition on corporate independent expenditures, which has since enabled corporations and other outside groups to engage in unlimited amounts of campaign spending.

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guyjantic has moved!

@DebErupts @hans @dangillmor What kills me is that this came as a direct reaction (IIRC) to a bipartisan (championed by McCain, among others) campaign finance reform law that radically limited money in elections. That was at least a decade in the making, with dozens of reps and hundreds of others working their asses off to get it passed, but five SCOTUS justices killed it before it could draw its first breath.