This cartoon is perfect.
Now, the Supreme Court’s idea is that the guy who looks like the Monopoly Man is legally allowed to use his wheelbarrow of cash to buy speech, while the elderly black man shouldn’t have lost his birth certificate in his last move. The black man’s right to vote is outweighed by his need to provide a particular form of state-issued identification, but our desires to have a government free of corruption and an equal voice in the outcome of our elections is outweighed by Monopoly Man’s right to spend his money however he sees fit.
Over in France, they’re having their presidential election today. They have different ideas about free speech.
There is a blackout in the French media today up to 8pm local time (11:30pm IST). No opinion polls or election analysis will be done before all the polling booths close. Anyone publishing results could be fined 75,000 Euros but that hasn’t prevented people on keeping an eye on the Belgian and Swiss media who come out with exit polls two hours earlier than in France.
In fact, the campaign ended on Friday even though the election is today. That’s because the candidates are not allowed to campaign the day before the election. So, imagine that here in the United States there are no restrictions on billionaires funding Super PACs or anonymously funding issue advocacy groups in the weeks and days before an election. But in France, even the candidates are not allowed to speak on election day and the day before election day.
I’m not saying France has their election/speech laws exactly right, but they at least are highly concerned with getting a fair, clean result. We’re just pawns in the billionaire’s game.