Citizens United (CU) enjoys cult-like status among liberals. There is a bizarre view that if we could somehow overturn this Supreme Court ruling, we will have taken a decisive step in reducing the role of money in politics. 

This view persists despite all the evidence to the contrary. It is a painful diversion from actions that could have a large impact ( and which might succeed) to an action that would have a limited impact (overturning CU) that has virtually zero chance of success.

Just to remind everyone, CU is the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that said corporations could spend as much as they want supporting candidates through independent expenditures. (They are still limited in what they can contribute directly to a candidate.) It effectively attributed First Amendment rights to corporations, which are creations of the state. 

Remember, a corporation is a legal entity with a legal existence independent of its shareholders. The Supreme Court was effectively saying that the government could create an entity (a corporation), that it does not have the authority to control. 

That seems pretty absurd, but let’s look at the recent political landscape. Elon Musk just spent $300 million getting Donald Trump and Republican members of Congress elected. How would repealing CU affect Musk’s ability to spend another $300 million in 2028 and future elections? That’s right, it wouldn’t affect it one iota.

So, if we can somehow figure out a way to repeal CU, by constitutional amendment or court packing, the next day Elon Musk and his billionaire clique can spend unlimited sums supporting their cronies in the election. Sounds like something to celebrate!

But it gets worse. The Trumper Ellison family just took over CBS News. They also plan to take over Warner Brothers, which in addition to giving them a huge movie studio, will also give them CNN. The right-wing media group Nexstar, the largest media group in the country, plans to merge with TEGNA, the fourth largest. This would give them unprecedented control over the nation’s broadcast outlets that produce local news. (The Media and Democracy Project, along with other groups, is trying to block both mergers.) 

The right and far-right control the major social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X) and use them to push their views and block those of political opponents. That will continue regardless of what happens with CU. 

If there is some analysis of people’s thought processes that says that people’s votes are influenced by campaign ads, but not by everything else that they see and hear, I have not come across it. (Please share it if you have.) The point here, in case I’m being too subtle, is that if we get treated to a steady diet of Fox News in everything we see and hear, it’s going to push people to the right even if they never see a single campaign ad telling them to vote Republican. 

Okay, this is a busy day, so I’ll end my tirade here. But at a time like this, progressives, or really anyone who cares about democracy, cannot afford a cult-like obsession with Citizens United.