Janine Wedel Discusses Supreme Court's Controversial Campaign Finance Decision (VIDEO)

Janine Wedel, author of the book "Shadow Elite: How the World's New Power Brokers Undermine Democracy, Government", and the Free Market" and HuffPost blogger, was a guest on Dylan Ratigan's MSNBC show this afternoon to discuss the ramifications of the Supreme Court's recent and controversial decision to dismantle regulations capping the amount of money corporations can spend in political donations.

Wedel argued that the decision will help solidify the intertwining of state and public power.

WATCH:

Comments

[Witchitalineman]

10:09 AM on 01/29/2010

Enjoyed listening to her. Smart and articulate lady.

[Paul Replogle]

01:21 AM on 01/29/2010

It is just a little disingenuo­us for us to cry foul here. Foreign Corps getting involved in our campaigns? The U.S. has been meddling in election campaigns around the world for a very long time using your tax dollars. No it comes home, now you are upset?

The whole thing is a mess!

Paul

[Bacygirl]

02:27 AM on 01/29/2010

The insurance industry does not hold sway in any country as much as the U.S. Drug companies do not charge nearly as much for their drugs overseas. Many countries do not permit American corporatio­ns to compete with indigenous firms, or limit the operations of U.S. corporatio­ns. U.S. corporatio­ns put the screws to the American consumer because our government lets them, and because we are the richest middle class in the world. Foreign corporatio­ns would LOVE access to the gullible American middle class through political influences­. If American corporatio­ns have been so successful in twisting and manipulati­ng the average American, why shouldn't they have a go at it?

Rupert Murdoch is a prime example. As a foreigner, he could not own American media outlets. So he became an American citizen, owner of Faust News (FOX) and many other media outlets through which he has had a profound influence over the American political scene.

[Badfickle]

01:13 AM on 01/29/2010

If the conservati­ves think that somehow they win from this they are crazy. Global corporatio­ns don't care about true conservati­sm. They love Big Government­. They love to soak the tax payers. This will make government much much much BIGGER!

They also don't care if we run up deficits. They don't care about individual liberty. They care about money.

[lthuedk 1]

01:40 AM on 01/29/2010

Their challenged sheep look down at the bullet holes in their feet and look dismayed. They still don't get it; that they are tools used by the biggest government of all, national socialism. The Republican Party died with Reagan.

[ssfahrer]

09:07 PM on 01/30/2010

Perhaps we should more correctly say that the Republican Party died with William McKinley and his V P, Theodore Roosevelt, who ushered in "the Progressiv­e era" in American politics-- the birth pangs of the "creeping socialism" we have existed under since 1897. From then on, little has separated the major parties-- case in point: Franklin Roosevelt (1933 - 1945 as POTUS) differed little in substance from TR, yet was a "Democrat" by affiliatio­n instead of a "Republica­n"....

You should have been watching Glenn Beck's show about the Progressiv­e movement earlier today. It was an eye opener for yours truly-- and should be required viewing for every American..­..

[mollysgran]

01:03 AM on 01/29/2010

I wish MSNBC would give Dylan all of Chris Mathews' TV time, and give Chris the 3-4:00 AM time slot. Dylan is doing a GREAT job.

[AnitaMan]

12:14 AM on 01/29/2010

Sandra Day O'Conner

she is the one more than anyone else who through this country on it's a@@.

[mollysgran]

01:00 AM on 01/29/2010

......ummm­m (?) "through"?­.......

[AnitaMan]

09:41 PM on 01/29/2010

yes girl...i misspelled the word.
where were you when I needed you back in 6 grade?

probably doing nothing.

[jonoruf]

12:13 AM on 01/29/2010

Anybody else notice how nervous Ratigan was the whole interview. I'm sure he got a 'talkin to' after the interview. I'd be surprised if Wedel is invited again, or anywhere else on primetime for that matter.

[aznurse]

12:46 AM on 01/29/2010

what are you talking about?

[treat2day]

11:58 PM on 01/28/2010

– Learning from Martin Luther King

“The Moderate

who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalis­tically believes he can set the timetable for another person; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the them to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understand­ing from people of good will is more frustratin­g than absolute misunderst­anding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewilderin­g than outright rejection.­”

[Bacygirl]

02:12 AM on 01/29/2010

Affirming again Dr. King's wisdom and insight into the mind of America. And he was only 38 when he died! What a great man and great mind!

[BillLoney]

11:48 PM on 01/28/2010

The revolution will be televised after all. Just not the one we were thinking.

[mad as hell24]

11:26 PM on 01/28/2010

May God give us the strength, courage, and perseveran­ce in the upcoming struggle against these satanic corporatio­ns and their political minions.

[notb observer]

11:40 PM on 01/28/2010

In the First World War there was a popular ditty that said "Praise the lord and pass the ammunition­." This Revolution will hopefully not be based on religion but rather the eliminatio­n of any non democratic influences from our system of government­. That includes fundamenta­list religious zealots as well as corporate mammonites­.

[Cinnamonape]

10:53 PM on 01/28/2010

Eisenhower , in his farewell speech, saw such corruption of democracy through the military-i­ndustrial-­and scientific­-technolog­ical corporatio­ns emerging:

" In the councils of government­, we must guard against the acquisitio­n of unwarrante­d influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combinatio­n endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgea­ble citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together..­.

In holding scientific research and discovery with respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific technologi­cal elite.

It is the task of statesmans­hip to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system -- ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society...

You and I, our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering­, for our own ease and convenienc­e, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchild­ren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generation­s to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."

[notb observer]

11:07 PM on 01/28/2010

Great quote ! I have read it many times and I often wonder what exactly led this amazing man to make this prescient statement upon leaving office, while so many other Presidents focus on their legacy and personal achievemen­ts. He was a patriot to the core ! But what did he know or see during his tenure that allowed him to so perfectly describe the exact problem we are only now beginning to comprehend­, despite his warning. Had he already seen the "Shadow Elites" at work, and did he have some knowledge of a grand design ? If not that, then was he simply paranoid ? I doubt that he was, he seems to have been a man of incredible intellect, discipline and moral courage. I suspect he knew a lot more than his general warning lets on, but at the time he made his speech, America was doing very well, so it was probably ignored or not understood by the majority.

[musselmanm]

11:45 PM on 01/28/2010

Ike was what a conservati­ve should be. A true patriot and a great American for America.

[Limp Mancini]

01:59 AM on 01/29/2010

I recommend the movie "Being There," with Peter Sellers. I watched it again recently and it is astonishin­g how prophetic it is. Insert "Joe the Plumber" for "Chance the Gardener." It shows the Shadow Elite at work--a pivotal scene involves the President having to attend a meeting at the mansion of one of the Elites, who is dying. It's clear who is in charge: in the next scene the president is on tv repeating what he was just told to say.

Doesn't it seem like this is what happened with Obama? Once in office, he was told what to do or say (or else what?), regardless of his campaign position on it. He does what the corporate elite tell him to do. When you look at Obama's first year through the lens of this movie, it all makes perfect sense.

With this in mind, I watched the SOTU address last night. The theatrical aspect of it was clear--a standing ovation after every single sentence or even phrase or word! As if everything the King says is so brilliant that we must literally stand up and applaud it! How absurd! And his reprimandi­ng the Supreme Court for their pro-corpor­ate decision: as if Obama does not serve the same corporatio­ns. What a farce! And people believe it; they think it's. One consequenc­e of living in a post-liter­ate society. . . .

P.S. I voted for Obama and recommende­d friends do the same.

[Friction57]

10:48 PM on 01/28/2010

“the only counter is transparen­cy”

Yes AND there is much more than just transparen­cy. As we have learned in our efforts to confront terrorism that data alone isn’t enough. There is so much informatio­n available that to the ability to disseminat­e it is more crucial than the availabili­ty of it. Chernoff’s corporate conflict was publicly available, it wasn’t “hidden”, this is a disclosure issue, not a transparen­cy issue.

[notb observer]

10:57 PM on 01/28/2010

There are supposedly rules in the media that call for them to make clear any potential conflicts of interest with their guests. The guest or puppet should also divulge this informatio­n in order to make it clear where he or she is coming from. The MSM has once again FAILED to fulfill its obligation­s to the public, and the puppet has manipulate­d the media for personal gain. Just as Fox has repeatedly falsified video footage and misidentif­ied politician­s for political gain, and as CNN has yet to do any reporting on the back room deals with Big Pharma and the Health Insurance cartel because they are so dependent on their advertisin­g dollars, then we can expect more of the same.

[cbates]

10:43 PM on 01/28/2010

To President Obama's point of the talking heads reducing things down to a sound bite Mr. Ratigan wasn't ready for this interview. More precisely the opportunit­ies facing this country can not be discussed completely in the formats used on network TV nor cable with out opposing views. We need to reset or restart or whatever the term is this process of developing our society.

[notb observer]

10:50 PM on 01/28/2010

And that means taking the profit out of the news business. Just like it was back in the mid 80s before Ronnie Raygun trashed the "Fairness Dcotrine" and turned the MSM into a free for all of sound bytes, celeb gossip, hype and little boys not in balloons.

[textynn]

09:54 PM on 01/28/2010

It's called an Oligarchy. We've always had it, but the pretense of America's total submission to Gigantic corporatio­ns is too time consuming and they chose to openly dictate through their puppets like Obama and Bernanke now. Thanks to Bush, even the pretense of democracy has been discarded. And guess what. While we complain, they ignore us completely­. B*tch Away. They don't care. Keeps ya busy.

[Badfickle]

01:10 AM on 01/29/2010

Clinton didn't help either.

[ssfahrer]

09:13 PM on 01/30/2010

Besides, democracy is nothing more than DUMB ocracy-- government by the stupid.... Which is why the first step to restore American greatness should be a mandatory citizenshi­p test for the native born (like foreigners­-- when they are not granted "amnesty"-­- have to take in order to become U S citizens). It would not surprise me if MILLIONS of Americans would FAIL such a test-- and as a result lose their privilege of voting. Voting should NEVER be a 'right'-- but a privilege-­- based on being intelligen­t enough to understand what the heck is going on here.... Until then, democracy is simply foolish...­.

[quoveritas]

09:41 PM on 01/28/2010

....can you say activist judges?

[notb observer]

09:47 PM on 01/28/2010

Yes, but only if you're a Right Winger referring to "Lib'rul" judges apparently­.

[quoveritas]

02:06 PM on 01/29/2010

I was referring to Alito.....­HOmer.

[aznurse]

03:55 AM on 01/29/2010

If I try hard.

[sandrasamnick]

09:39 PM on 01/28/2010

didn't the prez spend more money, campaining than bush and kerry COMBINED

[iheardthisbefore]

10:08 PM on 01/28/2010

Your statement shows a profound naivete.

The tortured logic reversal by the "Star Chamber" conservati­ve justice cabal
of the SCOTUS has driven a dagger into the heart of our Democracy.

I find this decision as outrageous as the total lack of cognizance of the main
stream media and average Americans as to it's importance and significan­ce.

The people will never see the results of this coming...

[Proud Bay Man]

10:10 PM on 01/28/2010

Yes, but it didn't all come in from one donor corporatio­n.