A contrarian take on SCOTUS decision ...

[struggle4progress]

... from Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg:

1) A Tragedy. Just as both parties were beginning to successfully adopt the bottom-up, people-centered, democracy-strengthening model of politics of the new internet age, the Supreme Court blows the system to pieces ...

2) A Lot of Companies Are Not Going to Join In. Yet. Running ads with their name on it in contested races is not something a lot of companies are going to want to do. Publicly traded companies are by nature risk adverse ... I would encourage companies to take a position right now that they aren't going to do these kind of ads this cycle to avoid the pressure that is sure to come from both parties and individual candidates. Just say no.

3) This Could Become A Big Problem for Republicans. The Republicans have picked themselves off the floor in recent months by running as champions of the middle class. Having big corporate America come in on behalf of a candidate will almost certainly guarantee that a candidate becomes tarred as taking the side of big corporations against the average guy ...

4) The Democrats Should Try to Pass A Bill Tilting the System Back Towards People. There are a lot of ways to do this but the Democrats should stand on principle here and demonstrate they want the system to be biased towards broad, people-based participation not towards aggregated privilege, power and wealth ...

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/01/22/2182939.aspx

[PATRICK]

1. Only number four would be good news.

They have and will continue to spin corporatism sideways in their favor while Dems avoid the entire issue. Other corporations will have to do a lot more than voice democratic objections. This is a raw power game that gives bigger more ruthless corporations cut off from all rules of any game dominance, pure and simple. Pay to play will simply ruin "weak" corporations faster than hostile takeovers.

Yet the door is wide open as never before for real reformers of root causes to take up the challenge. NY Gov. Patterson, for his own reasons has chosen to influence his dysfunctional Albany aristocracy and the electorate by calling for such clear ground changing reform. Every who ever wanted it should have rushed in pushing Patterson ahead of them if necessary. Similar things will happen in and around Foggy Bottom.

I sense that real opportunity will drift mysteriously loose in the hypocritical wind with no more reality than the overwhelming revolt over SCOTUS vs. President Gore 2000 and the following hamstringing of Bush Jr. and the GOP. Make me wrong, please.