Posted: 08/01/10 01:12
by Dave Mindeman
Money pervades politics and government in oh so many ways. Even in this current deep recession, money continues to flow to political pockets -- deep and deeper.
That is why it is so disturbing that this so-called "monetary freedom of speech" is now going to invade the third branch of government, the judiciary.
Greg Wersal has made it his life's goal to make judges just another political monetary tool. The courts have ruled recently that endorsements cannot be denied in judicial elections. And with that comes money and political games.
And to furthur complicate things, the Citizen United ruling brings more unseemly possibilities via unlimited corporate money.
Can you imagine an elected judge deciding cases against a corporation that was his biggest donor? And if he or she would have the integrity to recuse themselves, what's to stop a corporation from "buying" the whole court?
Think about how different the 2008 Senate race would be if the judges involved had been beholden to political party endorsements? Appointments of judges by which governor of which party is already an instant topic of conversation in such cases, but how much worse would it be if the judges had official Party affiliations by endorsement in their election to the court?
Minnesota has managed to steer clear of this ugly business for some time, but no longer. We will have to deal with this situation in some manner. Maybe with legislation.....or maybe by Constitutional amendment.
Something has to stop the "selling" of our justice system. When we talk about the greening of Minnesota, we have to hope we are still talking about energy.....and not an increase in the paper flow of "dead Presidents".
