Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Avatars

This is what I wrote about Citizens United v. FEC a few days ago:
One of the most evil things that the Supreme Court did in the 19th Century was to comment that corporations are legally equivalent to people. That was then, and still is today, bullshit. You cannot throw a corporation (or a labor union) in jail. All you can do is fine them, which the managers don't give a shit about, as long as the fines don't put the company into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
There is a way to get around that, and that is by the use of the corporate avatar.

Corporations have to act through living people, regardless of what those five ghouls on the Supreme Court think. So here is my idea: If a corporation is found guilty of a felony, the corporation has to pay the fine associated with the charge. The officers and directors of the corporation do the time. It won't matter if they knew anything about it or not. They don't get a criminal record out of it, nothing has to be proven against them, as individuals. They are the stand-ins for the corporation, the avatars, and if the corporation does the crime, the avatars will do the time.

It will, of course, suck to be them if the actions of a corporation are a capital crime. But that's why they pulled down the big bucks.

5 comments:

Joe said...

If you have the rights of a citizen, you should have the responsibilities of a citizen. Since corporations are people, can they be drafted in time of war?

Personally, I'd enjoy seeing the CEO of Lockheed-Martin pulling down sergeant's pay until the cessation of hostilities.

montag said...

And what does it take to correct this concept of corporate personishness? How do we return the Constitution to the original intent of the founders, who all mistrusted corporations?

Comrade Misfit said...

Montag, it's going to take a carefully worded constitutional amendment to change this for good. And as the last modern amendment was adopted almost 40 years ago, I don't hold out much hope.

montag said...

Comrade, it might be easier to scare up 5 liberal activist judges.

Comrade Misfit said...

Montag, all we need is two new ones, one to replace Stevens, who will probably retire soon, and Kennedy.