John Nichols: A clarion call for renewal of democracy
March 11, 2012 Vermonters went to their town meetings last week to settle questions about dump fees, snowplowing contracts and utility meters.
They also decided to take on the corrupt campaign system that is steering the republic toward catastrophe.
And they have done so in a voice loud enough to be heard all the way to Washington.
By Thursday morning, 64 towns had moved to amend the U.S. Constitution to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling — as well as the false construct that says, in the words of Mitt Romney, “Corporations are people, my friend.”
“The resounding results will send a strong message that corporations and billionaires should not be allowed to buy candidates and elections with unlimited, undisclosed spending on political campaigns,” declared U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
