Let all corporations speak

I had a pretty good Thanksgiving Day yesterday. I visited Mom and Dad and Sis and Niece and other Sis and her partner were also there. When I go to visit on holidays my dad and I have been enjoying putting jigsaw puzzles together. So while in Italy this summer I bought a puzzle showing the Birth of Venus by Bottecelli. We opened it yesterday and started assembly. It didn't take long to find something disconcerting.

American puzzles are designed so if one went strictly by shape one could assemble it accurately. There are stories of expert puzzlers turning all the pieces upside down (only the gray backing showing) before assembly and when done they turn it over to see the picture. In addition each piece is roughly rectangular and whether the tab on any side went in or out was independent of the other sides.

But in Italian puzzles (at least this puzzle) the tabs on a piece are all the same, they either all go in or all go out. There are only two basic shapes. It is also possible sometimes for one piece to fit in another piece's place. I was frequently bending close to make sure that, yes, the woman's floral pattern gown accurately aligned between pieces. We had a big problem trying to get the pieces for that gown together. I picked up one piece which was half gown and half background and saw it must go between her legs. But there wasn't room for it. Then I realized the legs were too close together, which meant the pieces along the puzzle's edge were not in the right order.

Which means my purchase of a puzzle mat and tube to wrap it around was a good investment. Dad will be able to take the puzzle off the dining room table and I'll be able to work with him on it at Christmas … and Easter.

And with Thanksgiving over with I have time to get to an article from last Sunday's Free Press. Supreme Justice Alito recently spoke at a dinner of the Federalist Society (described as "overwhelmingly conservative"). One item in his speech was the Citizens United ruling that allowed SuperPACs and extended free speech rights to corporations. Alito said:

The question is whether speech that goes to the very heart of government should be limited to certain preferred corporations; namely, media corporations. Surely the idea that the First Amendment protects only certain privileged voices should be disturbing to anybody who believes in free speech.

Put another way, if any corporation is allowed free speech, then all corporations must be allowed free speech.

Apparently Alito can't tell the difference between a corporation we pay to analyze a candidate's position and voice an opinion on how well that position fits with the needs of the city, state, and nation and a corporation we pay to refine, transport, and sell oil which would only express a political opinion that would benefit itself.