Syndicated columnist Mark Shields on Friday excoriated Supreme Court justices Samuel Alito and John Roberts for "taking our system and absolutely screwing it up completely."
Appearing on PBS's Inside Washington, Shields was complaining about how "these campaigns have been taken over totally by Super PACs" as a result of the Citizens United decision (video follows with transcript and commentary):
MARK SHIELDS, PBS: Let’s get one thing straight: these campaigns have been taken over totally by Super PACs. Newt Gingrich's Super PAC in the states of Oklahoma, Tennessee and Georgia outspent his campaign 70 to 1. 70 to 1. So that this is just a fiction. Hello John Roberts, Sam Alito - thank you very much for just taking our system and absolutely screwing it up completely.
How about swing-voter Anthony Kennedy who in any 5-4 decision acts as the tiebreaker?
Taking even a broader view, why not point fingers at John McCain and Russ Feingold whose 2002 campaign finance bill likely ushered in the Citizens United decision?
Nah. It's all on Alito and Roberts.
After all, they were appointed by President George W. Bush and therefore always deserving of media scorn.
