But the doctrine of corporate personhood was smuggled into the law without argument. Before oral argument, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the US instructed the participants the case, telling the attorneys during pre-trial that "the court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids a State to deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does." This oral instruction to attorneys was duly copied by the court reporter and later came to be interpreted as settled law.
History and discussion, cum rant, can be found here. How many US voters had any idea in 1886 of what would be the consequences of granting individual civil rights to the "fictitious legal entities" that are corporations and who also enjoy, potentially, immortality and limited liability.
If this can best be opposed by making common cause in this matter with libertarians, so be it. About now I am wishing I had voted for Ron Paul. At least he campaigned on bringing the troops home and dismantling the Federal Reserve System. Even substantial progress in those goals would be better than anything we can reasonably expect from the corporatist clowns we put in charge, (and for whom I voted.)
As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
