Pirate's Cove

One of the whiny tropes from Leftists regarding the ruling for Sebelius v Hobby Lobby is that corporations are not people. One can find a gazillion (slightly more than a sh*tload) examples in blogs, Tweets, Facebook posts, op-eds, editorials, and so forth. So, are corporations people?

Remember back to the last general election when Mitt Romney said they are because they are made up of people. While somewhat correct, there is a more elegant, coherent, cogent response:

It doesn’t f***ing matter. The Constitution makes no references to a difference between individuals and companies, corporations, private entities, groups, or even government agencies.

Look at the 1st Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

See anything in the groundbreaking discourse creating any difference? A separation between the Individual and other entities? In fact, the closest one gets to discussing the Individual is the 4th, the right of people to be secure….., which, when applied to anything other than an individual would be closer to Mitt Romney’s point, because, obviously, entities have rights along the same lines. The government cannot just come in and seize whatever they want. Lord knows the government is trying hard to do just that, however, that’s a different discussion.

Also the 5th, which is about being held for a capital case. Can’t do that to a company, can you? You can do it to business owners, who can be held responsible.

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if corporations are people, because the Constitution really doesn’t differentiate. The Constitution and first ten Amendments were about Governmental powers and restrictions on Government. Government may not prohibit the free practice of religion. Corporations have Rights just like Individuals.

Unsure if they have Rights? Just ask any Liberal/Progressive/Democrat what they would think if the federal government came in and told them their company could no longer provide press releases, could not petition the government, had to pony up 100% of the net profits with no ability to protest, no hearing, no legal preceeding. If the corporation was told they would be housing federal troops. If they were told they had no right to a trial by jury in big money suits. No right to cross-examine. Smacked with excessive fines, their companies tacken away from them. Had to publish what the government told them to? Would Lefties think corporations had Constitutional Rights then?

Is water wet?