No matter how much Alito may bobble his head in disagreement with the President over the Supreme Court's recent ruling on Citizens United v. FEC, this is the next logical step in affirming corporate personhood.

Corporation Murray Hill, Inc. has decided to run for the Maryland's 8th congressional district seat, one currently held by DCCC chief Chris Van Hollen. Murray Hill, Inc., will be running as a Republican(s?). From their corporate website:

Following the recent Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission to allow unlimited corporate funding of federal campaigns, Murray Hill Inc. today announced it was filing to run for U.S. Congress and released its first campaign video on www.youtube.com/user/murrayhillcongress

“Until now,” Murray Hill Inc. said in a statement, “corporate interests had to rely on campaign contributions and influence peddling to achieve their goals in Washington. But thanks to an enlightened Supreme Court, now we can eliminate the middle-man and run for office ourselves.”

Murray Hill Inc. is believed to be the first “corporate person” to exercise its constitutional right to run for office. As Supreme Court observer Lyle Denniston wrote in his SCOTUSblog, “If anything, the decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission conferred new dignity on corporate “persons,” treating them — under the First Amendment free-speech clause — as the equal of human beings.”

Murray Hill Inc. agrees. “The strength of America,” Murray Hill Inc. says, “is in the boardrooms, country clubs and Lear jets of America’s great corporations. We’re saying to Wal-Mart, AIG and Pfizer, if not you, who? If not now, when?”

Murray Hill Inc. plans on spending “top dollar” to protect its investment. “It’s our democracy,” Murray Hill Inc. says, “We bought it, we paid for it, and we’re going to keep it.”

Damn straight. I think this is an excellent way to illustrate just how short-sighted and dangerous the SCOTUS decision was. Campaign manager William Klein will be updating the status of the campaign on HuffPo:

Corporations are people too--with the same rights and privileges enjoyed by humans. The Supreme Court says so! The courts have devoted endless attention to the rights of the "unborn," but finally, they are recognizing the rights of the never born.

Murray Hill, Inc.'s run for Congress is, therefore, a milestone in the struggle for civil rights.

And the Murray Hill for Congress campaign is drawing support from all over. Our YouTube video is spreading through the Internet, our Facebook page brings in new Friends and Fans every hour, and and Designated Human Eric Hensal appeared on the Thom Hartmann show as well as Russian TV. (How's that for a juxtaposition?)

And now, we're even selling mousepads. Our message?

Corporations are people too!

Thom Hartmann interviewed Murray Hill Inc.'s designated human, Eric Hensel earlier this week about their campaign..

We have been documenting the increasingly violent and threatening protests at Democratic town hall events around the country, and now it seems things are reaching the boiling point. The Secret Service has finally gotten involved:

There were signs comparing President Barack Obama to a Nazi and showing him with an Adolf Hitler-style mustache, but federal officials believe another sign referencing the president and his family went too far.

A man who was holding a sign reading "Death to Obama" Wednesday outside a town hall meeting on health care reform in Hagerstown, Md., has been turned over to the Secret Service.

Washington County Sheriff's Capt. Peter Lazich said the sign also read, "Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids." Read on...

As many have said on blogs and the tee vee, these protests have nothing to do with health care reform, and they never did. They are temper tantrums being thrown by small minded, uneducated, racist white people who are angry about having a black Democrat in the White House. I'm encouraged to finally see the Secret Service getting involved in a public way.

This recommendation for Maryland comes from my friend and co-worker Pete, who claims that Dan Deacon puts on the single finest live show he's ever seen.

Deacon founded Wham City, an artist/musician collective based out of a gigantic warehouse in Baltimore called the Copycat building, and I'm certain they have more fun there than most people I know.

Electronic music is a bit of a rarity here at the LNMC. Any recommendations?

Every Monday night, C&L's Late Nite Music Club showcases an act from every state, alphabetically by state, as part of LNMC's 50 State Strategy. Know a band or artist that you think is the best in their state? Email suggestions to latenitemusicclub [at] gmail.com. Next week: Massachusetts.

Judd was one of the first bloggers whose work I admired when I discovered there were actually other political bloggers. A few weeks ago he told me he had decided to run for the Maryland state legislature and John and I asked him to come by and tell everyone about his race. Please join us in the comments section to take part in the live discussion. Here's a little background material on Judd, who is seeking to replace a far right freshman misanthrope, Ron George, and take the values he learned as a progressive blogger-- accountability, transparency and inclusiveness-- and bring them into state government in Maryland.

Born and raised in Annapolis, Judd is an attorney who graduated Cum laude from Georgetown University and then worked for 3 years at the top progressive think tank, Center for American Progress. He helped create their blog, Think Progress, and now blogs at his own Maryland blog, Legum's New Line. Last year he worked as Hillary Clinton's national research director and helped prepare her for over 20 debates.

Judd is seeking to represent the district he grew up in and to replace one of the most right-wing extremists in the General Assembly. Ron George was a sponsor of "Maryland's Marriage Protection Act," a state constitutional amendment that's widely viewed as Maryland's version of Proposition 8. The bill would not only write discrimination against gays and lesbians into the Maryland constitution, it would "affect the ability of the State and local governments to extend benefits to partners of the same sex," such as hospital visitation rights. He also sponsored a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, regardless of circumstance and, although he campaigned on a pledge to work for a clean environment, he received a score of 33% from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters.

Judd's agenda is all clean, clean, clean:

Clean government: He's not accepting money from Maryland lobbyists or corporate PACs.

Clean Bay: The 25-year, multi-billion dollar effort to restore the Bay has been a failure. "If we don't act quickly," said Judd, "the Bay will soon pass the point of no return. This means standing up to powerful special interests such as agribusiness, which remains the number one source of pollution in the Bay. This is more than an environmental issue, it's an economic issue. Much of Maryland's economy is dependent upon the health of the Bay."

Clean Energy: Judd has been telling voters that the state faces an energy crisis. "Absent policy changes the state will face rolling blackouts starting in 2011. Marylanders have also seen their energy bills skyrocket. We need to move aggressively on three fronts: 1) energy efficiency programs, which can reduce the need for new generation and reduce costs for consumers, 2) investment in transmission which will allow more power to flow into the state at reduced costs. 3) new sources of clean energy including wind, solar and biofuels."

He'll be running a grassroots campaign and we promised to help make sure the netroots is aware of his race. If you can handle it, please consider making a donation at his ActBlue page. Now, join us in the comments section.