CLEARLAKE – On Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010, the Supreme Court – in a 5-4 and widely vilified decision – ruled that corporations can give candidates just as much money as they want in the name of First Amendment rights of free speech.

This clearly means that major corporations can now give millions of dollars compared to the small political donations the average citizens can afford. In other words. corporations can afford a lot more "free speech" than can you or I.

Due to this alarming development, Second Sunday Cinema is showing "The Corporation," a widely-respected and information-dense documentary examining corporations in the US: what they are and how they have come to be so prominent and powerful in this country, for good and ill.

The movie will be shown Sunday, Feb. 14, at Clearlake United Methodist Church at 14521 Pearl Ave. near Mullen in Clearlake. Admission is free.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for snacks and socializing; the film starts at 6 p.m.

Early in the last century corporations were granted "personhood," just like any individual human being. But they also enjoy other rights enjoyed not by average citizens but only by themselves. This, along with their wealth and connections, makes for a very uneven political struggle. There can be no true democracy without economic democracy.

For more information, call Shannon Tolson, 707-279-2957.