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Nathan Smith
Pamela Reed
RHET 1311
1 November 2015
Get Money Out of Politics

Fig. 1 On May 19, 2015, members of Arkansas Democracy coalition and other national
and local activist groups convened at the Arkansas State Capital calling for a
constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court ruling
from 2010. (Google images)
This is a picture of very patriotic activists and good people I have personally met
trying to communicate an important message to all Arkansans and all American citizens.
It was taken in May of this year on the porch of the Arkansas State Capital where
Arkansas Democracy Coalition hosted a gathering to protest the growing influence of
money in politics and rally support for a proposed state ballot initiative.

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Local and national activist groups were present, along with a few different news
broadcasters. I was also there. News reporters and a small audience were addressed
about the issue in several speeches.
They portrayed big money in politics as a threat to the democratic process and
called for a U.S. constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Courts 2010
decision in Citizens United v. FEC. They spoke of writing a state ballot initiative (which
is now approved and gathering signatures) which would give Arkansas voters a chance to
decide if they want to limit the influence of money in state elections.
Im analyzing this picture to support my stance on the Supreme Courts decision
in the Citizens United v. FEC case in 2010. The people in this picture have a very strong
stance on that case, and I agree with them. I think it should be overturned. I chose this
picture because it was taken in Little Rock and I was there.
The message in this picture is that we need to overturn the Citizens United v. FEC
Supreme Court decision from 2010, because it is corrupting our democracy. The decision
reversed a century of campaign finance law and gave corporations, unions, and other
organizations the right to free speech, allowing them to spend unlimited amounts of
money to finance elections. This is a huge change to the political culture of the U.S., and
most Americans agree: its a change for the worse. (Public Citizen)
These activists have been working very hard trying to get their message across.
Since 2010, there has been poll after poll concluding U.S. citizens overwhelmingly
support overturning the Supreme Courts decision. Big corporations have been fighting
to prevent that from happening, but 16 states have already adopted legislation limiting the

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power of money in elections at the state level. Theyve also given official support for a
U.S. constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision. (Public Citizen)
There are a few different signs being displayed in this picture. The first one on
the left says, Arkansas Democracy Coalition, Join Us! and provides the organizations
website and Facebook page. The ARDC is a diverse group of national and local activist
organizations working together to get money out of politics. (Arkansas Democracy
Coalition ) This sign supports the positive vibe of inclusiveness present at the capitol that
day.
The middle sign says: ENOUGH, Corporations are NOT people, Money is NOT
speech. This sign communicates anger, frustration, and a readiness for change. It
implies that Corporations are being treated legally as a person and that the average
citizens voice cannot be heard without access to large amounts of money.
The first sign on the right says: Democracy is not for sale. This sign implies the
group believes that we are losing representative democracy. They feel elected
representatives are no longer answering to their constituents but catering to the interests
of the donor class of the rich and powerful. Theres also another lone sign that states in
bold lettering: Corporations are not people.
The American flag sign states: MOVE TO AMEND.ORG End Corporate
Personhood and has a different corporations logo for every star on our American flag.
The website name for MTA coalition is perfect for the goal of the people in this picture.
It is an imperative sentence provoking action to learn about the issue. The company
logos on the flag really sum up how many in the U.S. feel right now about our

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democracy. Some even feel that the rich have such a tight grip on our political process
that their votes dont even matter. (Susan Page)
These signs are being directed at the news media present that day. They wanted
as many people as possible to see their signs and think about the issue at hand.
This picture was successful in getting people interested in the controversial SC
case because it was in the news for a few days. Some Arkansans probably didnt even
know what the case was about until they heard about this gathering on the news.
Through this analysis Ive learned more about the groups represented here and
how they are fighting to reduce the influence of the rich with their special interests on the
democratic process. We no longer have a representative democracy - a democracy that
acts on the behalf of and is responsive to the people themselves. Right now, our
government is catering to the rich and powerful and not the average citizen. Paul
Spencer, my former high school teacher and founder and chairman of ARDC, organized
this gathering and spoke at the podium. He is also the founder and chairman of the
activist group Regnant Populus, which means the people rule. This is also our state
motto. (Ware) We need to honor that motto and overturn the Citizens United ruling.

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Works Cited
Arkansas Democracy Coalition . www.ardc.us. n.d. October 2015.
Public Citizen. Democracy Is for People.org. n.d. October 2015.
Susan Page. usatoday30.usatoday.com. 15 August 2012. October 2015.
Ware, David. www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net. 21 March 2008. October
2015.

Instructor Feedback Spend a few minutes looking at the characteristics of

analytical writing in Blackboard > Lectures> Writing Analytically. There are
several opportunities in this essay to be compliant with the genre. While you
are in Blackboard, look at the invention questions (attached below) for this
assignment and make sure that you address each of them in this paper. You
have addressed the question of audience; however, there are other
questions that need to be answered.
Sometimes its okay to use personal information in academic writing, but it
all depends on how you use it. For this assignment, focusing on the image
and analyzing the image is going to make your work better fit the analytical
writing genre.