Thom Hartmann: 1st they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win...

Congratulations to Sheldon Adelson - the casino mogul who's made a fortune in China - and is now the new record-holder for the most money spent in an election here in the United States - at least that we know about. According to Politico - Adelson has funneled $70 million to the Republican Party so far this election - more than tripling the previous record of campaign spending by any single individual. And while Adelson hasn't shied away from the spotlight - and is, in fact, proud of his attempts to buy the election for Mitt Romney - there are a lot of other right-wing millionaires and billionaires in the shadows also spending huge amounts of money. You won't hear their names - you won't see their faces - but they're sure to have a profound effect in November - if not on the White House, then on the congressional and Senate races across the nation.

And we can thanks the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision in 2010 for making all of this possible. According to a new report by the sunlight foundation - more than three-quarters of the $465 million in outside spending so far this election would have been a crime for which people could go to prison before five right-wingers on the Supreme Court, in their lopsided 5-4 Citizens United decision, decided that billionaires and corporations - including those that make their money in other countries - should be able to buy American elections. SuperPACs - those political creatures spawned by the Supreme Court's five to four decision - have dished out $272 million so far on this year’s election - and trade organization and non-profits, which according to Citizens United don’t have to disclose their donors, have spent another $93 million so far - that we know about.

The forces of organized money aren't messing around. They're arming up - and they're hell-bent on winning this election for the billionaire class and their transnational corporations. And the only thing standing in their way, with a month-and-a-half to go until the election, is "we the people" It's organized money versus organized people. Now I know that sounds daunting. How are average working people supposed to compete with a corporate elite willing to spend billions of dollars to defeat progressives across America? Not only that - in the first two major elections since Citizens United - organized money won easy - beating back organized people in the 2010 midterms - and then winning again in the Wisconsin recall election earlier this year.

Make no doubt about it - the cards are stacked against us. But now is not the time to despair. It's the time to get active. That's because organized people just secured a significant victory - not here in the United States yet, but just north in Canada. And we can learn a lot from how they won. Since last year - students in Quebec have been taking to the streets to hold massive rallies against proposed college tuition hikes. The government of Quebec tried to squash the demonstrations by passing an emergency law known as Bill 78 that would have restricted protests on campuses and outlawed any demonstrations of more than 50 people who didn't have proper permits. But rather than backing down - more students went into the streets. They had a clear goal and message - they weren't leaving the streets until the tuition hikes were reversed.

The protests went global - and took on the name of the "Maple Spring." And then - the students won. Last week - Quebec’s incoming premier announced she is canceling plans for the proposed tuition hikes. The incoming government will also repeal Bill 78, the law that to criminalized the protests. The president of Quebec’s largest student union, Martine Desjardins, declared "total victory" after the announcement, and went on to say quote, "Together we’ve written a chapter in the history of Quebec…It’s a triumph of justice and equity.”

Journalist and author Naomi Klein weighed in on it too, tweeting: "This is why radical movements are mercilessly mocked. They can win. "It’s official: Quebec tuition hikes are history." As Ghandi - perhaps apocryphally said: "First they ignore, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win" That's the power of non-violent mass movements. That's the power of organized people.

Which brings us back to the United States. Organized money is in control - there's no question about it. Our government, media, and economy have been hijacked by the corporate elite. But I still believe electoral solutions are possible - because I still believe organized people can prevail - as they always have, often against what seemed like impossible odds - on the battlefield of American democracy. But that's only if we join together and get organized, in the streets, on the web, in a way the media can't ignore. That's only if we pick up where Occupy left off - people moving forward with a focused message.

Let's face it - politicians are not leaders - they're followers. They follow the money now - the most conspicuous example is how the Republicans follow Sheldon Adelson and the Kochs, and how Mitt Romney refuses to reveal who is funding his campaign. But the trick is to make them follow the people again - make them unable to ignore our demands. And the only way to do that is to do what students in Quebec did - get out in the streets, on the web, and in the media - including engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience. It is, after all, the American Way, and brought us everything from abolition to women's suffrage to civil rights.

We might not win this election - but if we can start pulling tens of thousands - hundreds of thousands - a million people in the streets - and then I guarantee you politicians will take notice. And some of them will run in front of that mass movement and lift the flag of the movement and say "this is mine - these are the people I'm representing in government." That's the way organized people defeat organized money. That's not only how it happened in the Civil Rights movement here in America - that's also how it happened in Tahrir Square in Egypt. And it'll happen here in America, once again - if we just stay organized and active.

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