A recap for those of you who aren’t in the loop on this matter (the rest of you, skip to the next paragraph): Not too long ago, the Supremes decided that anybody can spend anything they want to for any political purpose. They further decided that on a few occasions, said anybodies would have to tell everybody what they spent; but on most occasions, anybody can spend anything and tell nobody. Also, just about anybody can say anything they want, even if it is a pack of lies, anywhere and anytime they want to. There are a few rules (easily circumvented), and not much in the way of real-time enforcement of those few rules. That’s where we are today. Got it? Good.
The net result of this is shaping up to be one huge Charley-Foxtrot (ask a military person what that means, if you don’t know); a butt-ugly, corruption-causing, vile and revolting perversion of the American electoral process. Why does Mr. Blunt and Cranky say so? Faithful readers will guess that a list is coming up, and they are correct:
[Number A] The amount of money spent on advertising across multiple media platforms has exploded. This writer is adding ad-free channels to his Roku box so as to entirely avoid any TV channel with advertising already, and it is not quite June. Likewise he has sworn off some Internet sites that use ad revenue because the toxic, slimy bilge that oozes across those Web Pages has already turned his stomach one too many times.
[Letter 2] Citizens United being a “free speech” case, there is almost no restriction on what people can say, and no requirement for accuracy or truth in that saying. Recourse for the libeled/slandered is difficult to obtain, and will take until long after the election is done in any case. That means that anyone with lots of money can get their lie out in the media, and by virtue of that money drown out the truth: unless the other side has more money and can drown out the liars.
[Thirdly] Anybody who really thinks that all this money spent on behalf of politicians will not influence the actions of those politicians once they are elected (and even if they are not) is living in a dream world and needs rehab and/or brain surgery. Christ on a pogo stick, people, come on.
[Fourth and most important] Citizens United means that money = free speech. That means those with more money get more free speech. Put another way, most of us have a little bit of money, and our voices will not be heard over the roar that is created by those with a lot of money. The wealthy extremists will drive the debate, and possibly decide the election thereby.
George Orwell once said that “some of us are more equal than others”. In this case, some of us now have more of a right to free speech than others. If you value your rights to speak and vote, you should care about this ruling. And you should let your “representatives” know that you care.
Mr. B & C
bluntandcranky 
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