Media-Always Distractable

[babylonsister]

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/10/15/always-distractable/

Always Distractable

by mistermix


I agree with John that the Democrats should keep hitting the foreign donors angle to discredit this new round of corporate advertising. Maybe the DC media could take a moment from tsk-tsking and read the fucking Citizens’ United decision. Here’s the relevant passage:

Last, Citizens United argues that disclosure requirements can chill donations to an organization by exposing donors to retaliation. Some amici point to recent events in which donors to certain causes were blacklisted, threatened, or otherwise targeted for retaliation. <...> The examples cited by amici are cause for concern. Citizens United, however, has offered no evidence that its members may face similar threats or reprisals. To the contrary, Citizens United has been disclosing its donors for years and has identified no instance of harassment or retaliation.

<...> A campaign finance system that pairs corporate independent expenditures with effective disclosure has not existed before today. <...> With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions and supporters. Shareholders can determine whether their corporation’s political speech advances the corporation’s interest in making profits, and citizens can see whether elected officials are “ ‘in the pocket’ of so-called moneyed interests.” <...> The First Amendment protects political speech; and disclosure permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.

Whether or not you agree with the rest of the decision, the Court clearly envisioned transparency as part of the deal. It hasn’t happened, and the electorate is having even a harder time than usual making informed decisions and giving proper weight to different speakers and messages.

This is what’s at stake, not some piddling little argument about whether the Sierra Club has some foreign donors, just like the Chamber of Commerce. Our stupid and infinitely distractable DC media would have us believe otherwise, and in doing so, they’re letting Congress off the hook for failing to quickly enact new transparency laws.