I:DEA 5 - Super-PAC: Free Speech or Dark Energy

Super-PACs are exhibiting their potent influences in America’s political universe. The chaotic Republican Presidential campaigns have felt and are continuing to feel their impacts most notably in recent days. But both the Republican and Democratic parties will become the lens through which Super-PAC energies will be transmitted and received by the American public, and through which these energies will be focused to accomplish the PACs’ purposes/work.

For good or ill, the Super-PACs (and to lesser extent their little cousins just plain ordinary PACs) will provide the motive forces to move opinions toward their objective’s center of gravity. It is after all the very reason for their existence: pulling the public into their sphere of influence. The important thing for the electorate to learn is the underlying laws of physics for Super-PAC. We must study and acquire an understanding of the cause and effect relationships between what causes the Super-PAC to spend its money in its hopes of producing the effects that serve the PACs’ interests. That PACs have an interest to be reached is not disputed, nor is it surprising that they would only spend money to achieve those goals. What may be surprising is how little anyone knows what those goals are.

Now the processes and methods used by Super-PACs is not really anything new; sure the technology involved differs from one generation to the next but technology affects how not why.  Super-PACs are intent on their respective whys and appear willing to use any hows that serve their purpose. In examining our past we see that Americans have engaged in similar activities when contending over the political issues of the day. And what we find in these political debates are various factions using distortions, facts, lies, principles, evasions, illuminations, and revelations since before there was a United States. In the founding of our nation, we see that it was not created based on what the Founding Fathers wanted or what the public universally agreed with; but rather our government was a compromise, an incomplete and unfinished work, and an imperfect and flawed system; and perhaps a fortuitous implementation of fear of its leaders. And during the haggling over the structure of our government, and its ratification and acceptance by the nation there were the PACs of their day pressing for their views, their interests and their ambitions.

And just like today, those PACs had folks who exceeded the veracity of their claims, facts and understandings. They did learn that demonization of their opposition is a tried and true approach that often works. We may never know if today’s adherents of negative ads are less or more immoral than their historic counterparts; but we can be assured that they degrade and impoverish America values and principles as surely as cancer destroys the body.

Now are all Super-PACs or PACs cut from the same fabric? No, it is not a given fact that all PACs are harmful any more than it would be true that none are a political cancer needing to be cut out. So America’s challenge is to distinguish between those PACs that earnestly attempt to present accurate and complete information that informs the public about an issue or position from those that disseminate informational content intentionally biased, distorted, manufactured, or suppressed.   

The test to judge one from the other is a difficult one no doubt, and it is not a simple problem for which an easy solution can be offered. Perhaps we must content ourselves to starting with asking if it is predominately a negatively toned and stated transmission. We do know that it is more informative to explain what you advocate and why than to offer what you don’t and why not. The quantity of negative energy of the Super-PAC may be one of its salient natural properties. We may not be as attracted to the gravitational lure of such Super-PACs if we recognized their intrinsic danger to America’s interests.

An additional test we could expect from Super-PACs/PACs is a contributor disclosure analysis. This analysis would require the Super-PAC/PAC to publish “to date” contribution amounts, number of contributors and number of largest contributors who account for 90% of the “to date” contributions. Whether the Super-PAC/PAC makes available who their contributors are in a timely manner is in and of itself a measure of the Super-PAC’s/PAC’s views on public transparency.

If you’re an Independent (or even a Republican or Democrat), you should communicate to any political party or candidate that seeks your vote, contributions or support that you want their explicit concurrence with or repudiation of a Super-PACs positions or ads.

The freedom and liberty that our country promises must be safeguarded through the efforts of it citizenry. You cannot expect to tolerate being deceived, lied to, misled, and duped by special interests and have your rights and liberties preserved.