The massive assault on on lives that are political ads during an election has begun. I’m sitting here writing this morning and I had to get up and shut the TV off. Nearly 100% of the commercials during the local news broadcast were political ads. In the space of 30 minutes, I heard the same commercial five times!
There is so much wrong with how this is done that it is insane. First and foremost, there are no validity rules being applied. “Truth in advertising” does not extend to political ads, especially those paid for by private organizations and individuals. And now that the US Supreme Joke (court) has perverted Freedom of Speech by giving it to corporations (thus removing limits on spending for political campaigns), the flood gates are wide open. Voters are besieged by lies and deceptions and mud-slinging of the worst kind. It is almost impossible for voters to become informed without doing a whole lot of research and investigation themselves. That is something most voters do not have the time and resources to do, and something they should not have to do.
I believe that most Americans hold the right to vote as a sacred right. It is correct to say that the right to vote comes with a obligation to become informed, but the ability of all Americans to become informed is being subverted, blocked, twisted, and manipulated on a massive scale by massive, deceptive and outright false ad campaigns, backed by big money. There is no doubt that this is a violation of our right to vote. The act of voting is not what this right is about. It is about our right as Americans to choose those by whom we will be governed so that we can choose those who will better our lives. You can take away that right either by not letting us vote, OR by deceiving us into voting against our best interests instead of for our best interests. Freedom of speech should not, and can not, be extended to the point where it violates our right to vote.
There are several ways to fix this problem. Some of these are practical and some are radical, but something has to be done! First, how about changing campaign finance laws so that all private or corporate political campaign donations are designated to the race, not to the candidates? In that way, the donations can be divided equally between the candidates, and no single candidate has the ability to lie more than the other?
Second, why can’t “truth in advertising” regulations be extended to political advertisements? If someone trying to sell us a product or service, they cannot make claims that are blatantly false, why can politicians who are trying to sell us their services lie through their teeth? Also, if one candidate is smeared with lies and deceptions from the other candidate, thus ruining his or her reputation and chances to be elected, why cannot that candidate sue the other for libel and/or slander?
On a more radical note, we could stop the lies and make all our television lives much better during elections if it were illegal for any candidate to talk about opposing candidates. Simply limit their talking to be about the issues and themselves. No more mud-slinging! No more endless accusations and scare-tactics! Life would be sweet!
