Political Contributions by Media Fail Americans

Media outlets

With six weeks until the presidential election, Mitt Romney is fighting an uphill battle against two opponents. Barack Obama is the main opponent, whom by all economic and foreign policy circumstances, should be a paper tiger on Election Day. His second opponent, which for the remainder of the race is increasingly asserting itself as his main opponent, is the media. Opponent number two is working to confirm in the minds of voters that the narrative the Obama campaign is painting of Romney finds solid footing with the electorate. Worse, the media is actively running interference to prevent Romney from identifying Obama’s sophomoric record for voters. This paints a broad and detailed picture of an ethically bankrupt collusion between the Democratic Party and the Mainstream Media.

Democrats decry the ruling of Citizens United by the United States Supreme Court as a harbinger for democracy’s demise. Their argument is that allowing corporations to organize and Super PACs to form dilutes the common citizen’s ability to affect electoral outcomes and in turn, allows deep pocketed special interests undue influence.

Their argument is constitutionally dubious and doesn’t warrant much defense. The constitution provides for free assembly to petition the government. This right was established by the first amendment, part of the original Bill of Rights. The right of American citizens to organize as corporations, who in turn organize Super PACs, is a derivative of this right.

In their gripes, Democrats conveniently ignore the largest political contributions of all. They make no such arguments about the contributions of media companies being covertly and at times overtly political, except those of the hated Fox News Corporation, whom they have made various attempts to marginalize.