Citizens United deserves the bashing it is receiving, that's for sure. We don't want corporate spending and unidentified donors to determine our elections. The fact is, we don't want money determining our elections. And that includes all the political ads we see on our tvs and are so tired of, funded by political campaigns, pacs, political parties, unions, or millionaire politicians themselves. They are all responsible for the type of politican that is elected.
The short tv spots do not tell us the truth. They focus on individual words or actions taken out of context and used to either glorify or demonize a candidate for office. They misrepresent the real person and certainly do not examine the important issues in the depth that our times require. If we wonder how such unqualified people get elected, tv ads are a large part of the answer. It's time for a change.
True, it's a big country and we need to get acquainted with persons running for office and tv provides that opportunity. The broadcast networks are getting rich and richer from political ads. It's where all the campaign money goes. If we want to get the money out of politics, the networks are key players. They are the ones who can and should be providing the country with information about persons running for office... but as patriotic Americans, not corporate plunderers.
In other words, they should be providing free opportunities such as debates, interviews, time slots in which real conversations and explanations can take place to educate the American public about the people running for office and the issues that are important to our democracy. Not non-stop, of course, but often enough and at suitable times to reach the electorate. In my opinion, it's their corporate responsibility to offer this kind of public service on a non-partisan basis. Paid political ads should be made obsolete.
Democracy requires an educated public, so unless something is done to stop the mis-education of our citizens, we will continue to have a system that doesn't work. Plus we'll all have worn out the mute buttons on our tv remotes.
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