A few people have asked me why we are doing a “Fight Corporate Smears” Moneybomb this week.
The answer is that we have to. We have to. There is no alternative.
Right in front of our eyes, the right wing in America is strip-mining the political landscape, polluting it with wave after wave of hateful propaganda and lies. First the radio, then the newspapers, and now TV are virtually all right-wing, virtually all the time. And that’s just the “news” coverage; the paid ads are even worse.
In 2010, I was the target of over $5 million in “sewer money” smears. A few weeks before the election, the newspaper Politico calculated that almost 20% of all of the “independent expenditures” in House races in the entire country had been spent against me. And no cavalry came to my rescue – certainly not the imaginary “liberal media.”
All of the big money is on one side – the side of Big Money. After the 2010 election, the Center for Media and Democracy reported that spending by outside groups had risen by “at least 500 percent.” Pro-Republican groups had outspent pro-Democratic groups by 7 to 1. Public Citizen calculated that in the 53 House competitive districts where Karl Rove and his allies outspent Democratic groups, the Republicans won 51.
The right-wing has only one tool, and it needs only one tool – the slanderous attack ad. I don’t know what’s worse: the fact that Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers dictate what voters see and hear in September and October of each election year, or the fact that it’s all lies, lies, lies. Completely unconstrained by reality.
And now it has started again. Already, the typical voter in Orlando has seen another one of those vicious, malicious anti-Grayson ads ten times during the month of May alone. Politifact and Factcheck.org both proclaimed the ads outrageous lies. The other side couldn’t care less.
So what are we going to do about it? Unlike the Republicans, I can’t auction off tax breaks, bailouts, subsidies, regulatory exemptions, government contracts and other goodies to the highest bidder. I can’t, and I won’t.
We have to find some other way to fight back. And that involves you.
The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision unleashed the dogs of this one-sided war. I was in the courtroom during the decision. That night, on national TV, I said, “If we do nothing, you can kiss this country goodbye.”
When I said “we,” I meant you.
The only way that we can fight back against corporate smears, and win, is if you contribute to this campaign. There is no alternative. I need your help, and I need it now.
Courage,
Alan Grayson