November 8, 2010: Last week, big lies and big money spoke so loudly and with such influence that our political system was dramatically changed for the time being. Four billion dollars was spent on political campaigns, almost $3 billion of it on advertising.
Those who understand what this means are conventionally dismissed as part of the "liberal media." "Liberal" means "the Devil incarnate" to Republicans, who feel entitled by a recent ruling of the Supreme Court in the Citizens United case, which allowed for corporations to freely fund political campaigns.
After it was discovered that the right-wing Chamber of Commerce was running political ads that were possibly funded by foreign money, President Obama said that this was "a threat to our democracy."
Of course, conservatives complained. But nothing changes facts hidden in plain sight. Now, elected politicians, including the President, are finally less important than extreme right-wing bags of money that walk and talk like people but are now allowed, thanks to the Citizens United ruling, unprecedented freedoms to influence and rig public policy in their favor.
Take the case of Rupert Murdoch, the Australian-born media wizard who is dedicated to bringing as much of the American political system under his control as possible, and who willfully fosters and sustains delusional paranoia through a cable network, Fox News.
To the consternation of liberal sentimentalists like Jon Stewart who believe that we only have to live and let live, Fox News distinguishes itself from other news stations by distorting the truth on a daily basis, spreading gossip and telling outright lies.
It has no liberal equivalent. Those who think that is true of MSNBC should be made aware that Keith Olbermann was suspended last Friday from that network for donating money to Democratic candidates.
At Fox News, the actual truth is not nearly as important as the illusion of fact and the "fair and balanced" slogan drooled forward by network shills like Sean Hannity, who never met a conservative extremist in shoes he was not prepared to kiss – or follow his marching orders to kiss and tell in his time slot.