Dark Money

Since the Supreme Court case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, liberals have had their knickers in a twist about corporations and those with deep pockets being involved in political campaigns.

By their attachment of the phrase “dark money,” liberals, progressives and RINOS have attempted to portray these efforts as sinister. But, freedom of speech and association is not just for the aforementioned groups, it is for everyone, including rich people and corporations.

Liberals claim that corporations being able to participate in political campaigns will “open the floodgates” to defamatory and unaccountable campaigns.

What is so duplicitous about this is that there is no such parallel concern about labor union spending on political ads.

Labor unions use extorted money to promote their liberal agendas regardless of the rank-and-file membership’s views. Rank-and-file members have no ability to refuse to participate in the union’s funding.

In Montana, members must pay their dues (bribes?) as a condition of working. When those unions spend millions to influence a political campaign and then proclaim other organizations are spending “dark money” they are the epitome of deceit, dishonesty and fraud.

The attempt to squelch “dark money” is also. Montanans deserve a Bill of Rights for all, not just for Democrats.

The term “dark money” refers to those political and “issue” contributions that are cloaked in anonymity.

There is wide agreement that every individual has the right, and in some instances the responsibility, to express their opinion.

The degree to which we ascribe credibility to that opinion can be based on a variety of factors: expertise in the field, conflicts of interest, reputation and and general character among them.

If in the “town square” we were addressed by someone who refused to identify themselves, or even to give us a view of their face, we would suspect that that person had something to hide. That is human nature, based on human experience.

In political discourse half-truths, manipulations and outright deceits abound. The issues involved are often subjective and complex, sometimes self-contradictory, and almost always subject to the perils of unintended consequence. It is easy to be fooled or misled.

Consider, for instance, our political primaries, where only a small portion of the public votes and where many of the candidates are not well known.

We could set ourselves up to buy a pig in a poke sold to us by a charlatan in a mask. All we ask of you, Mr. Anonymous, is to tell us who you are, and then to play by the rules.