ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.
“I’m at the point of no return, and for me there’ll be turning back.” — Gene McDaniels, 1962
Though many folks these days have come to believe that the U.S. Supreme Court’s most unpopular decision is the Dobbs case in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade, I nominate the Citizens United decision as being even worse.
It was in 2010 that the Roberts Court ruled that political advertising is free speech and should not be abridged. The justices maintained that putting a cap on how much candidates can spend on political ads was tantamount to restricting freedom of speech. Therefore, the court held that all candidates should be allowed to run as many ads as they wish or found necessary.
This very simply opened the floodgates and created a circus-style free-for-all during our political “silly seasons” that simply seem to get worse every two years since that fateful ruling 14 years ago. Bill Moyers insisted it created a legalized bribery system in the U.S.
I hear tell a lot of folks have had it up to here with political ads shown on television. Some, like me, have given up watching the nightly news programs because they are overrun by these uninvited obnoxious guests every evening.
And, of course, they’re always at their worst during news programs, because these targeted audiences seem to care about current events. I also hear tell they’ve invaded football telecasts because they’re geared toward toxic masculinity, an epidemic of the fans of these contests.
I have some really bad news for all those who agree that these constant intrusions into our living rooms are nothing short of toxic Pandora’s Boxes. That is, the horse is out of the barn and won’t be coaxed back inside. We’re stuck. We’re doomed.
The biggest supporters behind these advertisements, besides the politicians and candidates, are the broadcast networks themselves. Please understand, the important explanation here is “follow the money.”
Broadcast news is the biggest benefactor of unlimited advertising because these ads bring in good money.
Les Moonves, former president of CBS, admitted publicly in 2016 that Donald Trump was a really good economic development for the network eight years ago because he was a tremendous catalyst in bringing in broadcast dollars and massive interest.
So the politicians love the inundation of ads. So do the news broadcasters. Follow the money.
And if you think we common everyday folks have any power in putting a stop to this nonsense, I’v got swampland I’d like to sell you.
So it’s actually true, the old saying that we live under “the Golden Rule — He who has the gold makes the rules.”
Our solution to this flood of vile political advertising has been to record everything we wish to watch. We can then skip right over the blight of commercials to the content we wish to view.
I feel for those who don’t have the equipment to record TV, or who don’t know how to manipulate their hardware to do so, because it reminds me of a story from so long ago, when Mitt Romney was running to become the candidate for president. As the tale goes, a woman was in her kitchen preparing dinner for her family when she heard one of the children wailing as if her arm had been cut off. She raced into the living room, shouting “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” only to find her little girl sobbing with big tears, “Mommy, Mommy, Mitt Romney is asking for money again!”
I understand her despair. One evening when the commercials began to run during our recorded show we were all wrapped up in something we couldn’t immediately interrupt. The political garbage we were subjected to, from all sides, was wretched and seemingly endless!
Whatever will the TV stations do to supplant the lost revenues once election season is over?
The only way they can afford these ads is from donations from peoples’ grocery money. The same people who are sick of them!
I do not watch the main TV stations this time of the year. I do not read Army Bob any more either! A broken record every week.
Corporate donors, data and political science, have perfected their system of subconscious manipulation. It is effective on all sub-sects, demographics and capacities. Social media and data mining put DJT in place with the human data harvested and targeted by Cambridge Analytica.
The vast majority of us are wholly incapable of objective independent choice.
I am not a fan of the repetitive political ads, but I understand that not everyone is predictable in their voting. I understand that the editor can complete his ballot for the next several elections without ever seeing who is on the ticket.