Thank you for your post, voltaire – now I’m up to speed! I first heard about this SuperPAC stuff on Monday.
I laughed harder at Filliam H. Muffman than almost anything else I’ve ever heard. Anyway, now that Colbert has (sorta) called out the PAC donors for made-up names, there are more of them than ever. In the last couple of nights the names on the crawl screen included Optimus Prime, Jesus of Nazareth, Jak Mayoff, Adolph Oliver Bush, and Brainpaint Neurofeedback. I’m guessing that last guy got into some good drugs.
Is there any problem with a PAC or a SuperPAC accepting contributions from an anonymous source or a pseudonym?
I wouldn’t know. But as long as the fake name can be traced to a real person who is allowed to give the money, I doubt it’s a problem.
I’m not following you here. Why can’t he throw all his SuperPAC influence to help (or hurt) Obama if he wishes?
Slight hijack, but I’m upset that Murray Hill was only founded in 2005. Their congressional run (congresspeople must be 25) can be dismissed without the real issue getting addressed in court.
On topic, I think Colbert’s SuperPAC is brilliant. I predict the PAC will support more Republican candidates for ironic reasons - vote for Michelle Bachman *because *she signs pledges without reading them; vote for Rick Perry *because *Texas has more minimum wage workers than any other state, etc.
It is also worth pointing out that the PAC does not have to support or denounce candidates. It can weigh in on any national issue or invent one. I think Colbert has to go down that road eventually because focusing on just the candidates is limited by comparison. Colbert’s interview with the messaging guy/bullshit artist was very interesting and I think one of his goals is to show how PACs go through the process of highlighting and inventing issues and how those are then sold to the public.