As satire, this goes light years beyond the March to Restore Sanity. Colbert is displaying every single problem with the Citizens United decision, and the mess of our campaign finance laws, by showing the practical application of them in the real world. He can raise unlimited funds from anyone and put them into his own campaign effort, circumventing all campaign finance laws. We’re not only seeing this play out in theory. Practically all the Presidential candidates have SuperPAC support from former associates. In Huntsman’s case the SuperPAC is mainly funded by his dad. They all claim no coordination – witness Newt Gingrich’s showy call today for his SuperPAC to “correct inaccuracies” in the ads slamming Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital record – but this is transparent nonsense. The SuperPACs clearly advocate on behalf of candidates, and have changed the course of elections – witness Gingrich’s implosion in Iowa after a barrage of Romney SuperPAC spending – without complying with any of the campaign finance laws for candidates.
Between this satire and the nearly satirical awakening of Newtie to the big money monster he created maybe there will be a tiny opening for sanity to creep back in. The press certainly isn't going to do it.
In any case, it's clear that the only way we will get through this period in our political history is with a sense of humor and a good supply of the beverage of your choice. The only question is how long we can keep it up.
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