"This presents an opportunity for a candidate to go beyond simple distortions and exaggerations and make repeated use of objectively false statements."

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Surprise! Political ads don’t have to be true
Letter to the editor by Steve Musica, October 24, 2014

Disgusted with on-air political ads? Join the club. And the claims, are they true? Well, they don’t have to be.

The “dumbing-down” of America is in full swing. Prior to the mid-1980s the Fairness Doctrine required broadcasters to provide equal time for competing political thought. One network couldn’t push just its own agenda over public airways. The Reagan administration and Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission struck down the policy. The “Rush Limbaughs” now had an opening.

The FCC has truth-in-advertising standards, but they apply only to commercial companies, not to political candidates.

Companies and corporations are bound by restrictions on making false claims about their or a competitor’s product. A Ford ad can’t claim that a Dodge vehicle is unsafe, but candidate A can claim candidate B is an unsafe candidate.

Broadcasters can have a blanket policy of refusing all ads from all candidates, but they cannot single out and decline a particular ad, even if they know that the content is false. Lost revenue reality typically wins out over principles.

The FCC says a candidate’s statements and advertisements are considered “political speech” and fall under the protection of the First Amendment. This presents an opportunity for a candidate to go beyond simple distortions and exaggerations and make repeated use of objectively false statements. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that money is “free speech,” the fat cats basically have their own way.

Very depressing. Hit that mute button for me, will ya?
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