Counteracting money in politics

By Tom Ehrich

Now that the Supreme Court is handing US politics over to the mega-wealthy few, I paid special attention to a news aggregator web site that my oldest son is using.

It's called Ozy. It's among a growing legion of sites that curate significant news from reliable sources like the New York Times, BBC and CNN.

We know what the right-wing oligarchs will do. They will spend millions smearing all Democrats and moderate Republicans. Look at the $7 million that the Koch Brothers are spending in North Carolina against a Democratic incumbent who doesn't even have a Republican challenger yet.

They will falsify information -- as Fox News recently did in covering the Affordable Cared Act. They will focus attention on sex politics, as if the future of America depended on abortion and homosexuality. They will use terms like "dictator" and "Nazi" to describe opponents, then wrap themselves in flag and Bible.

The Supreme Court's decision on campaign financing will glut the airwaves with attack ads. Trying to match them dollar-for-dollar isn't likely to happen.

The best response will be facts, information, true statistics, accurate charts, perspective and common sense. It will be sites like Ozy and Salon, news operations like the Times, Atlantic Weekly, the BBC, NPR, and a determined flood of social media posts that provide it.

Our work, as progressives who want fair elections and informed voters, will be to spread the word. Using free media that even the billionaire Kochs can't buy, we can spread accurate information to counteract the right wing's control of advertising and some news media.

If you see something on Facebook or Twitter that looks important and truthful, pass it on.

Remember, truth is liberating, money is enslaving, liars will be unmasked, and in the long run, a free people will value truth and live by common sense.

We need to do our part in making this happen.