This is in response to Steve Wolverton's "Fox doesn't take orders from left." He accused liberals of disliking Fox News because they "refuse to accept orders from the White House." I disagree. I'm a liberal and I hate Fox News because they incite irrational fear, spread hatred, create confusion, induce panic, capitalize on paranoia and not only distort the truth but just plain makes things up to promote their own agenda. They portray minorities as heinous perpetrators and rich white people as victims. The pundits on Fox News spew such vitriolic hyperbole that one hour of tuning in would have fact-checker's heads exploding.
I haven't read Walt Auvil's letter that Wolverton disputes, but I deduce that Auvil criticized Karl Rove "for his outsized influence in raising hundreds of millions of 'so-called secret money to influence our elections.'" Yet Wolverton hypocritically accused George Soros of "buying our elections." George Soros isn't even a major player this election term. As of authorship of this letter Soros has contributed $1.2 million to Democratic Super PACs whereas Sheldon Adelson has donated $16 million to Republican Super PACs. That's like equating my $35 donation to the Human Rights Campaign to Dan Cathy's $5 million donation to the Family Research Council - it's a preposterous comparison!
Republicans pioneered the shady dealings of "dark money" and I'm ashamed to admit that Democrats have jumped on the bandwagon in an attempt to create an even playing field. Super PACs must disclose their donors because they solely focus on politics. However, an unlimited contribution can be made via a 501(c)4 and remain anonymous since their primary purpose isn't politics. In turn said 501(c)4 can then funnel the money into a Super PAC as intended. This creates a scary loophole allowing individuals, special interest groups, corporations, and even foreign governments to anonymously donate funds that will eventually directly support a candidate. This is exactly what the FEC tried to safeguard against following the Watergate scandal and obliterates previous legal rulings set up to protect fiascos such as this. This loophole can be credited to Karl Rove with his Super PAC American Crossroads and consequent nonprofit Crossroads GPS.
No matter who one believes is the better candidate, or superior party, supporters on both sides should agree on one thing: the record-breaking projected $5.8 billion spending in the 2012 election is egregious and irresponsible.
Ashley E. Way
Parkersburg
