Vote for those who denounce ‘dark-money’ donations

January 2020 will be the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that invited dark money into our political system based on the notion that money is speech.

Dark money-fueled Super PACS are a significant source of the most deceitful and inflammatory language that finds its way into our elections, and most of the time the source of that money now is hidden. The Citizens United “money is speech” defense is based on the First Amendment free speech clause, but in a landmark 1919 Supreme Court case, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote that you can’t falsely shout “fire” in a crowded theater just to watch people’s reaction. The same exception applies, even if you hide behind a curtain in the theater as you yell.

We shouldn’t allow dark money to hide behind the curtain and launch unchecked conspiracy theories into our elections without any accountability. Vote for candidates who denounce the idea of dark money in politics at every level and insist that every donor and every company who contributes to any campaign be identifiable. Vincent Lynott Upper Macungie Township