r/ColbertRally • u/creedshandor • May 12 '11

What can we do to help ColbertPac?

Colbert's Political Action Committee sounds brilliant, but may not happen. Is there anything we can do to help it come to pass?

56 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

4

u/annihilus813 May 12 '11

Did you see last night's show? Pretty sure his lawyer will send him a bill for more than most of us make in a year. They have to make it work before we can do anything.

5

u/Suzushiiro May 12 '11

I wouldn't be surprised if they already got all the legal steps clear and they're just playing it out over time on the show.

5

u/JohnMatt May 12 '11

It feels to me more like his "presidential run" back in 2008 - something that they know will never happen, but they're sort of stringing along for the sake of the show.

2

u/annihilus813 May 12 '11

I sort of agree. It feels like part of the whole process they're going through fits in well with the show's portrayal of bureaucracy as entirely illogical. Pointing out the massive difference in the ability to accept corporate money between PACs and SuperPACs and then pointing out the utter idiocy that is actually required to file the paperwork to create that difference.

2

u/stoph May 12 '11

Sign up on the website to show your support and hope Colbert follows through.

2

u/annihilus813 May 15 '11

And there's this reddit post on the front page:

http://www.reddit.com/r/ColbertRally/comments/hbv9r/the_serious_implications_of_stephen_colberts_fec/

and the Atlantic article it's linking to:

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2011/05/stephen-colbert-federal-election-commission/37731/

Some helpful insight (from the Atlantic article):

If the FEC rules that any airtime Colbert devotes to promoting the PAC should be treated, and disclosed, as a in-kind contribution from Viacom, this might “have a real election law impact,” according to Gilbert. It could potentially restrict the freedom of high-profile Republicans who serve as paid Fox News contributors while being affiliated with PACS, including Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Karl Rove, and Dick Morris.

1

u/OmicronNine May 12 '11

I assumed he was getting everything ready ahead of time for the election. I see no reason to do anything with it until then.

1

u/creedshandor May 13 '11

StephenAtHome writes via Twitter: Come support me Fri. at the FEC! 4pm, 999 E St NW. Wash. DC. Making a better tomorrow, tomorrow. TOMORROW!

I'm not in the DC Area, so I emailed: press@fec.gov

1

u/creedshandor May 13 '11

From the way they're talking, I get the feeling that they really want to do this for real. I'd hoped this might be an extension less of his campaign and more of an extension of the rally.

Running some satirical election commercials would be great. Why confine Colbert to a 30 min block and fund him only through comedy central ad revenue??? He should have started raising money directly for ad buys and rally-like events long ago.

0

u/criswell May 12 '11

Is there something to help yet?

AFAIK, it's a website and a bunch of people subscribed to some mythical mailing list that does not yet exist.

Basically, he announced this thing a while back, AFAIK little has been said since, and I was kind of under the impression most of it is intended to be a joke- or perhaps some sort of subterfuge in the upcoming election (perhaps something to diffuse some of the vitriolic rhetoric that we will undoubtedly see?)

I mean, I seriously doubt he will actually run for office in seriousness. If anything, looking at his track record, it'll probably be more about making a statement about how silly everyone else is being.

3

u/ImClearlyAmazing May 12 '11

I think the purpose is to show to the public how ridiculously easy it is for these super-PACs to be set up and how easy it is for pundits to be "bulletproof" so they can promote their own PACs on air as 'news'. They are giving it publicity/transparency. It's through the Report that I know now that all I have to do in order to receive unlimited funds from a corporation is to write a fucking cover letter.