ALTERNET, January 13, 2012 -- Stephen Colbert has once again used his comedic genius to expose the absurdity of politics, all the while testing just how far a comedian can make it in an election that is just as much a circus as the Colbert Report.
After a Public Policy Polling revealed that Colbert had was ahead of Jon Huntsman in South Carolina, Colbert suggestively contemplated running for president on Wednesday. To do so, however, Colbert faced a challenge: What to do with his Super PAC? On Thursday, former Federal Elections Commission (FEC) Chairman Trevor Potter was on the show to help him sort through the messy details of PAC ownership, and reveal to Colbert's mass audience just how incredibly obsolete our campaign financing laws are.
Potter explained to Colbert that he cannot keep his beloved Super PAC and run for president, but could quite easily "have it run by someone else," so long as he and the other person "would not be coordinating...in terms of PAC ad strategy."
"I don't even want to create the appearance of electoral skullduggory," said Colbert," But I think there may be a guy. Jon?"
Stewart took the stage and asked whether being business partners would be a problem, but Potter assured them that "being business partners does not count as coordination, legally," and he unveiled the lone document that must be filed to complete PAC ownership transformation.
The following hilarious look into the easy corruption of PACs pursued:
"Can I run ads supporting Stephen Colbert, who I believe in really deeply, perhaps attacking his potential opponents?" asked Stewart.
"Yes, you can, as long as you do not coordinate," said Potter.
"Can I legally hire Stephen's current Super PAC staff to produce these ads that will be in no way coordinated with Stephen?"
"Yes, as long as they have no knowledge Stephen's plans."
"Well, that's easy. i don't know what the hell I'm doing," said Colbert, who concluded that he would just have to talk about his plans on the Colbert Report, and take the risk that Stewart might watch it.
After the two linked hands to allow the bodily transformation of the Super PAC from Colbert to Stewart, "The Definitely Not Coordinated With Stephen Colbert Super Pac" was born. And Colbert announced his investigation into becoming "President of the United States of South Carolina."
"God bless Citizens United," said Colbert at the show's close.
Posted By: Richard Kigel
Saturday, January 14th 2012 at 10:14AM
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