The American Debate: Our leaders, not Colbert, made the mockery

Mark Twain once remarked, "Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place."

No dose of humor could leave us feeling sunny about a slimy Republican campaign that's awash in unprecedented cash, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that has rendered the process farcical. But Twain rightfully suggests it's mentally healthy to laugh at life's idiocies, that humor can tamp down irritations if we view them through the prism of farce.

Which is why Stephen Colbert, a latter-day Twain and mock presidential candidate, is so valuable these days. Absurdism may be the only effective way to expose the absurdities of campaign finance laws. The laws have become so ludicrous that they require a satirist to unpack them in the pursuit of truth (or, as he calls it, "truthiness").

Colbert owes the existence of his Super PAC - which is actually not his; it's called The Definitely Not Coordinated with Stephen Colbert Super PAC - to the 2010 high court decision that licensed the flood of endless (and often anonymous) big money into presidential campaigns. The court said the money could be pumped unchecked into "independent" groups - Super PACs - as long as they don't coordinate with candidates. The court insisted that Super PAC donations "do not give rise to corruption, or the appearance of corruption."

How naive. For months, the airwaves in early primary states have been corrupted by tens of millions of dollars worth of lies, in 30-second salvos, by groups such as Restore Our Future (a pro-Romney PAC) and Winning Our Future (a pro-Gingrich PAC). Winning is airing a Florida ad calling Romney "the inventor of government-run health care," which is nuts, because the Massachusetts plan is not government-run.

Winning is run by close Gingrich allies, just as Restore is run by close Romney allies. They don't need to "coordinate," because they know what the candidates want. Indeed, Gingrich's candidacy might well be on fumes today if not for Winning. And Winning would be on fumes if not for one Vegas mogul (Newt pal Sheldon Adelson) who's racking up record profits from his Macao casino. The satire writes itself.