The Ethics Committee seeks to ban “dark money” from Santa Clara City elections which is a laudable goal though impossible to achieve as long as Citizens United is allowed to stand as unchallenged. As horrific as slavery was, it remained the law of the land until Lincoln masterfully seized the day and led the fight to abolish it under the 13th Amendment. I know that some Councilmembers are bright enough to understand this, though the subtleties of simple math and logic often escapes others. The presence of dark money will continue until basic understanding of how to root it out is appreciated. Ignorant podcasters and fake news publishers allow dark money to flourish, just as all evil flourishes when ignorance is the rule of the day.