Politics is the art of lying, but sometimes that art comes off more like a child's messy finger-paint splatter. An occasionally, that child is mystifyingly wealthy.

For example, the eccentric case of Raynard Jackson and "Black Americans for a Better Future," a SuperPAC that seems to be funded exclusively by white men for the purpose of financially supporting a single consultant.

It was two investigative reporters — Derek Willis of ProPublica and Dave Levinthal of Public Integrity — who first noticed something fishy with BAfaBF. That caught the attention of The Intercept, which did a little more digging and found that nearly all of the money for this "Black Americans" group ($400,000 of its $417,250) comes from one white guy, Robert Mercer, "a computer programmer and hedge fund manager in New York," as Bloomberg describes him.

Mercer is just eccentric among many in this story. He avoids the spotlight, and he's fixated on the gold standard, according to a Bloomberg profile that also reveals that a coworker recalls him saying he's never had a nightmare. He shadow-supports various Republicans with his own ad buys during campaigns, sometimes to the befuddlement of those candidates he's supporting. He's a big fan of Ted Cruz, dropping $11 million so far for his election effort. Other financial beneficiaries, according to those who've dug into Mercer's past: the website Breitbart; a conference organized by a doctor who believes that the government is complicit in mass shootings; a retired heart surgeon who says that AIDS is invented by the government; and a man in Oregon who collects pipe organs and vials of urine for unknown medical purposes.

Mercer lives in a mansion called "Owl's Nest" and on a yacht named "Sea Owl." In his mansion, reportedly, is a $2.7 million model train set. He once threw a party dressed as General MacArthur. Ted Cruz came, dressed as Winston Churchill. This was not a Halloween party. It was a Christmas party. What World War II military figure will YOU be dressing as next year for Christmas?

I was trying to think who Mercer reminds me of, and I think it might just be that he just feels like a secondary character from an as-yet unmade Coen Brothers movie, who exists as a plot device to get a bunch of wacky characters together.

Speaking of wacky characters, the bulk of BAfaBF's money has gone to one person: Raynard Jackson. There's not a ton of information about him online, but I did find a Wikipedia entry about him that sounds like the kind of Wikipedia entry someone was paid to write. The entry brags about Jackson's shining career as a political consultant, PR operative, and cable news talking head. But on the Wikipedia entry's talk page, the top message is, "my name is Raynard and i am trying 2 get my profile listed here and have NO idea why they won't publishe it....can someone help me?"

Below that, an unsigned commenter writes, "Raynard 'the retard' Jackson is a self promoting ass. He plays the race card and attempts to publicly pressure politicians to meet with them and then claim false association or embellishes the actual relationship. His wiki profile is just another pompoutude to self perpetuate/promote his already inflated ego and illusions of grandeur. Admit it Ray Nard, you know it's true."

Jackson seems to be a free-market kind of fellow, advocating for "business interests with the least amount of interference from the government." He also dislikes Obama's "relentless pandering to homosexuals."

For what it's worth, Jackson is, in fact, black; and he's organized at least one lunch to talk to other black Republicans. He's also written that black women have let black men down, and so black men now "need" white women like Ann Coulter.

Jackson is drawing a salary of $155,000 from BAfaBF, according to The Intercept's estimate. Money well spent.