I don’t agree. I don’t think you understand what a political act is.
I'm using your own words here, in lightness...to make a point...not to be insulting.
I used to advise folks--before ever using a dictionary to make their point--to find at least five other
dictionary definitions, that establish that to be the prevailing view...and not an outlier, or,
in the fallacy world: a "converse accident."
The Merriam-Webster blurb you posted struck me as inaccurate, and a quick google search on
"political action" found virtually zero (never mind five) dictionary definitions that implied "design."
Not that it necessarily matters: The OP claims "debunking is, at times, political,"
(it isn't a definition of "political action") and I took this to mean that sometimes unearthing facts
or correcting the record can significantly affect a political situation. Which seems obvious.
If prominent scientist Jane Smith
(who, for the purposes of this example, practically lives in her lab & knows/cares almost nothing of politics)
publishes solid research that demolishes some old misconceptions about transmissibility of disease...
that could decimate the chances of a politician who has made fear of disease from immigrants
the very cornerstone of his candidacy. Her debunking has indisputably "political" ramifications
of which she is not even aware, never mind "designing."
In other words, I don't see how a semantic turn helps us with the concept in the OP.
Especially when the one source cited does not seem to be well established.