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First Amendment rights

Debate Versus Intimidate

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Political donors often prefer to remain anonymous.

It’s not just shyness. Anonymity can protect you from unscrupulous political opponents. The higher your profile — especially if you’re persuasive, or your story contradicts some treasured “narrative” — the higher your risk may be.

At Breitbart.com, Mike Flynn writes that “non-disclosure of donors” is a shield inherited from “the civil rights struggle, when the government sought to protect donors from intimidation by groups like the KKK.” Nowadays, sundry leftist groups and government officials seem to be the premier intimidators.

Character assassination is just one hazard. Flynn discusses what happened, for example, to cancer patient Bill Elliot and insurance broker Steven Tucker. Elliot spoke publicly about how his coverage had been dropped thanks to Obamacare. Tucker, who helped Elliott get a new policy, also talked to the media about the situation. In short order, both men got notices from the IRS of impending audits.

Then there are the assaults on businessmen like the Koch brothers and Frank VanderSloot (whose case I’ve talked about before). VanderSloot was targeted by the IRS, the Department of Labor and a U.S. Senate office soon after the 2012 Obama campaign published a hit list of “bad” political donors — i.e., major contributors to the Romney campaign.

In light of such realities, it’s fine that espousers of political causes are sometimes pseudonymous, and that donors to them are sometimes anonymous. Every law-abiding individual has an inalienable right to make of himself a harder target.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Photo by arbyreed used under a Creative Commons license.

3 replies on “Debate Versus Intimidate”

Right on Paul, and it is clear the blow back can be real and from both sides. Please note not only the (past and recent) use of the IRS by the persons in power in Washington, but also the actions recently uncovered in New Jersey which is replicated all the way down to local school boards.

As long as the government has economic or police power it will be used to maintain those in power, and discourage and/or harm their opponents. That, like free and voluntary exchange for mutual benefit, is part of the nature of humanity. Sadly the electorate, the true victims, has become so accustomed to it that it is now considered standard operating procedure, with those actually benefiting from it always shielded a false, but “plausible” denial, as well as a wink and a nod.

My dream is truly independent judiciary and criminal prosecution as well as a potential of civil recovery of all of the target’s costs, including personal time and defense counsel, to be paid by the offending governmental employee PERSONALLY.

Governmental or sovereign immunity is a theory and policy which needs re-visitation.

Let’s not forget that the KKK was often led by duly elected officials, such as former senator Robert Byrd, who was a Grand Wizard in the KKK, and a life long member of the racist, I mean, Democratic party.

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