The Un-Democratic Left
I find the idea that the Federal Election Commission will make public your campaign donations repellent. If I want the world to know who I support politically, I will put up a yard sign, affix a bumper sticker or wear a button. It ought to be well known that I am a Christian by my kind deeds and good conduct. The fact that I am a Republican, or support Candidate A over Candidate B or a particular ballot initiative ought to be a private matter unless I choose to make it public.
But Tim, you object, do you want the rich to be able to buy politicians without public accountability? Dude, they already do. No matter how smart John McCain and Russ Feingold think they are, George Soros is that much smarter. If comrade Soros wants to put 10 million clams into screwing with an election, he will. The difference is that comrade Soros can afford to protect himself against those who find his politics repellent. While I know many conservatives who loathe this odious troll, I doubt there are any who would do more to him than a pie in the face. Even that is really not our style.
Not so with the left. The left, for whatever reason, seems to think they are entitled to winning by any means necessary. If they lose, they feel entitled to engage in misbehavior from general boorishness to outright threats, intimidation and anarchy.
Proposition 8 in California is a textbook example of how otherwise decent people are placed into hazard. Prop 8 is a constitutional amendment stating that a legal marriage is between one man and one woman. Without debating the specific merits of the issue, it is clear that a majority of Californians are not yet ready to embrace the left’s view of marriage.
Fair enough, the nation is not yet ready to embrace my view on abortion, either. I don’t like Roe vs. Wade any more than those who support gay marriage like Prop 8 (though to be fair, at least Californians had a chance to vote). While I don’t like Roe vs. Wade, I believe the task before me is to persuade my fellow citizens to ask and expect change from the elected officials. A laborious task, inevitably frustrating, but democracy ought not be mob rule.
The left feels that such long, difficult struggle is beneath them. Instead, they have published this handy map giving the names and locations of people who made donations to get Proposition 8 on the ballot. The existence of this map has but one purpose, and that is to facilitate exacting a price from private citizens for offering their support on an issue where decent people can disagree.
In Barack Obama, the Left has their champion in charge. His support of “Card Check” union organizing shows contempt for democratic processes. We can expect a lot more like this, I fear.
