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Hypersyllogistic: Partisanship Rehab Hypersyllogistic Home About Archives Writings Links Photos Blogs Forums  syl·lo·gism: a subtle or crafty argument; deductive reasoning Latest Posts The most recent messages on the Hypersyllogistic Forums: Fox Fixation (Yoda)Stop the invasion (Rorschach)To what are you listening? (Rorschach)On "Obama and Slavery" (Jason Vines)New web site: Writers for Liberty (Jason Vines)Excite: "Administration Pushes Regulatory Chnages" (Jason Vines)To what are you listening? (Sim)"Change Election" blathering (Bondo)To what are you listening? (Merlinus Ambrosius)"Change Election" blathering (Merlinus Ambrosius) Featured Sites  Latest Photo From Maryland: Added: Dec 09, 2007 at 08:04 PM CST   The Latest Screeds February 2, 2008 Say goodbye to political privacyJason Vines | 02/02/08, 11:01 AM CST   addthis_pub = 'SpaceGoat1701'; addthis_brand = 'Hypersyllogistic';   The Huffington Post has put up a feature it calls "Fundrace," which allows users to search by address, city, name, occupation, or employer to find out who has made campaign donations of $200 or more, of which federal law requires public disclosure. On a whim, I did a vanity search for my name, even though I had only contributed $100 to the Ron Paul campaign.
Of course, I wasn't in the results, but someone else who shares my name was: Jason Vines, vice president of corporate communications at Chrysler. Apparently, he has given $2,300 to the Mitt Romney campaign so far.
Whereas I find humorous the appalling political tastes of my alter ego, I also feel horror at the idea anyone on the Internet can discover the political activities of people who have donated as little as $200 to a candidate. The heretofore-mentioned federal campaign finance disclosure laws—which bear the understandable intent of revealing the machinations of special interests—have now facilitated violations of privacy for millions of Americans.
The Huffington Post admits such is its goal with its Fundrace mission statement:
Want to know if a celebrity is playing both sides of the fence? Whether that new guy you're seeing is actually a Republican or just dresses like one? If your boss maxed out at that fundraiser or got comped? Whether your neighbor's political involvement stops at that hideous lawn sign?
Thanks to efforts like those of the Huffington Post, one can no longer act politically on his beliefs—the sacred birthright of every American—and then keep his opinions private if he wishes to do so. Consequently, just for exercising his political liberties, he risks alienation from his friends, scorn of his family, termination of his employment, revenge from his candidate's opponents, and retribution of more severe character. I wish that were an exaggeration, but "Angry in America" from U.S. News & World Report describes the relationship-breaking, rage-inducing hatred that can ensue from different political views even amongst ordinary people.
Inevitably, common knowledge of who supports which politicians will discourage Americans from backing the candidates of their choice. In the name of political decency, federal disclosure laws are demolishing the foundation of our political culture, the First Amendment, as well as undermining the mechanism of our electoral process, the secret ballot. (Does no one remember why states implemented the secret ballot in the first place?)
Of course, Congress could increase the monetary threshold beyond which campaigns would have to report donations and their sources. That way, the privacy of normal Americans donating a few hundred dollars would be safe. But equality before the law, the bedrock of freedom itself, demands legislation embody neither special restriction nor special treatment for any group of Americans. So, wealthy citizens deserve as much protection of their constitutional rights as everyone else does.
To preserve Americans' privacy and liberty, then, campaign finance disclosure laws should be altogether eliminated. That would destroy "peeping tom" sites like Huffington Post's Fundrace, letting everyone feel safe in the knowledge their political beliefs won't land them in trouble. Hyperpoll
Should America have campaign finance disclosure laws?
Yes
No
I don't know
[View results]
Must-Read Links These pages are full of knowledge and/or humor, and checking them out would be worth your while. (Must-Read Links Archive) May 6, 2008 09:13 AM CDT: Writers for Liberty - A web site on which I work with a few libertarian friends of mine. We envision it as a libertarian answer to sites like Townhall.com and Huffington Post.March 30, 2008 08:15 AM CDT: The silver lining in the subprime implosion cloud - Aspiring homeowners and crafty entrepreneurs are finding ways to benefit from the current economic slump.February 24, 2008 08:59 AM CST: Elections in Putin's Russia - Republicanism, to Russia's President Vladamir Putin, means one party runs in elections.October 14, 2007 04:41 PM CDT: Man wakes up during own autopsy - I bet he'll need years of therapy...October 13, 2007 02:43 PM CDT: Sex and marriage with robots? - An artificial intelligence researcher from Holland thinks it'll happen this century.September 12, 2007 09:02 PM CDT: Fox News: Pravda for Americans - The German government would welcome the bombing of Iran? Sure; and George W. Bush has just won a public speaking contest!
How can anyone believe this garbage?August 26, 2007 05:33 PM CDT: Iraq reconstruction whistleblowers suppressed - This is the same government some people would like to have more control over economic life in the United States. To that notion, I must say, "No, thank you!"August 15, 2007 09:21 AM CDT: Bush the biggest taxer ever - Under President George W. Bush, the United States government is now collecting the most in taxes of any government in history, American or otherwise.July 8, 2007 11:07 PM CDT: New York City to bring Big Brother another step closer to reality - The Big Apple plans to install thousands of cameras around Lower Manhattan.08:55 PM CDT: Boeing debuts 787 airplane - The new Boeing 787 uses mostly plastic instead of metal. This will, according to Boeing, make it consume less fuel and wear more slowly.July 6, 2007 08:12 AM CDT: Greenland once verdant - Greenland, now buried under ice, hosted forests teeming with life a few hundred thousand years ago, when the planet was warmer than today.July 2, 2007 05:00 AM CDT: Russian opposition web sites under cyber attack - The Kremlin might be using hackers to thwart the online activities of dissenters to the Putin government.June 28, 2007 07:11 PM CDT: Robots with stun guns - Droid armies like in Star Wars are a bit closer to reality.June 24, 2007 06:33 PM CDT: Woman who thought she was citizen faces deportation for voting - Zoila Meyer, a woman who's lived in the United States since since she was one year old, thought she was a citizen. She received a shock when she was arrested for illegally voting, after she won election to city council in 2004.June 12, 2007 01:18 PM CDT: Iranian President Ahmadinejad mismanaging economy - Experts say President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is steering Iran's economy to ruin.June 11, 2007 09:47 AM CDT: Joseph Lieberman is insane - He advocates preparation for military conflict with Iran.June 4, 2007 12:33 PM CDT: Torture makes its perpetrators suffer, too - The Washington Post examines the lives of American interrogators after the "War on Terror."12:23 PM CDT: Michael Moore distorts health care issues in Sicko - American health care isn't as bad, and socialist health care isn't as good, as Moore claims they are.June 3, 2007 05:23 PM CDT: Cold War: Part Deux? - This seems almost like something from a Simpsons episode rather than real life.June 2, 2007 05:14 PM CDT: Capitalism shocks Polish man - A Polish man who fell into a coma in 1988, when Communism dominated his country, awakes to find a new world of capitalist plenty.12:31 AM CDT: Think gas prices are high? - They actually take less out of your wallet, as a percentage thereof, than they used to do.May 30, 2007 09:31 AM CDT: Giuliani is not the great moderate hope - Instead, he would abuse executive power more than Bush would dream of doing.May 25, 2007 06:22 PM CDT: "Ten Myths About the Bush Tax Cuts" - The tax cuts were actually one of the few good things about the presidency of George W. Bush. If you wonder why, read this page.May 19, 2007 07:00 AM CDT: Don't dismiss Ron Paul's 9/11 remarks - Paul's pronouncement of "blowback" as one cause of 9/11 deserves rational consideration, for it has logical and historical justification.May 9, 2007 10:35 AM CDT: Pelosi growing a spine? - She has indicated the Democrats are considering suing Bush if he issues a signing statement to dodge provisions of an Iraq spending bill he doesn't like. |
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