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Conservative columnist George F. Will was one of the first columnists to join the Washington Post Writers group, and began writing for Newsweek two...
Read more about George F. Will.
Conservative columnist George F. Will was one of the first columnists to join the Washington Post Writers group, and began writing for Newsweek two...
Read more about George F. Will.
Disclosure As Liberal Coercion
George F. Will
SEATTLE -- Conservatives here, a droll minority, say that under this
city's quota system, when a conservative enters the city, one already
here is required to leave. They also say Washington is actually two
states: There is what you can see from atop this city's Space Needle
-- meaning, this liberal city -- and there is everything else,
extending to the Oregon, Idaho and Canadian borders.
On Tuesday, Washington residents will vote in a referendum that has national significance because of a controversy about disclosing the names and addresses of those who signed petitions to trigger the referendum. Disclosure threatens the right to privacy, which is under assault by a spreading movement -- call it thuggish liberalism -- that uses intimidation to suppress political participation.
The referendum is on a new state law that some say establishes same-sex marriage. This is a matter about which people differ. What is, however, unambiguously wrong is the attempt by some supporters of the law to force disclosure of the names and addresses of the 138,000 people who signed the petition bringing about the referendum. This can have no other purpose than to make it possible to harass those signers.
Those favoring disclosure say it is mandatory under the state's Public Records Act. If so, that act is unconstitutional.
In the 1950s, Alabama tried to compel the NAACP to disclose its membership list. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that disclosure would burden the freedoms of expression and association that the First Amendment protects.
Advocates of compelled disclosure predictably invoke Louis Brandeis' axiom that sunlight is the best disinfectant. But what is the supposed infection?
The Supreme Court has held that disclosure requirements serve three government interests: They provide information about the flow of political money, they deter corruption and avoid the appearance thereof by revealing large contributions, and they facilitate enforcement of contribution limits. These pertain only to financial information in candidate elections. These cannot justify compelled disclosures regarding referendums because referendums raise no issues of officials' future performance in office -- being corruptly responsive to financial contributors. The only relevant information about referendums is in the text of the propositions.
In 1973, Washington's secretary of state ruled that signing an initiative or referendum petition is "a form of voting" and violating voters' privacy could have adverse "political ramifications" for those signing. In 2009, some advocates of disclosure plan to put signers' names on the Internet in order to force "uncomfortable" conversations.
Larry Stickney, a social conservative and president of the Washington Values Alliance, says disclosure of the identities of petition-signers will enable "ideological background checks" that will have a chilling effect on political participation. He frequently encounters people who flinch from involvement with the referendum when they learn that disclosure of their involvement is possible. He has received abusive e-mails and late-night telephone calls, and has seen a stranger on his front lawn taking pictures of his house.
The Wall Street Journal's John Fund reports that some Californians who gave financial support to last year's successful campaign for Proposition 8 -- it declared marriage to be only between a man and a woman -- subsequently suffered significant harm. For example, the director of the Los Angeles Film Festival, who contributed $1,500, was forced to resign. So was the manager of a fashionable Los Angeles restaurant who contributed just $100.
Charles Bouley, a gay columnist, has honorably protested such bullying. He says people "have the right to be wrong," and reminds gay activists: "Even Barack Obama said marriage was between a man and a woman at a time when we needed his voice on our side on equality. He let us down, too, remember, and many of you still gave him a job."
Obama's home phone number (202-456-1414) and address are known, but it is hard to harass someone surrounded by Secret Service protection. Less-insulated Americans are vulnerable. Currently, liberals enthralled by intimidation are trying to abolish secret ballots in unionization votes. And when Humana, the private health insurance provider, recently warned its customers about some provisions of Congress' health care legislation, the Obama administration's reaction was essentially a quote from a Ring Lardner short story: "Shut up, he explained."
It is time to speak up about thuggish liberalism, especially when it tries to suppress participation in referendums, which often involve contentious issues. The Supreme Court has blocked disclosure of the 138,000 names. It should block the spreading infection of using disclosure as a tool of liberal coercion.
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George Will's e-mail address is georgewill@washpost.com
Copyright 2009 Washington Post Writers Group
This news arrived on: 11/01/2009
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Posted Comments:
11-02-2009 21:34
Eileen wrote:
transparency
AFTER the Prop 8 vote in CA, it became known who had financed the petition drive, political ads, and media blitz - UTAH! Without that outside influence, how would the vote in CA have gone down? We don't know and the results legitimacy is now in question. So, applying that to the WA situation, it is perfectly rational to ask BEFORE it's put to a vote just WHO is behind the proposed legislation. Transparency; its good for the political soul.
11-01-2009 23:20
JCE wrote:
There is no sense in even wanting to reveal names on a petition. There should perhaps be thought given to organizations who give huge amount of money for a cause. And there definitely needs to public, easy access, probably on Cspan, of who is proposing what bill and amendment, and how all congress votes on it. old cowboy is right. As far as JDB, he refuses to give God credit for having enough wisdom to build in safeguards to keep us from overpopulation, and its attendant dangers. That is the problem with faith, for some, it rules out sense, logic, truth, or scientific fact when it appears to go against the faith. So he is in effect, being very disrespectful of God, and doing his thinking for him. And erroneously as well.
11-01-2009 19:26
old cowboy wrote:
Petition disclosure
If anyone really wanted to harass those who sign petitions all they would have to do is look at the petition often posted around communities they could see all of the names and addresses they could want. Sounds like another case of Mr. Will trumping up another "left wing conspiracy" to me.
11-01-2009 17:00
JDB wrote:
Right and Ability
The fact is they don't have the ability to be right, so they are wrong. They don't have the right to be wrong, but they are born with the ability. When they get their minds right, they may direct their abilities properly. It is called the "reproductive system" for a reason. If man had wanted it to be known as the "hedonistic sex system" it would probably be called that. As previously stated, "Without a correct perception of purpose, reason loses meaning."
11-01-2009 10:06
Catharyne Stauffer wrote:
There is a very real and very embarrassing situation going on in British Columbia right now over the Olympics that is a prime example of Canadian Liberal "thuggish liberalism".
How it started was some very environmental sensitive areas were slated for development for the Olympics and the people of that area tried to voice their concerns and were shut down by the BC liberals who are in power there . Other concerns were the costs that each resident of BC would be incurring after the games .
The B.C. Liberals told the students and people they could not voice any of their negative based thoughts or concerns to anyone within a certain radius of the Olympics etc etc etc
Well this enraged many people and the protests and demonstrations certainly can attest to how they feel about being treated like that .
Unfortunately there is always a certain radical group of people that are attracted to such conflicts and they are hooligans to say the least, which immediately calls into question the validity of the original concerns by the general public .
The Canadian Liberals in BC took this very draconian stance . Instead of handling it with a degree of compassion intelligence where everyone sat down and discussed these issues rationally they tried to bully and silence people . But often when there is big money involved many eyes and ears shut . Not to mention , the opportunity for these politicians to ride the coattails of the Olympics as it becomes the World's focus .
As a Canadian , I am absolutely mortified by the total lack of decorum compassion and intelligence exhibited by both sides of this conflict .
How it started was some very environmental sensitive areas were slated for development for the Olympics and the people of that area tried to voice their concerns and were shut down by the BC liberals who are in power there . Other concerns were the costs that each resident of BC would be incurring after the games .
The B.C. Liberals told the students and people they could not voice any of their negative based thoughts or concerns to anyone within a certain radius of the Olympics etc etc etc
Well this enraged many people and the protests and demonstrations certainly can attest to how they feel about being treated like that .
Unfortunately there is always a certain radical group of people that are attracted to such conflicts and they are hooligans to say the least, which immediately calls into question the validity of the original concerns by the general public .
The Canadian Liberals in BC took this very draconian stance . Instead of handling it with a degree of compassion intelligence where everyone sat down and discussed these issues rationally they tried to bully and silence people . But often when there is big money involved many eyes and ears shut . Not to mention , the opportunity for these politicians to ride the coattails of the Olympics as it becomes the World's focus .
As a Canadian , I am absolutely mortified by the total lack of decorum compassion and intelligence exhibited by both sides of this conflict .
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