I generally pay little attention to local politics. I've moved around so much in my life, that I've never felt like they mattered to me. Thus, I hadn't really heard of any of the people in the title, other than DeFazio, before. Then a friend posted a link on Facebook to an article about DeFazio going after CTA (Concerned Taxpayers of America).
Apparently CTA paid for some tv ads that smeared DeFazio, and promoted Robinson. Either outright lies, or twisted truths, maybe even truths. The Treasurer of CTA answered his door and lied about who he was. DeFazio caught it on video, and now it's all over the net, and the left is talking about how horrible CTA is because they don't tell people where their money comes from. The left is also attempting to connect this to Robinson, and make him look like a bad guy for accepting the money.
First, the CTA thing. Jason Miller was an idiot for lying. He shouldn't have. He should have been totally honest. Because he lied, I don't trust CTA. That said, CTA has every right in the world to say what it wants to say, and to spend its money the way it wants to spend it. It's called Freedom of Speech, and it's the Law of the Land.
The lefts attempts to portray organizations like CTA as evil for not disclosing their money sources, is nothing more than an attempt to silence opposing forces. To be blunt, a political donation is essentially saying who you will vote for. Keeping donators secret is essentially the same as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_ballot">Secret Ballot</a>. We use secret ballots in the USA to ensure our freedom, and it is needed. There are people who have been <a href="http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=%2Fwww%2Fstory%2F10-13-2008%2F0004903073&EDATE#">physically attacked</a> for speaking their views.
Now, I am sure that 95% of the left would decry violence wholeheartedly, but there's always that small percentage of radical people who are willing to resort to violence (on all sides, btw.) If I made a donation to a political party/campaign, I would be leery of letting everyone know that I did. Especially if I had a family. To force me to reveal myself would put a serious chill on my freedom of speech. If I want people to know my views, it should be my choice to speak out. That's called <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/liberty">Liberty</a>.
As a side note, DeFazio voted for the <a href="/node/80">DISCLOSE Act</a>, something I've posted about before. That act is designed to do exactly what the left is trying to do with CTA and Robinson.
Ok, next I want to point out the two edged sword of smearing people. Namely the fact that DeFazio and the Lefts smear campaign against Robinson brought him to my attention. A friend of my friend posted a link on Facebook to a video from <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39449958#39449958">MSNBC</a> about the whole thing. My friend commented on it pointing out Robinson's <a href="http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com">Homeschool Curriculum</a>. From his comment, I assume my friend doesn't like Robinson's views on education. I could be wrong though, I can't comment on the link since I'm not his friends friend.
The reason that caught my eye is that I was homeschooled K-12. Both my parents were public school teachers, (though Dad is now a pastor,) and they did not like the public school system at all. Reading what Robinson wrote on education, I was pleased to see that he shares many of the views I do. Essentially, that the public school system is broken and needs to be totally redone, preferably without the Federal Government's involvement.
From that site, I went to <a href="http://www.artrobinsonforcongress.com/ArtRobinsonOnTheIssuesDetails.html">Robinson's campaign site</a>. There I found that he pretty much has the same politcal views as I do. There's at least on thing I disagree on, but most of his views are spot on.
As an interesting comparison, DeFazio's campaign site doesn't have much to it. Pretty much just a bunch of headlines about him 'fighting' for us. I couldn't find anything on how he views various issues. On his <a href="http://www.defazio.house.gov">official House</a> site, he does have the info I was looking for.
Thus, DeFazio's attempts to discredit his opponent via insinuating that Robinson is accepting dirty money, helped me find a candidate that I am likely to vote for. Ah, gotta love politics.
So, remember that we have to be careful of our Liberty. Many people will do whatever they can to chip away at it little by little. And they will make it look, and sound, like they are protecting it. Don't take what people say for granted, look underneath the underneath, and find their real motivations.