Paid Protestors Bussed In

PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT FOR LEFTISTS, By Frank Vernuccio  12/12/16

There are profound questions about a number of vital undercurrents in American politics that have been thoroughly avoided by the popular media and political scientists. 

However, the bizarre protests following the election of Donald Trump have uncovered and highlighted these fault lines to such a degree that an open examination of them can no longer be avoided.

Since 1971, increasingly stringent federal, state and local laws have been imposed—sometimes to the detriment of First Amendment rights—on the funding of political campaigns.

According to a CATO  study,“efforts over the past 25 years to reform campaign finance, primarily by limiting contributions to and spending by campaigns, have been exceptionally popular.”

There have been attempts, mostly by Left Wing interests, to go even further, and regulate political speech on the internet, and even in newsrooms. One example comes from Wisconsin. According to The Wall Street Journal “Democrats plan to introduce a bill…that would block candidates from coordinating with supposedly independent groups and regulate so-called “issue ads” in the run-up to an election.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled such coordination was protected by the First Amendment…Federal law defines “electioneering communications” as any broadcast, cable or satellite communication that refers to a clearly identified candidate for federal office 30 days before a primary or 60 days before the general election, and is targeted to the relevant electorate.”

For all the enthusiasm of the Left to regulate free speech and other activities related to politics, however, there is an area which they not only ignore, but condone and indeed practice with vigor: the funding, assistance and advocacy of extremist positions by shadowy-funded organizations.

This has been revealed most clearly in the aftermath of the 2016 elections.  There is little doubt that the results were the direct antithesis of what Progressives hoped, combining the surprise victory of Donald Trump with the somewhat unexpected retention of the Senate (as well as the House of Representatives) by the GOP.

News reports have described the near-hysterical response by leftists, involving mass protests featuring violence against property and innocent bystanders in a number of cites,  as “spontaneous.” In fact, they are anything but. Zero Hedge  reports that “contrary to USA Today’s claims that the anti-Trump protests across the nation are “spontaneous, involving people from all walks of life”, according to Wikileaks documents at least two of the people profiled by USA Today have a history of being professional agitators for the Democratic party, whose task is to stir up popular protests and – in extreme cases – unleash rioting, such as the following clip showing the latest day of violent protests in Portland revealed.

As our reader notes, ‘I have a video of 5 city blocks on the West side of Chicago lined with busses from Wisconsin (Badger Bus Lines) bringing in protestors. The Sears tower is visible in the background.’  The video was taken at 3:30pm on South Canal Street in Chicago on Saturday. As our reader points out, hundreds of the participants that took part in the downtown Chicago protests from November 12 were bused in using these vehicles. Other arrived by train.”

KGW, an NBC affiliate in Portland, Oregon reports that “More than 70 percent of the 112 anti-Trump protesters arrested in Portland didn’t vote in Oregon, according to state election records. The other approximately 30 percent did cast a ballot in Oregon or in another state.”

Attempts to derail, first, Trump’s candidacy, and currently, his presidency, have been neither spontaneous nor the stuff of general adversarial politics.  Rather, they have been well funded “under the radar” by at least one billionaire backer, and assisted by academics who may have broken rules regarding the nonpartisan use of their teaching positions as well as regulations barring the use of their underage students for partisan purposes, as well as safety guidelines prohibiting the transportation of students without parental permission.

The Gateway Pundit found that an extreme leftist organization entitled Washington CAN! Has been paying people to protest, hiring individuals via ads on Craigslist.

The Daily Caller  found that “A left-wing charity organization with unknown sources of money is providing the funding for protests around the country…The Progress Unity Fund is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization — the same classification as the Red Cross.

The group’s mission is to ‘provide a progressive alternative to mainstream charities,’ according to its IRS filings. The fund provides the financial backing for Act Now To Stop War & End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition, a left-wing activist group that began organizing “emergency protests” immediately after Trump’s election. Cities where ANSWER held protests included: Chicago, New York, DC and San Francisco, among others.”

While the left opposes support from legitimate citizens organizations to the candidates of their choice, questionable groups that fund Progressive causes are wholly ignored. Human Events  notes that George Soros “has given more than $7 billion to a who’s who of left-wing groups.  This partial list of recipients of Soros’ money says it all: ACORN, Apollo Alliance, National Council of La Raza, Tides Foundation” and others.

In the case of Donald Trump, who has opposed attempts to undercut U.S. law and financial interests through international treaties a key part of his political message, the motivations for his opponents’ financing of the demonstrations are clear. Human Events quotes him as stressing that

“Insofar as there are collective interests that transcend state boundaries, the sovereignty of states must be subordinated to international law and international institutions.” Soro’s MoveOn.org is said to play a key part in the riots. Some individuals at these pre-planned and well financed “demonstrations” have even called for the assassination of Trump and Vice President-elect Pence.

While the regulation of political activity raises serious Constitutional questions, if it is to be done at all, it should be done fairly. The mass funding of extremist activities by George Soros and other billionaires has not been subjected to the same rules as other activities on the opposite side of the political divide.

Further, when the net focus of the activities of leftist organizations is to clearly undercut free elections and the rule of law, as clearly the current demonstrations against the Trump victory do, then appropriate legal scrutiny and action must be undertaken.

Originally published on New York Analysis of Policy and Government.

http://affluentinvestor.com/2016/12/preferential-treatment-leftists/