Liberals fond of regulating and restricting political speech have come out of the woodwork to attack Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for his speech last week warning of their threats to First Amendment. From Fred Wertheimer, to former DCCC chair Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Daily Kos, Robert Reich, Ed Schultz and Norm Ornstein (who recently wrote a book accusing Republicans and tea partiers of being what’s really wrong with Washington). Most of the criticism has been about their desire for disclosure, completely ignoring Leader McConnell’s point that “if disclosure is forced upon some but not all, it’s not an act of good government, it’s a political weapon.” He explained that liberals’ preferred policies amount to “an effort by the government itself to expose its critics to harassment and intimidation, either by government authorities or through third-party allies.”

Yet reports this week have shown liberals to be quite hypocritical when it comes to their bleats for disclosure. Writing for the Heritage Foundation’s blog, Lachlan Markay observes, “President Obama invoked executive privilege to prevent further congressional oversight of the Justice Department’s Fast and Furious operation on the same day it bemoaned the supposed lack of transparency among some conservative non-profits. Jim Messina, Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, touted efforts on the campaign’s website to get Crossroads GPS, a conservative super PAC, to disclose its donors. But while Messina was hyping political transparency, Obama himself was ensuring the opacity of one of his Justice Department’s most controversial programs. On Wednesday morning, the president opted to stonewall the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s efforts to obtain documents related to Operation Fast and Furious, which facilitated the transportation of thousands of firearms across the southern border, where they were handed off to Mexican drug cartels with the foreknowledge of some top DOJ officials.”

Meanwhile, the Washington Free Beacon reports, “Liberal protesters funded by secretive, big money non-profits marched to the headquarters of a conservative super PAC on Wednesday to protest the influence of secretive big money in politics. Starting from a downtown Hilton in Washington, D.C., protesters marched more than a mile in sweltering heat before arriving at the headquarters of American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, the political group cofounded by Republican strategist Karl Rove. The event was sponsored by such liberal groups as the Campaign for America’s Future, Rebuild the Dream, People for the American Way, Public Campaign, The Other 98%, Health Care for America Now, Alliance for Justice, Public Citizen, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).”

The Free Beacon points out, “Many of the groups sponsoring the rally engage in the same tactics they claim to deplore. . . . For example, the Campaign for America’s Future, which describes itself as ‘the strategy center for the progressive movement,’ does not disclose its donors. It could not be reached for comment. Billy Wimsatt, the partnerships director and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream, was unsure if his organization released its donors. When asked if he knew who funded the group, he said, ‘That’s not my job.’ Rebuild the Dream was co-founded by former Obama green jobs czar and 9/11 Truther Van Jones, with help from the liberal activist group MoveOn. The organization was not available for comment to disclose its donors. Jones’ other organization, Color of Change, does not reveal its sources of funding.”

In a very good piece discussing Leader McConnell’s speech for PJ Media, Heritage Foundation expert Hans von Spakovsky summarizes, “As a former commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, I have to say ‘amen’ to Sen. McConnell’s remarks.  The unprecedented attacks on political speech by ‘reform’ groups and mainstream media outlets have been unrelenting in the last three decades.  The so-called ‘reform’ laws passed by Congress with the approbation of the Washington Post and the New York Times to regulate the financing of federal campaigns have been complex, confusing pieces of legislation intended to protect incumbents and chill political speech.  Everyone who believes in the First Amendment and the fundamental rights protected by the Bill of Rights should unite to fight these deceptively-labeled ‘reform’ efforts. The First Amendment does not need to be reformed, just abided by.”

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