Bill Ritter’s Campaign Director Smears Opponents

Governor Bill Ritter’s Campaign Director David Kenney today smeared participants of local tea parties as “rabidly anti-government.” The statement was part of a fund-raising letter sent by e-mail.

Kenney’s dishonest and vicious smear campaign, which likens practitioners of First Amendment rights to diseased dogs, ignores the obvious fact that the overwhelming majority of tea party participants advocate government that protects people’s rights and is limited in scope by Constitutional law.

See, for example, my coverage of the April 15 Tea Party in Denver, the July 4 Tea Party in Arvada, and the August 7 health rally in Longmont.

If Kenney wishes to find real examples of people who flout the rules of just government, he need look no further than the former Democratic campaigner arrested for vandalizing Democratic headquarters. If Kenney wishes to condemn some as “anti-government,” he should look to criminals and anarchists, not peaceful protesters who advocate just government.

Apparently Kenney chooses to lie about tea party participants because he does not wish to engage their arguments.

Kenney also wishes to suggest that the only possible alternative to Ritter’s leftist tax-and-spend policies of economic controls and corporate welfare is to be “anti-government.” In fact, the proper alternative is to advocate a government that protects individual rights, including rights to property and voluntary exchange.

Following is the letter I sent in reply:

Dear Mr. Kenney,

Today you smeared me, a participant in various tea parties, as “rabidly anti-government.”

In fact, I advocate government that protects individual rights, and I do not appreciate the governor’s campaign staff smearing me for practicing my First Amendment rights.

I request that you retract your vicious and libelous statement and apologize for it.

Sincerely,
Ari Armstrong