The political mayhem known as "dirty tricks" has again emerged in our nation's electoral process. The current iteration of this phenomenon was the subject of
a recent Chicago Tribune story. The article noted that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) purchased web domains identical with the names of Democratic members of the House of Representatives. The NRCC created content for these domains, including negative information about the congresspeople. The NRCC also put its hand out for a donation, often under the guise of financially supporting the Democratic representative.
The NRCC claimed its approach to political communication was a legitimate, useful form of expression. An NRCC spokesman, according to the
Trib's piece, will "continue generating the fake websites, saying the organization now owns 'hundreds of URLs that the Democrats chose not to purchase.'"
Unstated was the NRCC's commitment to transparency.
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