I'm sure you understand slander, libel, and perjury. If I choose to say or publish something of those natures, nothing can stop me. I can, however, be made to suffer consequences or pay restitution. With a right to free speech, I'd have the unfettered ability to say anything I want with no consequences regardless of what I said or how I said it.
I can tell someone to go away from me. Leave me alone. How I say that can have some negative consequences. For instance, If I tell that person to go away using the vulgar vernacular version of, "Go engage in a self-gratifying activity utilizing your own bodily extremities and orifices," in a public place where foul language is prohibited, I can be charged with violating that statute. If I simply say, "Leave me alone. Go away!" I've said the same thing - and Congress can make no law abridging what I just said, therefore, no crime has been committed. What I said is fine. How I say it could be a problem.
Congress cannot pass a law telling me I cannot expose the finer proclivities or shortcomings of a particular politician, or express my own opinion of said politician, but it can pass law that might exclude the use of certain words I might like to use in that opinion or expose`.
Woody
