SELECTED FREEDOM OF SPEECH
There is no doubt what the founding fathers had in mind when they added the freedom of speech clause to the First Amendment.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia observed a number of actions by the court in the last four years. Based on free speech grounds, it struck down restrictions against tobacco advertising, virtual child pornography, sexually explicit cable programming and even illegally intercepted communications. So it’s inconceivable – in fact, insane -- that the same court placed restrictions on the very speech the framers of the Constitution had intended to protect: criticism of the government.
The founders were not looking ahead to protecting Nike shoe ads or Hustler magazine’s photos. Although the Bill of Rights do just that. The First Amendment gave citizens a right unheard of at any other time or place in mankind: a Constitutional guarantee that the people could criticize their government without fear of punishment. Doing so anywhere else in the world at that time would have brought imprisonment or death.
Last December 10th, five Supreme Court Justices sided with incumbent politicians in Congress who wrote a law that strips away the most fundamental right that any government has ever given to any man. Instead of upholding the Constitution, Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, O’Connor, Souter and Stevens, allowed a law to stand that makes it a criminal offense to criticize members of Congress during certain periods before elections.
If there’s ever a time for any American to be a single issue voter, then this is it. Censored speech knows no race, no color, no creed, or no religion. Everyone loses – except incumbent politicians.
Next fall, before the November elections, I will post on my website the name of every single member of Congress who voted for the McCain-Feingold bill, which these five justices recently upheld. This will remind each of you on how to vote if you want to protect the rights of this and future generations
That’s the Point.