tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2531982430987180292024-03-13T07:39:12.331-07:00nikita demosthenesnikita demostheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04430641605878131114noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253198243098718029.post-67389346583025865972008-01-26T13:21:00.000-08:002008-01-26T17:56:17.749-08:00Support Your Local First AmendmentIf you have "free speech" - but you can't publish what you say (which will usually take at least a little money) - haven't your First Amendment rights been taken away? What's the point of standing in an empty room "freely speaking"?<br /><br />Isn't the whole point of "free speech" the freedom to convey a message? What sense does it make to permit someone the message but not the conveyance thereof? It's almost like saying: "You can speak, just not out loud."<br /><br />If you want to join with others to "freely speak" - convey a message about an incumbent Congressional candidate, for example - the McCain-Feingold law says you can't do that when it matters most: 60 days before an election.<br /><br />But you can stand in your empty room and "free speech" your brains out about the Congressional incumbent. Thank you, Senators McCain and Feingold!...<br /><br />But, of course, don't tell that to the "it's money, not speech" types who support McCain-Feingold.<br /><br />You know you are dealing with a bizarro-world liberal argument when the unstated premise is: money is evil. I've always noticed that liberals think money is evil - unless they're negotiating their own pay. I guess the true liberal view - which they would never admit to themselves - is: "money is evil, provided it's somebody else's money, and they have a lot of it, and they won't give me any." But I digress...<br /><br />Read <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-1674.ZX.html">Justice Scalia's persuasive dissent</a> regarding the McCain-Feingold law.<br /><br />And thank goodness there is at least one Presidential candidate out there who is actually <a href="http://www.mittromney.com/News/Press-Releases/Repealing_McCain-Feingold">pro-First Amendment</a>.<br /><br />As <a href="http://opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110007867">Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit</a> puts it:<br /><br />"Why should any American need government permission to express himself?<br /><br />"<a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTcwMDgxMzUwODBkNzFlMDNkMDE3ZTdlNGUwOTQ2Y2I=">What a racket</a>!"<br /><br />Of course, the First Amendment commentariat is abuzz that <a href="http://rachellucas.com/?cat=31">Sunny's policy paper on McCain-Feingold</a> and the First Amendment has been pending for some time.nikita demostheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04430641605878131114noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-253198243098718029.post-5629116679362725242008-01-26T13:16:00.001-08:002008-01-26T13:19:35.415-08:00nikita demosthenes is backIf <a href="http://www.rachellucas.com/">Rachel Lucas</a> can come back, so can nikita demosthenes.<br /><br />Warblogging may be out of fashion, but somebody has to do it.nikita demostheneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04430641605878131114noreply@blogger.com0