Don’t worry, we can still speak up

Like a lot of people, I am annoyed by political advertising. The best of it is self-aggrandizing piffle, and the worst is backstabbing, lying junk. My disgust is genuinely nonpartisan, except when I am really, intensely annoyed by candidates with whom I disagree. I am not annoyed to the point where I hope the government will step in and silence these horrible people once and for all. We do not live in a country where government can tell us what we can or cannot say. We certainly do not live in a country where government can forbid us to express opinions on candidates for public office, do we? This isn’t Russia or Britain or China. This is America. We have the First Amendment to the Constitution, the foundation of liberty. Remember, it says Congress shall make “no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” Most of us have been raised with the notion that this is a very good idea.  READ MORE »