Free Speech

Posted on October 3rd, 2007 by Neil Aquino

Congress is wrong to become involved in the free speech rights of either online advocacy group Moveon.org or radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

It is no surprise that my terrible Senator, John Cornyn of Texas, offered the resolution in the Senate to condemn MoveOn.

Both MoveOn and Mr. Limbaugh have made recent statements seen by some as overly harsh or somehow improper about persons involved with the War in Iraq.

Anyone can say anything they want about the war and about people fighting the war.

Congress condemned MoveOn in a formal vote. That was wrong. Now some in Congress want to condemn Mr. Limbaugh. This is wrong as well.

These issues are fine for campaign speeches.

However, when Congress gets into the business of voting on the merits of what should be protected free speech, we all risk losing our most basic freedoms.

Tags: Blogging issues, Civil Liberty, Domestic Issues, Election 2008, Iraq // 4 Comments »

  • margaret

    AMEN

    The New York Times benefited that day and the radio stations that broadcast Limbaugh either will gain or lose sponsors. But isn’t that what the freedom of speach is all about. The KKK can still have public rallies and publish anything they want. It is up to the people to decide whether or not to read or hear what they have to say. The president has lied to us for years where are the votes from congress on that?

    Freedom to say or publish anything we want. The american way.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/zen/ zen

    They should keep to creating laws. Who the heck cares what or whom they officially ‘condemn’ anyway? Everyone who has an opinion isn’t necessarily someone who should get media attention for it.

  • TCB

    I don’t think that this is a free speech issue in so far everyone has a right to criticize or condemn any comment, even Congress. Closer to the point is the move by some in Congress to ban Rush from the Armed Services Radio or the movement to set up the government as the arbiter of “fair speech” (the Orwellian Fairness Doctrine).

  • http://texasliberal.wordpress.com/ Texas Liberal

    margaret–The KKK example has some resonance with me. When I worked for a city council member in Cincinnati, the Klan wanted to put up a cross downtown Cincinnati in the big public square.

    My boss was the only council member to vote to allow them to put up the cross. I took a lot of nasty phone calls about that. But a court overturned the council and the Klan was allowed to put up the cross. I always felt my office followed the right path on that issue.

    Zen–The media has a lot of time to fill these days. If it’s raining hard somewhere CNN calls it a “breaking story.” (Though CNN does some good stuff as well.)

    TCB–Thanks for that view. You’re right that Rush should be allowed to be on armed forces radio, though I think it should come with a balance. Congress does indeed have a right of free speech as well. It’s just a bit more scary when they are the very people who could take away some rights as well. They should just leave this stuff alone.

    Thanks for each of these comments.

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