Free Political Speech Circling the Drain

Now that the hideous McCain/Feingold bill is unfortunately law, both parties are going after the 527s, so that all organized free political speech can be completely squelched.

Boortz has a good, concise summary of the situation - pointing out that both parties have colluded to neuter the ability of groups like the Swift Vets to get their message out.

President Bush has enlisted the services of Arizona's Saintly Senator John McCain to "go after" the so-called 527 groups, that is the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, Moveon.org, etc. The President wants to shut them down. That's right, he wants to take away their (and by extension, your) right to free speech. Welcome to The United States of America in 2004.

Question: Would the White House please issue a statement telling us just which constitution he promised to preserve and protect when he took the oath of office? Evidently it wasn't ours. Ours, after all, says something about free speech.

George Bush wants to make it illegal for you to pool your resources with some other folks who share your views and express those views through the media. Think about this. You join a group promoting tax reform. One of the presidential candidates supports your cause, the other does not. You want to run ads promoting your tax reform idea and encouraging voters to support your cause by supporting your candidate. This is the very essence of political free speech ... and both George Bush and John Kerry want to make your actions illegal.

There is no scandal in the 2004 presidential election greater than this ... the candidates from both of the major political parties teaming together to deny your freedom to effectively speak out politically. How serious is it? Kerry and Bush approve of placing you in jail if you dare to express your political feelings in a way not approved by them.

I've been bitching about so-called Campaign Finance Reform since its maniacal inception. My inital problem with it was this: When outside groups are forbidden from organizing, advertising, or any other form of getting their word out, the only message that remains is that of the Old Media.

This puts conservatives at a deep disadvantage the closer you get to a national election. When the only media coverage left during an election cycle is the mainstream press, you're only going to get the leftist/socialist filter on the race. NBCCBSABCCNNMSNBCNPRPBS and company will filter the news like they always do - glorifying the leftist candidate and vilifying the conservative candidate (or at least the Republican candidate - there aren't many truly conservative candidates left these days).

Now it appears President Junior is making yet another mistake by succumbing to the media's drumbeat to shut down groups like the Swift Vets and MoveOn.Org. Whether anyone likes it or not - and whether or not the 527s are overwhelmingly leftist - these groups should have the right to organize, fund-raise and advertise. If what they do is libel or slander, sue them. Otherwise, leave these groups alone.