The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 11)

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Much thanks for raising the First Amendment issue. Keep punching.

I see that President Bush has asked the Swifties to pull their ad. Their response should be to politely tell Bush to go straight to Hades, on First-Amendment grounds among others. It's not about Bush, it's about Kerry. If a tenth of what the Swifties are saying is true, we have a serious character issue (not a re-dredging of long-forgotten Vietnam as some have tried to dismiss it). If half of what they're saying is true, we've got a raving sociopath who wants to be president.

p>I'm not even a Bush fan, but Kerry terrifies me. br> -- John Ortmann br> Fort Collins, Colorado /p>

People complain about the Patriot Act but they are missing the forest for the trees.

The entire Bill of Rights has been under attack for many years. The War on Drugs allows law enforcement to seize property without due process and in many states citizens are required to put up a bond before they are granted the opportunity to prove their innocence. All the different Wars on Crime are eroding our rights faster, more methodically and more permanently than any emergency war time suspension of civil liberties. Can anyone say eminent domain? Many states use this to steal private property and then give it or resell it to another private individual or company. And this is all in the name of exacting higher tax revenues.

p>The FEC is a joke. Campaign finance reform is a joke. I have absolutely no problem with any of the 527s or any other group putting out any ad of any kind however I believe that if any ad can be proved false jail time should be mandatory. We may have the right to free speech but no one has the right to maliciously slander and libel anyone no matter how much you dislike the object of your hatred. This is partially what makes civil society possible. Everyone should be allowed to participate in the debate but civil society does require rules that ensure honest debate. br> -- RW /p>

Good article by George Neumayr and quite true. This election has shown just how entrenched the politicos are in this country and how close we have come to losing our fundamental freedoms. Sad to say, G.W. Bush has shown himself to be not much better than the rest of the pack in this. Basically, the only thing Bush has going for his re-election right now is that he's better than Kerry. Free speech has been under attack for decades in this nation. It started with the 7 dirty words case and escalated to the point of restricting religious expression in the public, particularly the government school system. From there it went downhill. McCain-Feingold is merely the Coup-De-Grace on that. I mentioned the 7 dirty words case as a starting point because that is where things got turned upside down. Pornography and profanity are protected while prayer and piousness are not.…

topics:
John McCain, Mainstream Media, Television, Sports, Constitution, Law, Founding Fathers, Military, NATO