If left to their own devices, certain people who claim to be “liberals” would slash the protections of our liberty embodied in the Constitution every time it gets in their way. The law gets in their way all the time. The Second Amendment wouldn’t exist if these people had the ability to do something about it. Now it’s the First Amendment that bugs them, with them wanting to quiet your right to political speech. That would leave the mainstream press (and radio talk show hosts) exclusive access to the airwaves.
This is a big week, because the “Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002” gets underway on Wednesday. This is a direct assault on the First Amendment’s free speech clause, particularly when it has to do with political speech before an election. This is a huge, huge case – and a huge example of what I’m talking about.
What you have here is the Incumbent Protection Act of 2001. It’s designed to make it tougher for challengers to win, because incumbents can just throw a presser and get media time. It’s amazing how far this has gone. We covered all the assaults on it, and have immortalized the assault on the First Amendment it represents in the Essential Stack of Stuff articles below. The administration, and Solicitor General Ted Olson, will have to defend this in court.
