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December 10, 2003

Free Speech No Longer

It's official. The Supreme Court has upheld the limitations on free speech enshrined in the 'Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act.' It is now illegal for people to speak out on elections except through government-approved venues. For me, this seems to violate that rule about government making no laws abridging freedom of speech, but it has been clear for some time now that the Constitution is no longer a binding document as far as this court is concerned.

I'll probably talk more about this later, but for now I'm too depressed to ruminate on it. All I'll note is this: President Bush signed this abomination on the assumption that the Court would overturn it, because Bush knew damn well it was unconstitutional. Now the Court has decided not to bail Bush out, and his moral cowardice has helped remove the First Amendment's speech protections from the Constitution. Way to go, Mr. President.

As an aside, how long before someone goes after a blog as illegal campaign speech less than 60 days before an election?

Hat tip: The Spoons Experience.

Update: Apparently children 17 and under still get First Amendment protection. The rest of us are on our own.