First Amendment targeted [by Obama Campaign]

"When the heavy hand of the state is imposed on the press, all of us lose," Barack Obama told a group of Kenyan journalists during an August 2006 trip to Africa. "The media does not have a formal role in the government, but it serves a critical function in providing information to the public so that they can hold the government accountable," he said.

Mr. Obama's remarks implied he supports the First Amendment. His comment that "Democracy can't function properly without a free press," suggested he understood the importance of robust scrutiny of elected officials. Yet, when given the opportunity, Mr. Obama's recent actions have contradicted his own statements.

The Obama campaign launched a multipronged assault on the First Amendment when it threatened television and radio stations airing content critical of Mr. Obama.

Theodore Roosevelt said that the best way to repeal a bad or obnoxious law was its vigorous application.

I suspect John McCain was thinking of that when he working on this piece of legislation. It was the only way of getting the message across to Congress Critters that they had veered off course. But that is merely speculation on my part, and not an excuse. I don't know really why he sponsored that legislation, other than he had a deep disgust with the behavior of most politicians at that point in his life.

Excuse me for butting in but McCain had no lofty or altruistic goals in mind when HE authored McCain-Feingold. And for sure he didn't have Teddy Roosevelt in mind.

This is what McCain thinks of the Free Speech and First Amendment...

"I work in Washington and I know that money corrupts. And I and a lot of other people were trying to stop that corruption. Obviously, from what we've been seeing lately, we didn't complete the job. But I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I'd rather have the clean government."

And this was George Will's take on McCain's statement:

In his words to Imus, note the obvious disparagement he communicates by putting verbal quotation marks around "First Amendment rights." Those nuisances.
Anyway, he vows to "complete the job" of extirpating corruption, regardless of the cost to freedom of speech. Regardless, that is, of how much more the government must supervise political advocacy. President McCain would, it is reasonable to assume, favor increasingly stringent limits on what can be contributed to, or spent by , campaigns. Furthermore, McCain seems to regard unregulated political speech as an inherent invitation to corruption. And he seems to believe that anything done in the name of "leveling the playing field" for political competition is immune from First Amendment challenges.

McCain is no friend of the 1st Amendment - period.
That's it, excuse the interruption,. carry on :-)

Oops, ps: He isn't so good on the 2nd Amendment either. Wanting to close the non-existent 'Gun Show Loophole'. All that would do is Ban Private Sales of guns between law abiding citizens - anywhere - not only at Gun Shows. That's right out of the gun grabbing Brady Bunch play book.

If you think McCain is rotten on the 1st & 2nd Amendments, you’ll be even unhappier with Obama (I would love to see the video, taken in Kenya, showing Barack Obama declaring his devotion to Islam and Muhammed):

“Michelle Obama on the Man that Would Be President”, by Nancy Salvato, of the The Hawaii Reporter
August 29, 2008

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?e2e3c6ca-3c75-4a04-9bd6-14d5eebaf47d

I consider both McCain and Obama to be bad enough on the First Amendment that there really isn't much difference between them on that issue. There are plenty of other reasons to regard Obama more negatively than McCain.

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