Posted on 09/12/2009 10:51:36 PM PDT by rabscuttle385
WASHINGTON.
Last March, during the Supreme Court argument concerning the Federal Election Commission's banning of a political movie, several justices were aghast. Suddenly and belatedly they saw the abyss that could swallow the First Amendment.
Justice Antonin Scalia was "a little disoriented" and Justice Samuel Alito said "that's pretty incredible." Chief Justice John Roberts said: "If we accept your constitutional argument, we're establishing a precedent that you yourself say would extend to banning the book" -- a hypothetical 500-page book containing one sentence that said "vote for" a particular candidate.
What shocked them, but should not have, were statements by a government lawyer who was only doing his professional duty with ruinous honesty -- ruinous to his cause. He was defending the mare's nest of uncertainties that federal campaign finance law has made, and the mess the court made in 2003 when, by affirming the constitutionality of McCain-Feingold's further speech restrictions, it allowed Congress to regulate speech by and about people running for Congress.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
And to think, some-so called conservatives are still voting for this man...
And to think, some-so called conservatives are still voting for this man...
And to think further, many of those actually believed McCain when he promised, more or less, that granted the opportunity he would nominate to the Supreme Court justices cut from the bolt from whence came Roberts and Alito---as if anyone in their right (no pun intended) mind could possibly believe McCain would nominate men or women standing athwart and systematically euthanising his pet. Rather much the way they believed big-government conservatism was going to, ahem, get religion soon enough and begin systematically euthanising the monster it suckled.
No wonder the Republican Party got (no pun intended) bushwhacked in 2006 and 2008. George W. Bush's words from the 2000 Republican national convention must haunt it now, in its more introspective moments: They had their chance. They did not lead.
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