[William Tell]

justshutupandtakeit said: "Congress made no law abridging freedom of speech. Anyone can say anything they want at any time. However, government licenses the air waves and that allows it to restrict certain activities wrt to elections. "

Wrong and not very clever.

Even you know that "speech" is not limited to that which is spoken aloud on street corners. The federal monopoly on use of the airways in no way entitles the government to restrict speech spoken into a microphone.

As for the suggestion that the government has some special power to restrict "certain activities" with respect to elections, the First Amendment makes clear that it has no such power to include speech in such activities.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Sure it does. There have been rules against certain speech since the FCC was founded. You can't go on the radio and call me a "dirty, rotten, mthrfckr." (Though you would probably get away with it if said about Bush.)

[justshutupandtakeit]

Of course, speech is not free at the polls either. One cannot electioneer within a specified distance from the polling place. That is a restriction on free speech.

Of course, in the early days not only was that allowed but voters announced who they voted for and often the grateful candidate would take his supporter over to his barrel for a healthy snort.