I just emailed my congress critter (the vermin). Don't let up on the letters and calls even though it passed. There's still the conference report to vote on. Here's a copy of the note I just fired off:
Dear Representative Inslee,
I’m writing to express my great dismay and disappointment in finding
that you voted for the Shays-Meehan bill. It's an assault on the First
Amendment of the highest order. No matter how you stretch the Constitution,
it can never be construed to allow the muzzling of Americans about the
voting records of their elected officials through letters, publications and
the media. If the Sierra Club wants to tell me about legislation that you
support or have voted for, even the week of an election, they have the right
to present their message and I have a right to know and hear about it, even
if I dissagree. The same is true concerning the AARP, the NRA, my local PTA,
or any other group or person. Shays-Meehan limits the free expression of
political thought, exactly the kind of speech the Framers intended to protect.
King George arrested, as dissenters, people for pamphleteering about the
abuses of the crown in order to protect his power. How is this bill any
different?
This can not stand.
I've never been very politically active, but I promise that I'm going to be
knocking on a lot of doors come this election season, telling people about
how you voted and why it is so wrong.
Respectfully,
Chris Edstrom