Hugh & Series, Critical & Pulled by JimRob
Special to FreeRepublic | 17 December 2003 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)
This is nothing like the usual whine by someone whose post was pulled. JimRob pulled my previous thread for a good reason. "If direct fund-raising were permitted on FR, it would soon be wall-to-wall fund-raising."
So, let's start again correctly. This is about civil disobedience to support the First Amendment and challenge the TERRIBLE CFR decision of the Supreme Court to uphold a terrible law passed by Congress and signed by President Bush.
All who are interested in an in-your-face challenge to the 30- and 60-day ad ban in the Campaign Finance "Reform" Act, please join in. The pattern is this: I'm looking for at least 1,000 people to help the effort. I will run the ad, and risk fines or jail time to make it work -- AND get national support.
But there should be NO mentions of money in this thread, and not in Freepmail either. This is JimRob's electronic home, and we should all abide his concerns.
Put your comments here. Click on the link above, and send me your e-mail addresses. I will get back to you by regular e-mail with the practical details.
This CAN be done. This SHOULD be done. But it MUST be done in accord with JimRob's guidelines.
Fair enough?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1042394/posts Update
I've already tested the idea of my in-your-face challenge ads, first in the print media and then deliberately illegal on TV, with certain editors I have a long relationship with. I could trust these two gentlemen, one in the print media and the other in the broadcast media, with a "heads up" on what I am planning. Both said they wanted to know, in advance, when I am about to do this.
The bottom line is clear. If I am willing to put my neck on the line, with the possibilities of a fine and jail time, THAT effort will put CFR back on the front page in all media. And that is part of the point. There's not much value of going in-your-face against the enemies of the First Amendment unless the press takes up the story and spreads the word. It is now clear they will do exactly that.
Update 2
QUICK PROGRESS REPORT, ANSWERING A SUPPORTER'S QUESTION:
We have about 15% of the needed 1,000 sign-ups.
Spread the word, direct folks to the front page link on my website.
Google-bomb the phrase "anti-CFR" directing readers to that page and link. (We're already #2 and #4 on Google.)
Target date is now August, since the NC primary looks to be put back to September. (Remember, the ad isn't illegal until the 29th day before the election.)
Cordially,
John / Billybob
Note if you are interested in more on this please contact Valin or Congressman Billybob
Now Rick says, well, they can do it if they jump through various hoops and set up another kind of organization. But, that's exactly the kind of problem. People don't want to do that. They want to speak as that group. That's one reason why CFR abridges the freedom of speech.
Bradley Smith: If any of McCain-Feingold is upheld, we'll have more regulation and I think five years from now, we'll be in more heavily regulated environment but we'll continue to hear all the same complaints about how some people are raising too much money, about how it's so unfair, about how it's so un-corrupting. And that will continue to be used for more regulation, more regulation, but the complaints will never cease.
Peter Robinson: Well, what's the way out?
Bradley Smith: The way out is to go back to the idea of the First Amendment, that it's not up to the government to decide who has spoken too much and who has spoken too little; it's not up to the government to decide whose advertising is a sham and whose advertising is real advertising, that this is something too dangerous to leave in the hands of government and will be taken over by special interests and distance the people from politics.
If we can't persuade Congress to repeal this prior to the 60-day abridgement, then we need to support new candidates who have a better respect for the Bill of Rights. Given filing deadline scenarios, that may mean write-in campaigns.