“So you seem to think that it was alright with the founders that the freedom of the press was to be used to propagate lies?”
Wrong. That’s a straw man argument.
You are making a Bush argument. He said we have to suspend capitalism to save capitalism. Homeland security and the NSA also suspend liberty to save liberty. Your position would be to suspend freedom of the press to save the freedom of the press.
The problem is NOT that the news media is unlicensed. We are all unlicensed. The problem is that the institutions have been taken over by Marxists. They don’t care about honesty or journalistic integrity.
What you are advocating, no matter how well intentioned you may be, is the same position as Obama. You may not like the outcome that he has in mind, but it is the outcome nonetheless. He wants the government to have power to shut down Fox news, talk radio, and websites like Free Republic.
The way to overcome lies is to tell the truth. If someone, including journalists lie, slander, make libelous accusations, disclose state secrets, invade privacy, then there are laws to address those things. We don’t need a license to exercise our right to the freedom of the press. We just need to use it to counter the lies and false arguments.
You can’t polish fingernails without a license. You can’t sell hot dogs on a street corner without a license.You can’t even hock straw dogs on a street corner without a license.