Sarah Palin: Dangerously Unlearned or Frighteningly Puppetlike?
Sarah Palin, a sitting U.S. governor running for vice-president believes that press criticism of her campaign rhetoric in some way attacks or abridges her First Amendment rights,
"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations, then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media." -Sarah Palin, 10/31/2008
Is this the product of a weak intellect on Governor Palin's part, or her willingness to repeat misleading talking points written by GOP strategists? Neither conclusion is particularly flattering. One must only note that the First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
contradicts her assertion in two fundamental ways. First, the amendment speaks to abridgement of individual free speech by the federal government, not the press. Second, and even more alarming, the very same amendment, only a comma-separated half-stop away, calls out freedom of the press with exacting clarity.
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Comments (3)
Please, enough of the "when did you stop beating your wife?" questions. Now you've got a VP who can get both feet in his mouth at the same time. Enjoy.
I don't see the question in this. This was a statement by a vice-presidential candidate that completely mischaracterizes the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution. One needn't be a constitutional scholar to be frightened by her ridiculous, self-serving misinterpretation.
Oh, and the VP-elect is all of ours in the US. Much as the Bush was a problem for all of us.
The question is your post title, as in "Democrats - traitors or morons?"