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Erwin Chemerinsky
Law professor Erwin Chemerinsky - Champion of the First Amendment Presentation - The Vanishing Wall Separating Church and State 2014 FFRF #39;s National Convention Los Angeles.
By: FFRForg
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Erwin Chemerinsky - Video
Topic: The First Amendment made controlling all (voice)
Listen today about new interesting topic - The First Amendment made controlling all. *---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*--*---*---*---* Check out more exc...
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Topic: The First Amendment made controlling all (voice) - Video
Joseph Dobrian, Writers Group 9:51 a.m. CST January 7, 2015
Joseph Dobrian(Photo: Thomas Adam)
In the Press-Citizen, recently, appeared a letter from Iowa state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, in which he declared his intention to find a judge-proof way to criminalize desecration of the American flag. Many people agree with him, of course including, unfortunately, many elected officials but for the purposes of this article I'll regard him as the chief spokesman for that position.
In a single paragraph of that letter, Mr. Kaufmann parrots the three morally bankrupt pronouncements that his allies invariably bring to the argument. Then he tops it off with a coda so hypocritical and vainglorious that I literally turned my face away in disgust: "I value our First Amendment rights but just like you cannot shout 'fire' in a crowded movie theater, you should never, ever, be allowed to spit and stomp on our flag while protesting the funeral of someone who died fighting for our freedoms. count on me to fight with a fiery passion to defend the honor of our flag and our fallen soldiers."
No, Mr. Kaufmann: You do not "value our First Amendment rights." Manifestly, you despise them. A single word "but" reveals your contempt for them.
But nothing, Mr. Kaufmann. BUT NOTHING.
Our First Amendment does not exist to protect expressions that most people approve of. Such speech needs no protection. The laws exist, rather, to protect expressions we abominate: expressions that would be deeply offensive to most sensible people. Without the First Amendment, the rest of the U.S. Constitution doesn't much matter. And yet it's the most universally despised item in the Bill of Rights: constantly attacked from left and right.
When we stand up for the First Amendment, we're almost never supporting noble sentiments. Ninety-nine times out of 100, we're standing up for someone who's desecrating a flag or writing pornography about Jesus. Your position, sir, and the position of your allies, is identical to that of infantile liberals who want to suppress expressions that offend them. Same argument.
If anything, liberals are a little less hypocritical, since most of them are frank in their hatred of free speech and a free press. They make no pretense of respecting the First Amendment.
Don't insult our intelligence with that false equivalency about yelling "fire." The consequences of yelling "fire" if a stampede causes injuries or property damage, for example might be punishable. If no stampede ensues, the worst that will happen is that the fire-yeller will be escorted out. Arguably, that fire-yeller is creating a hazard, but in what way does the flag-spitter create a hazard?
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There is no but in our First Amendment rights
The following is a quick look at Sen. Marco Rubio's new book, which landed on our desk today.
Marco Rubio wastes no time in his new book, American Dreams, going after Hillary Clinton.
On page nine of the forward, a lament that the dream is fading for many, the Republican senator from Florida argues Clinton has proven herself wedded to the policies and programs of the past.
Instead of reforming a higher education system that costs too much money, is too hard for nontraditional students to access and awards too many degrees that do not lead to jobs, another Clinton presidency will be about spending more money on a broken system, Rubio writes. Instead of cutting back on regulations that stifle innovation and deny consumer choice, another Clinton presidency will be about enacting regulations her friends in the corporate world use to prevent competition. Instead of reforming an anticompetitive tax code that has made America one of the most expensive places on earth to invest and create jobs, another Clinton presidency will be about raising taxes to pay for a growing government."
The election of Hillary Clinton to the presidency, in short, would be nothing more than a third Obama term. Another Clinton presidency would be a death blow to the American Dream.
But Rubio, whose book will be published by Sentinel on Jan. 13, knows partisan jabs only go so far. He spends much of the book assessing the current state of the country and offering solutions to problems as varied as student loan debt to the strain on Social Security. It's a conservative vision, to be sure, but Rubio takes pains to not completely alienate a broader audience.
For our part, conservatives have also failed to address the challenges of the new economy but there are promising signs that this is changing, Rubio writes.
Rubio gives credit to leaders of the so-called conservative reform movement, figures such as the writer Yuval Levin and Rep. Paul Ryan. But the point of the book is to spotlight Rubio as someone who can bring it all home. He doesn't declare himself a candidate for president, of course, but the 43-year-old leaves no mystery that he thinks he's qualified to lead a movement to "restore the land of opportunity."
The book is much different from Rubio's first, which was bio-driven but also wrapped a narrative around the American Dream.
Rubio uses the stories of people hes met to explain problems, including a Plant City woman named Christine Miller who runs an emergency food bank and tries to empower the poor people who visit her with fiscal literacy programs. The anecdote is a way for Rubio to make a case that while a government safety net is necessary, government should do more to help people get ahead.
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In new book, Rubio attacks Hillary Clinton, offers conservative view to save American Dream
Hillary Clinton is beginning to put together the pieces for a likely campaign, tapping two top strategists including President Barack Obamas pollster to work with her in the lead-up toward an ultimate decision.
Robby Mook, who worked on Clintons 2008 campaign and is widely expected to be Clintons campaign manager, and Joel Benenson, Obamas pollster who had for months been eyed for a role on her team, have been working with her as she makes a final decision and begins to put together a framework for a staff, according to people close to the former Secretary of State.
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But, if he is hired, Benensons presence in the campaign would mark a major departure for Clinton, who stayed in her comfort zone in her previous campaigns using Mark Penn, the pollster and message guru who had worked for her husband. After she shook up her campaign in the second half of the 2008 primaries, Clinton made Geoff Garin her main pollster.
(Also on POLITICO: Trouble on the home front)
Obamas campaign used Benenson as part of a team of pollsters, an approach Clinton is said to be considering for her next effort. And he would come to her off two successful presidential races.
Mook, who won Obama aides respect for the job her did out-organizing them in a string of states in the 2008 primaries, has been holding meetings with people, according to multiple sources, to begin planning for a likely campaign.
Mook and Benenson did not respond to emails seeking comment. And a Clinton campaign is not expected to be launched for several weeks, possibly as late as mid-spring.
(Also on POLITICO: Gillibrand gears up)
A Clinton aide, asked about the two mens involvement in her current plans, said, She has said that she is seriously considering running for president. Shes casting a wide net, meeting with a variety of experts to discuss the economy and a range of challenges facing American families. And shes using this time to look at what components are necessary to build an inclusive, thoughtful and technically advanced campaign, so that if she decides to run, shell be ready.
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Clinton brings in Mook, Benenson for likely team