The http://iam.ij.org/bTNbXY. Cast: Narrator: Steve Izant Counselor: Nick Hanson Kids: Sophia Cabana, Zachary Cabana, Nicky McBroom, Sam McBroom, Julia Simpson, Kate Simpson, Natalie Simpson Enjoy a clever, and sadly true, description of America’s contemporary political culture:
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Speech
Banned Books Week, 9-25 to 10-2
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s Banned Books Week. There have always been books that people don’t like, find distasteful, wrong, etc. Some of these concerns are legitimate — there are distasteful books written every day. Yet, an answer that seeks a state prohibition banning a book like Catcher in the Rye, for example, will always be excessive and illegitimate…
Freedom of Speech, Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
From the Institute for Justice: Defending the Right to Ordinary Speech
by JOHN ADAMS •
Is it possible, in America, that government will not allow citizens to make a living describing national landmarks without holding a license from the state? A license, literally, to speak about our democratic heritage. Not a business license — no, a second license from government — by which government claims to permit a person to…
Free Markets, Freedom of Speech
Dr. Laura Schlessinger: Confused Whiner
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve never listened to Dr. Laura Schlessinger on the radio, but I’ve read that she’s quitting radio because, by her account, her “First Amendment rights have been usurped” because she used the “n-word” on the air. (I know who she is, and know of her manner; I’m not, however, a listener.) Schlessinger’s claim in nonsense,…
Freedom of Speech
Judge delays signing agreement on issue ads – JSOnline
by JOHN ADAMS •
The delay is because of uncertainty over whether state or federal court is the right venue, and not from doubts about the certain unconstitutionality of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board’s issue ad regulations. These regulations are doomed in any event. Madison — A federal judge declined to sign an injunction Wednesday barring the state from…
Freedom of Speech
Speech Victory — Wisconsin to Drop New (Unconstitutional) Rules Governing Issue Ads
by JOHN ADAMS •
The State of Wisconsin had only two choices: capitulate or lose in court. The state capitulated Tuesday in a lawsuit over new rules regulating campaign-style ads, agreeing they should not be enforced…. The board and the groups that brought one of the lawsuits filed a joint stipulation Tuesday with the federal court in Madison in…
Freedom of Speech
You’re Welcome, Feisty Readers
by JOHN ADAMS •
Freedom of Speech
Objections and Replies on Independent Commentary
by JOHN ADAMS •
One would assume that blogging — simply modern-day pamphleteering — is now commonplace to Americans. And yet, one sometimes runs across objections to it, and here are quick replies to some objections I’ve recently heard. Not one of these objections strikes me as compelling, but they’re interesting as evidence of the divide between people who…
Freedom of Speech, Law, Liberty
Opposing groups challenge Wis. campaign money rule
by JOHN ADAMS •
Freedom of Speech
A Good Year for Free Speech: The Institute for Justice’s Battle Against Speech Restrictions
by JOHN ADAMS •
Freedom of Speech, Law, Politics
Update: Let Ieshuh Griffin Run with Her Chosen Description on the Wisconsin Ballot
by JOHN ADAMS •
I posted earlier today on the effort of a Milwaukee woman running as an independent candidate for the Wisconsin Assembly to use the words “NOT the whiteman’s bitch” as her statement of principle on the ballot. The Government Accountability Board denied her request, as she received a majority supporting her effort, but not the required…
Freedom of Speech, Law, Politics
Let Ieshuh Griffin Run with Her Chosen Description on the Wisconsin Ballot
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’d never heard of Ieshuh Griffin, an independent candidate for a seat in Wisconsin’s Assembly, until Wednesday. I read yesterday about the Government Accountability Board’s denial of her request to describe her candidacy on the November ballot with the words “NOT the Whiteman’s Bitch.” (Candidates may have a brief description of their candidacies on the…
Freedom of Speech, University
Tonight on Stossel: Campus Speech Codes
by JOHN ADAMS •
If you’ve not seen Stossel, the eponymous program of libertarian John Stossel on the Fox Business Channel, you’re missing a great program. Stossel’s program airs on the Fox Business Channel (rather than Fox News) on Thursdays at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. central time. On tonight’s episode, Stossel considers the
Freedom of Speech, Liberty, Politics
Our Robust Heritage: “The Feuding Founding Fathers”
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve contended consistently that robust, polemical commentary is part of the American political tradition, and that it always has been. (On the left side of FREE WHITEWATER, there’s a link to a few examples from different times in our long history.) Ron Chernow, author of Alexander Hamilton and Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller,…