by Deb Cupples | Who says that our First Amendment isn't written in stone? (See photo of the Newseum's exterior in our nation's capitol city.)
Yesterday, the Catholic League's president (Bill Donohue) said that he wants the DNC to revoke the media credentials of two blogs (Daily Kos and Bitch PhD), because they've published things that were unfriendly to Catholics (or that Mr. Donohue simply found obscene or offensive).
Sweet Jesus! See what happens when the "adulterous connection" between religion and politics is encouraged? [The quoted phrase is from Thomas Paine.]
Admittedly, the Democratic Party is not a government entity (or "state actor"), so it might be able to prohibit the Kos or Bitch folks from getting media credentials, though doing so would upset progressives -- not that progressive voters' opinions actually matter to the current crop of DNC leaders.
In case I shrunk my photo too much for the text to be clear, here's what our First Amendment says:
"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."
That's one busy amendment.
It gives Mr. Donohue the right to say or write what he wants (except in some cases, like defamation). It gives all individuals in the Catholic League the right to practice their religion, hang out together, and say/write what they want.
I'm all for that.
At the same time, the First Amendment gives Kos and Bitch the right to say/write what they want -- even if they aim some unflattering words at Catholics (or Baptists or politicians or insurance-industry executives...).
So far, all actors in this equation are within their rights: even Mr. Donohue, when seeking to have Kos and Bitch excluded from the Democratic Convention (there's no constitutional provision against Donohue's trying).
Again, the First Amendment prohibits government from infringing on people's and the press's freedoms, but my point is less about text and more about spirit.
It's downright ironic that Mr. Donohue -- who enjoys the benefits of multiple First Amendment protections -- seeks to pressure a political organization into depriving Kos and Bitch of their right to exercise First Amendment freedoms (they can't live-blog the convention if Mr. Donohue succeeds in getting them barred from attending).
Worse than ironic, it's deeply troubling that Mr. Donohue, a representative of tolerant and fair-minded Catholics nationwide, would even try to interfere with fellow Americans' attempts to exercise their rights.
In short, Mr. Donohue wants the sole and supreme power to decide which media outlets qualify as legitimate -- and he wants to self-servingly scrub people off the list simply because their words cast doubt on his religious group's public image.
Here's a little more irony: by waging war against the blogger-critics, Mr. Donohue has reminded millions of Americans of the Catholic Church's history of resorting to un-Christ-like acts in order to silence people who didn't fall into line: e.g., torturing and murdering dissenters, burning women, persecuting Jews, threatening scientists....
That stuff is really bad for the Church's P.R., because it scares the be-Jesus out of people.
Memeorandum has commentary.
Other Buck Naked Politics Posts:
* The Saddleback "Holier Than Thou" Forum, Implications, & First Amendment
* Did McCain Violate the "Cone of Silence"? We Don't Care
* Major Progress on Stem-Cell Research
* Dems Go Soft on Offshore Drilling
* Many Big Corporations Don't Pay Taxes -- Including Federal Contractors
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