Here is Soundbite Sarah talking about her version of the First Amendment.
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, Sarah, Sarah. Your "blunder" may be of the "Joe the Plumber" type when it comes to the U.S. Constitution, but I've said it before, and I will say it again. You are running to be Vice President of the United States of America, a heartbeat away from the Presidency. You have a higher standard of intelligence to uphold, especially when it comes to the country you might be running and the Constitution that governs it.
Shall we look at the text of the First Amendment together?
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.
The GOVERNMENT cannot impede on your free speech, but as for the rest of us, we don't have to listen to a damn thing you say. And if you open your mouth and insert your foot, as you are so apt to do, we are going to call you on that "blunder".
Also, the free press is doing its job by covering your campaign, especially all those "blunders" that you like to make, including the reference to the Iraq war being a "blunder" in your VP debate performance.
Alex Koppelman over at Salon lays it out nicely:
To put it succinctly: the press can't violate Palin's First Amendment rights. If the government were to criminalize her speech, that would be a violation. But what the press is doing in criticizing Palin is exercising the First Amendment.
Sarah, your right to free speech doesn't make all of us beholden to your unintelligible nonsense, unquestioningly listening while you spew hatred and racially charged rhetoric. The press's duty, and ours as bloggers, is to keep you and your filthy propaganda in check. That's FREE SPEECH.
