Disclose Act

Over the past couple of weeks there has been more talk about Congress passing the Disclose Act. This would, in effect, give the federal government the ability to say what is acceptable both in print and online through the FCC. I don't think that I'm being paranoid in saying or thinking that this will be used more strictly against those who are critical of the government than those who paint a favorable picture of the government. I know I'm beating a dead horse in asking the question, "What part of 'Congress shall make no law...' don't they understand?" If there was one type of speech or print that they would have wanted to protect over another, it would have been political speech. I don't think they would think political speech was more important than any other speech but if you look at what the Brits tried to do in the lead up to the revolt and during the war, you can understand why the amendments that ultimately became our Bill of Rights were so important. The States had just finished fighting a war that freed them from a tyrannical government that violated those rights.

If you read the third amendment, it deals with "quartering" troops. This may seem like an odd amendment to us but that was a concern to our founders. Why? That was an injustice that was forced upon the colonists before and during the revolution. Read all amendments and ask yourself, why were they so important that the founders felt the need to state unequivocally that these were areas that the federal government could not make laws about. The emphasis is federal government for a reason. The Constitution is directed only on the federal government not the States. The fourteenth amendment, contrary to popular opinion, does not make the amendments and provisions applicable to the States this is why they have their own State constitutions.