If the 1st amendment does not specify a speaker, then propaganda from China is protected, right?

[adamuu]

From Citizens United v. FEC ruling
www.fec.gov/law/litigation/citizens_united_memo_opinion_pi.pdf

Premised on mistrust of governmental
power, the First Amendment stands against attempts to disfavor cer
tain subjects or viewpoints or to distinguish among different speak
ers, which may be a means to control content. The Government may
also commit a constitutional wrong when by law it identifies certain
preferred speakers. There is no basis for the proposition that, in the
political speech context, the Government may impose restrictions on
certain disfavored speakers. Both history and logic lead to this con
clusion. Pp. 20–25.

(1) The First Amendment prohibits Congress from fining or
jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for engaging in political
speech, but Austin’s antidistortion rationale would permit the Gov
ernment to ban political speech because the speaker is an association
with a corporate form. Political speech is “indispensable to decision
making in a democracy, and this is no less true because the speech
comes from a corporation.” Bellotti, supra, at 777 (footnote omitted).
This protection is inconsistent with Austin’s rationale,

Obviously, some restrictions apply, especially when the speaker is NOT AN AMERICAN CITIZEN in whole or in part!

[havocmom]

1. And Mecca?

If enough $$ in a corporation can buy the time on media....

[adamuu]

3. Or Blackwater could advocate wars.... n/t

[kenny blankenship]

2. Of COURSE it is. That's exactly what the Framers intended.

What are you anyway, some kind of anti American commie?

[adamuu]

4. I don't know, it seems that different rules apply to non-citizens with respect to speech

in a good number of cases

http://volokh.com/posts/1123520953.shtml


We have laws in place that prohibit the foreign contributions to campaigns for good reasons

And isn't that the basic justification for Guantanamo Bay detention center?

[kenny blankenship]

5. Those boys are going about it all wrong. Now if they were just trying to make an honest buck

by bringing down our airliners, they'd find our legal system much more accommodating.

[adamuu]

6. The Supreme Court Just Handed Anyone, Including bin Laden or the Chinese Government, Control of Our

The Supreme Court Just Handed Anyone, Including bin Laden or the Chinese Government, Control of Our Democracy

Friday 22 January 2010

by: Greg Palast | AlterNet
http://www.truthout.org/the-supreme-court-just-handed-anyone-including-bin-laden-or-chinese-govt-control-our-democracy56332