So about this freedom of speech thing

The first amendment to the Constitution reads:

“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.”

Note that there is nothing there that says you aren't free to say anything you want to say. It just says that Congress shall make no law as to what you can say.

So it seems that shutting up the Limbaugh’s of the world and the scum of the Earth that inhabit Fox “News” is not unconstitutional. And I defy anyone to make a case that the poison, lies and hatred these people spew every hour of every day is not a clear and present danger to all of us.

So question number one is: Should we find a way to shut them up?

And question number two is: If they should be silenced how should it be done?

Any disagreements, suggestions, etc?

The states cannot make laws in contravention of the freedoms enumerated in the Constitution.

I assumed that you were looking for suggestions of lawful ways, and not of unlawful ways.

There are already boycott lists out there, with advertisers being threatened during a recession with a loss of customers, but the same lists allow fans of RW talk to channel their purchasing power to those who hang on.

Boycotts and embargoes didn't chase Castro out of Cuba. But they did free Nelson Mandela, at least in part.

Believe it or not, since the time that was written, a couple of cases have come up, under which the courts have had an opportunity to interpret and apply the First Amendment. You might consider looking into a few of those.

Just a suggestion.

It was an FCC policy that required broadcast licensees to report on controversial issues in a fair, responsible, and honest manner. Licensees that did not meet the standard (as judged by the FCC) were subjected to fines.

It was abolished during the Reagan Administration, and unfortunately, Obama has said that he does not believe it should be brought back.

say "fuck you" on radio or TV, but can call Obama a racist?

Yeah, I know, many advertisers have dropped Glen Beck, but others will pick him up. Look at how many are staying with Limbaugh. However, there's no cure for the hatred that has been spread.

We really do need to find a way to stop this crap before we hit a point of no return.

And God forbid that point should be another assassinated president. The passions in this country will explode.

The word 'racist' isn't one of them. The word 'fuck' is still on the list.

Frankly, using the law to try to shut down RW radio and television would be playing into their hands. They'd make Barack Obama look like Hugo Chavez in a heartbeat. And they'd still get their message out by the Internet, only it would then be 'countercultural' to do so.

I can just see the marketing campaign: "Come to www.Hannity.com to see what Barack Obama doesn't want you to know!"

Yes we should shut them up, they are destroying this democracy. We are all in danger because of them.

And I personally don't give a flying fuck how they are shut up, I really don't at this point. We are loosing the whole country to the loudest minority, and they are well-armed and would do anything because this is their RELIGION. These freaks make the Taliban look like jokes.

It is time to stop the greatest injustice in this country, right-wing hate/theocracy talk posing as freedom of speech.

obviously it's legal to limit speech in the public.

I don't want to shut them up. I want to get them off the public airwaves and TV screens. And, make no mistake about it, I do not want the very few nutjobs on the far left spewing 24/7 on TV and radio either.

Apologies for taking it into new thread territory, you asked a very valid question and I didn't mean to hijack it.

Should we find a way to shut them up?

Yes, absolutely!

If they should be silenced how should it be done?

1st of all they should be forced to stop using their "Fair & Balanced" bullshit slogan. It's about time Faux were taken to court for http://www.answers.com/topic/false-advertising">false advertising regarding their repeated use of this bullshit mantra. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of clips on YouTube now proving how unfair and unbalanced Faux is. I know that MoveOn filed a http://cdn.moveon.org/content/pdfs/ftc_filing.pdf">complaint with the FTC several years ago but it obviously went unheard. http://civic.moveon.org/fox/">MoveOn's complaint form is still live, though, and there's more evidence than ever (O'Lielly, Hannity, Huckabee & Glenn BecKKK's hate/fearmongering seditious behaviour for example) that this far right propaganda channel is overstepping the boundaries it has set itself.

Faux's BULLSHIT "Fair and Balanced" slogan fits well within http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/baitads-gd.htm">FTC's Guides Against Bait Advertising, too.

When that happens it'll create such a shitstorm against Faux that people might finally wake up to how much of a brainwashing Goebbels-esque propaganda machine it really is.

BTW I just found a very interesting post in Demopedia dating back to 2003 that has evidence proving that they have been doing this for years: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x844844

Another thing. If it's been amended in the past, why can't it be amended again? Adding that seditious propaganda and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinformation">disinformation should not be allowed, for example?

I have been having exactly the same thoughts recently, as I posted in the Jon Voight thread last week: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x362209#362449

I was having the same thoughts you've expressed about a potential civil war yesterday and if it does happen Faux's fear/hatemongering will have played a large part in building it up and setting it off. Something NEEDS to be done, and done soon.