[EL] A nation of sissies!/ Re: The enemies list, then and now

[JBoppjr at aol.com]

The Founders of our country who wrote the Federalist and Anti-Federalist  
Papers were hardly winps.  Jim Bopp
 
 
In a message dated 7/23/2012 9:25:08 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
dschultz at gw.hamline.edu writes:

Justice Scalia is often fond of declaring that the purpose of the First  
Amendment is to promote robust debate.  I agree with him.  But at  the same 
time that the First Amendment gives individuals a right to say  whatever they 
want, it also means others have a right to respond, hold you  accountable, 
and even say you are crazy for your position.  Maybe you get  mocked, teased, 
or satirized, but all that is part of what robust debate in a  free society 
is about.

I say this because I fear that the debate about  disclosure is exposing us 
to be a nation of wimps!  The arguments being  presented here seem to 
suggest that I should be protected from any type of  criticism or controversy 
surrounding my political contributions.  I am  sorry but the First Amendment 
does not insulate that.  Yes real  harassment--such as lynchings or cross 
burnings in front yards as was feared  in the NAACP v. Alabama case--are 
something we should worry about, but  teasing, taunting, publishing a list of names, 
boycotts, all of that is part  of the robust debate surrounding the First 
Amendment that we should  expect.  I hate to steal Truman's line "But if you 
can't stand the heat.  . ."  If you cannot take the legitimate public 
scrutiny or criticism  surrounding your political contribution then stay out of 
politics.  As  Scalia once said about administrative law one can also say 
about politics--it  ain't for sissies!

On another note:  Please remember that NAACP v.  Alabama ruled in that case 
that case that membership lists of non-profit  organizations were protected 
by the First Amendment against government  exposure because of the unique 
aspects of the organization and the facts of  the cases demonstrating real 
possibility of reprisal.  The case did not  rule that donor lists were 
protected by the First Amendment, unless I missed  something.




David Schultz, Professor
Editor, Journal of Public  Affairs Education (JPAE)
Hamline University
School of Business
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Suite 308
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http://schultzstake.blogspot.com/
Twitter:  @ProfDSchultz
Named one of the inaugural 2012 FacultyRow  SuperProfessors

>>> David Epstein  <david.l.epstein at gmail.com> 07/23/12 8:10 AM >>>
This is it?  Seriously? After reading the column, I see that someone
(presumably  wealthy) who donated money to Romney has been audited. I
also see that an  Obama "campaign website" listed some donors along
with aspersions on their  characters, but (tellingly), there is no link
provided to this website. If  someone has the link, I'd be happy to
follow that too, but my guess is that  it wasn't published by the
actual Obama campaign.

Pretty thin gruel,  definitely on the level of internet urban legends
rather than actual  news.

On Mon, Jul 23, 2012 at 8:59 AM, <JBoppjr at aol.com>  wrote:
> Click here: The enemies list, then and now | Power  Line
>
> Interesting story about harassment of contributors  triggered by the
> Obama campaign.
>
> Opps, on second  thought, don't read, we have been authoritatively told
> that this does  not happen. Jim Bopp
>
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