Democracy Has Prevailed.

January 9, 2018

My FORTY-THIRD Open Letter To Senator Pat Toomey

I'll be dropping this letter to Senator Pat Toomey in the mail today:
Dear Senator Toomey:

It's me, again. Your constituent who also writes for the local Pittsburgh-based political blog, "2 Political Junkies."

Senator, I need to ask you about Fire and Fury, the book by Michael Wolff. (If you don't already have a copy, you should soon as CNN reported that Tom Steyer bought one for every member of Congress.)

Here's the thing. Prior to its publication, Donald Trump's attorneys sent a letter to both the author and the publisher of the book demanding that the publisher immediately cease and desist publishing, disseminating or releasing any portion of the book.

Only this week I received a letter from you outlining your support of the First Amendment, an amendment to our Constitution that, among other things, guarantees free speech - especially political speech.

Seeing that he's president and that this book is about the goings on inside the White House, how is it not protected by the First Amendment? Furthermore, how are any of Trump's demands that the book not be published or distributed not Unconstitutional?

All else aside, this is a chilling moment for the defense of the First Amendment, don't you think?  So I'll ask you again, which side are you on?

I await your response.
And I will be posting whatever response I get from him or his office.

Follow-up:

7 comments:

Social Justice NPC Anti-Paladin™ said...

The Wolff book is fiction.

"How is it not protected by the First Amendment? "
Talking points from the Campaign Finance Reform and Hate Speech progressives.
It is Hate Speech.
Cuomo - "Hate speech is excluded from protection" under the First Amendment.
http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/may/07/chris-cuomo/cnns-chris-cuomo-first-amendment-doesnt-cover-hate/
No Amendment is absolute
http://www.theblaze.com/news/2012/07/17/no-amendment-is-absolute-chuck-schumer-complains-about-the-first-amendment-on-senate-floor
SEN. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on the DISCLOSE Act: “I believe there ought to be limits because the First Amendment is not absolute. No amendment is absolute. You can’t scream ‘fire’ falsely in a crowded theater. We have libel laws. We have anti-pornography laws. All of those are limits on the First Amendment. Well, what could be more important than the wellspring of our democracy? And certain limits on First Amendment rights that if left unfettered, destroy the equality — any semblance of equality in our democracy — of course would be allowed by the Constitution.”

“And the new theorists on the Supreme Court who don’t believe that, I am not sure where their motivation comes from, but they are just so wrong. They are just so wrong.”

Zeus0209 said...

"The Wolff book is fiction" - EVERYTHING could plausibly be construed as fiction. Ask 10 separate people to author a detail of any number of events and you'll get 10 different variations on the same story. Maybe Wolff is simply presenting alternate facts ;)

Jared Shoemaker Jr said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Zeus0209 said...

i think that might be construed as hate speech

Dayvoe said...

Nope.

My blog. My rules.

Social Justice NPC Anti-Paladin™ said...

Z
How about the non fiction books Clinton Cash, The Obama Nation and Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry?

Zeus0209 said...

Government is applicable to the entire bell curve of society, without exception.

If POTUS, et.al. approaches the job spending even half the effort aimed at galvanizing that sentiment, which he/they currently spend on being divisive (mocking the disabled, grabbing pu$$y, etc)...Fire and Fury gets as much coverage as the Kingdom of Idiots.

Don't the sales figures of the book just speak volumes?