Chill Baby, Chill

While I tend to read anything I see in the New York Post with a grain of salt, there is a fairly scathing article published there by Rich Lowry that in essence accuses Obama and his campaign machine of suppressing free speech. The article is called, Liberals Rethink Free Speech, and asserts among other things, that the Obama campaign's recent Virginia lawsuit that shut down an anti-Obama groups TV ads was an open assault on free speech. The US District Court in Virginia ruled that "political speech" was ineligible for First Amendment defense. This is reminiscent of the accusations of intimidation and suppression tactics used by Obama's campaign in Nevada in the Democratic primaries. Whether or not any of these accusations are true, if they are widely circulated again, they could spell serious trouble for Obama. Again, I wouldn't normally say something this alarmist, but, what if it's true? The accusations made by the Post that Obama's campaign has actively sued to suppress opposition campaign ads is a little scary if it's true. And, of course they'll deny it. Are they really combating "Swiftboating," or are they attacking free speech? Is it a coincidence that the cited court case suppressed ads by an anti-Obama group in Virgina, which has since "unexpectedly" gone rogue and become a Swing state leaning toward Obama?

Many revolutionaries have engaged subversive practices "for the greater good," and some of them meant it and other's didn't. Change you can believe it may well be documented in court, as a change in people's right to Free Speech. I'm not suggesting Barack Obama desires to see the Bill of Rights edited. But, I've never been charmed by the Illinois senator, and these kind of reports raise red flags for me. Imagine if it was an accusation against McCain; it would be taken seriously, and the media would be all over it. Just like in the primaries, if the Nevada accusations were pointed at Clinton, they would have been news. Because it's Obama, his protective bubble creates a "chilling effect" in a reverse manner. People fear to speak as bluntly as they normally would for fear of seeming racist. Sarah Palin may have some degree of this effect as well, in her case due to her gender, and not having it ended up being an Achilles Heel for Clinton. Again, I'm not accusing Obama of anything, but maybe the ambient buffer zone that has grown up around him is taking on a life of its own.