Editorial: When is free speech too "outrageous"?

Editorial from Freedom Politics.com - "Should speech lose constitutional protection when it is "outrageous" and recklessly or intentionally causes "severe emotional distress"? The Supreme Court is facing this question in Snyder v. Phelps, which was argued Wednesday. Its answer will affect far more speech than the repulsive statements of Fred Phelps, pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., and his followers. Mr. Phelps's group believes that the deaths of American soldiers, including heterosexual soldiers, are God's punishment for America's toleration of homosexuality. The group often expresses these views at soldiers' funerals, including the one for Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who died in Iraq in 2006. Picketers in the vicinity of the Westminster, Md., service for Snyder carried signs with messages such as "God Hates the USA," "Fag troops," and "Thank God for dead soldiers." Later they posted a Web page condemning Snyder's family for not teaching him the supposedly correct religious beliefs. Albert Snyder, Matthew's father, sued, and a jury awarded him $10.9 million. The trial judge held the speech wasn't defamatory—it only expressed religious opinions without making false factual claims. Nevertheless, he said the jury could find that the speech was "outrageous," and that Mr. Phelps and his followers therefore could be liable for the tort of "intentional infliction of emotional distress." The judge also held that they could be liable under the "intrusion upon seclusion" tort": the speech, he said, could be seen as having offensively intruded on the private funeral—even though the speech was partly online and partly 1,000 feet from the service, and even though Snyder's father first read the signs on television later that day. The judge reduced the verdict to $5 million. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed on First Amendment grounds. Albert Snyder appealed. Read more

Editorial: When is free speech too "outrageous"?

Clamping Down On New Technologies

From Personal Liberty Digest.com - by Bob Livingston - With the advent of new communications technologies like voice-over-Internet and text messaging, the Feds are having a tough time monitoring our conversations. And they aren’t particularly happy about it.
So to better monitor domestic “terrorists” like returning veterans, Ron Paul supporters, small government advocates and Tea Party members — according to the Department of Homeland Security — President Barack Obama will soon propose new legislation to mandate that the U.S. government have access to all forms of communications, “including encrypted email, transmitters like BlackBerry, social networking Web sites like Facebook and software that allows ‘peer-to-peer’ messaging like Skype,” writes Salon.com’s Glenn Greenwald. What Obama and his Justice Department goons are looking for is complete and instant access to all communications. Or, as Greenwald writes, “…every communication and all other human transactions must be subject to government surveillance. Nothing may be beyond the reach of spying agencies. There must be no such thing as true privacy from government authorities.” Read more

Clamping Down On New Technologies

Lobo band not making rivalry trip

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Citing a non-existent travel budget, the University of New Mexico Spirit Marching Band will not be making the 225 mile trip to Las Cruces for the annual Rio Grande rivalry game between UNM and New Mexico State University. "Are they disappointed they don't get to go? Yes! I think that's understandable," said Chad P. Simons, the Director of the Spirit Marching band. “"It's something we look forward to on the years that we know we're going to go down there and it's been upsetting for the whole band,” said Spirit Band Drum Major Kristina Austell. Austell got to go on the trip two years ago. Simons says there are several reasons the team can’t make the trip. $25,000 was taken out of the budget over the past few years and the University says it would rather keep the other money going toward scholarships as oppose to travel. Read more

Lobo band not making rivalry trip

Commentary: Confessions of a UNM Parking Attendant

From the Weekly Alibi.com - by Stephen Sawicki - It was a little irrational, I admit. But ever since last summer, when I got the job as a parking attendant for the University of New Mexico's special-events staff, I had taken to scouring the newspaper's sports section after every home game. Be it football or women's basketball, I was fully expecting to see mention of how my colleagues and I acquitted ourselves the night before. Time and again, I came away disappointed. In truth, with The Pit under renovation and thousands of parking spaces lost to construction, the subject did occasionally earn a paragraph or two, usually at the end of an account of a game. Most of the time it was along the lines of how hellish traffic had been, with vehicles backed up for miles while fans lost their minds waiting to park, or how outraged everyone was at having to hand over $5 for what used to be free. I understood why the parking staff received no coverage. It was the players and coaches who deserved the attention. Like our brothers and sisters in arms—the ushers, ticket-takers and everyone else behind the scenes—we were just the wind beneath the participants' wings. Only a face without a name, you never once heard me complain. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. Some days we spent as many as eight hours under the hot sun doing our jobs. Shouldn't we have our moment in it, too? Read more

Commentary: Confessions of a UNM Parking Attendant

Steve Pearce to Appear on NewsNM Thursday Morning

Steve Pearce

Former New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce, the GOP candidate for U.S. Congress, will appear as our guest on News New Mexico Thursday morning October 7th at 8:00am. Pearce's opponent is freshman Democrat Harry Teague. We will ask Mr. Pearce about the differences between "wilderness" and "open space" designations for parcels of land in southern Dona Ana County. We will get his thoughts on the wisdom of passing of stimulus and bailout legislation in Congress since he left the house in 2008. We will also be discussing the wisdom of the current Congress imposing federal income tax increases on all New Mexicans beginning January 1, 2011. We hope to explore his views on the so-called "Cap and Trade" legislation and see if we can identify who he will support for Speaker of the House if he is elected. Finally, we will read as many of our website visitor and listener questions as possible for Pearce. Please submit your questions for Steve Pearce to contact@newsnm.com.

Steve Pearce to Appear on NewsNM Thursday Morning

Editorial: Marijuana search takes a turn for the ridiculous

Editorial from the Santa Fe NewMexican.com - It's hard to know whether to laugh or cry when reading about a recent raid by law enforcement on a school greenhouse. Last month, officers descended upon Camino de Paz Montessori School and Farm. This, after children at the school told adults they had seen a low-flying helicopter with gun barrels aboard hovering overhead. The helicopter vanished, and about five minutes later, vehicles descended upon the school and four men in bullet-proof vests demanded to inspect the school's greenhouse. Farm director Greg Nussbaum gave the men a tour, they saw tomatoes, and that, says education director Patricia Pantano, "was the story." Except there should be more to this particular story. School officials showed good sense throughout, staying calm, showing off the greenhouse and not exacerbating a mistake — we commend them for grace under pressure. It can't be comfortable for children ages 11 to 14 to watch as their school is searched, especially by officers wearing bullet-proof vests but lacking visible insignias or uniforms. The search apparently occurred as a Region III Narcotics Task Force — state police, county deputies and other law-enforcement agencies, in National Guard helicopters — was raiding suspected marijuana growers in Santa Fe County. That's all well and good. At present, growing and possessing marijuana is against the law. Catch the miscreants; illegal drug selling and use makes all of us less safe. But the fact that officers didn't realize they had found a school greenhouse, rather than a pot-growing plantation, is cause for concern. It's also troubling that our local experts in drug enforcement can't tell the difference between a marijuana leaf and a tomato plant — even from the air, they aren't that similar. Read more

Editorial: Marijuana search takes a turn for the ridiculous

DCCC Reducing Ad Buys In Key Districts including NM2

From National Journalism Hotline on Call - by Jeremy P. Jacobs - With less than four weeks left to Election Day, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is reshuffling where it plans to air ads in the final weeks of the campaign - a key indicator of the its candidates' strength in key battleground states. According to ad buy data confirmed by both Democratic and Republican sources, the DCCC has reduced its ad reservations for the second to last week of the campaign - Oct. 19 to Oct. 29 - in eight districts, seven of which are held by Democrats. In a few of the districts, Democratic sources insist that the changes were made from a position of strength. But in most, the reductions are a sign that Democrats are facing increasingly long odds. The changes underscore the challenge facing the DCCC this year in deciding how to allocate its resources in what seems to be an ever expanding playing field. The changes show that the DCCC is trying to be as tactical as possible, allowing themselves the flexibility to shift money in the final week of the campaign. As with all ad reservations, it is worth keeping mind that these numbers are fluid; they can change right up until ads are planned to air. The DCCC has shaved the size of its ad reservations in 6 districts where Democrats are running behind their Republican challengers in polls. The DCCC has moved its ad reservations a week later in NM 02, where Rep. Harry Teague (D) is facing an uphill fight against former Rep. Steve Pearce (R). Read more

DCCC Reducing Ad Buys In Key Districts including NM2

Linda Chavez: Ignoring the Voters

Linda Chavez

Members of Congress have now returned home to try to save their own jobs, never mind helping the millions of Americans who have lost theirs. "When we come back this fall, the election will be over," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Washington Post. "I hope that it also means that Republicans will finally be able to put the American people ahead of their short-term political interests and ambitions." Reid's comments to the Post are one of the most outrageous examples of double-speak in recent political history. Reid wasn't really talking about Republicans. He was talking about members of his own party. What Reid and his counterpart in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are hoping is that Democrats who lose their seats in the election will be willing to pass legislation in a lame duck session that they know the voting public doesn't support. In Reid's logic, they will be free to vote their liberal ideology. And it won't matter because they will have already lost their jobs. But it is precisely this kind of arrogance that has Democrats in such poor shape heading into the mid-term elections. Read more here:

Linda Chavez: Ignoring the Voters

All the President's Guarantees

President Obama on Golf Course

From Townhall.com by Hugh Hewitt - Two audio clips have received more air time on my radio show this year than any others. The first is Barbara Boxer demanding Army General Michael Walsh call her "senator," not "ma'am." The second is President Obama telling America: "Here's a guarantee that I have made. If you have insurance that you like, then you will be able to keep that insurance. If you've got a doctor that you like, you will be able to keep your doctor." 3M announced this week it is getting out of the business of insuring its retirees. Within a couple of years, all of those former employees will be pushed into Medicare or given a payment towards the cost of insurance obtained from the new exchanges established under Obamacare. There is no guarantee that their coverage will be as good as what they have now, and of course no guarantee that they will have the same doctor. This follows the announcement from The Principal Financial Group that it is exiting the health insurance business, waiving goodbye to its 840,000 covered insureds. Those insureds will not by definition have the same insurance next year, and the impact on their doctor choice is yet to be seen. Read more here:

All the President's Guarantees

Larry Elder - Obamalism

Larry Elder

Obamalism: a political/social/economic philosophy that combines socialism, collectivism and redistributionism wrapped around a killer smile. Welcome, Mr. President, to your new reality. The Republicans need not "take over" Congress to slow the march of the most left-wing president ever elected. To clip President Barack Obama's wings, the GOP simply needs to carve into the once filibuster-proof Democratic Senate. The new 1994 Republican majorities in the House and Senate forced then-President Bill Clinton to smell the center-right coffee. He then signed a more modest domestic budget, welfare reform (after two vetos) and capital gains tax cuts. Despite Obama's defiant assertion that he would rather be a "really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president," he already reluctantly recognizes the reality of a Clinton-like post-midterm pivot. Consider the headline of a recent Wall Street Journal article based on interviews with shellshocked White House personnel: "Obama Likely to Scale Back Legislative Plans: In New Political Landscape, Incremental Approach Is in Works to Get Support for Some Proposals on Energy, Immigration." "Hope and change" has been replaced with "hopeless and small change." Read more here:

Larry Elder - Obamalism