The First Amendment... Only for the Ruling Class?

Senator Nelson,

For the purposes of this discussion we need the definition of two words.

(1) Lobbyist- Someone who is employed to persuade legislators to vote for legislation that favors the lobbyist's employer.

(2) Commercial- A paid announcement produced for targeted audiences to sell products or ideas.

As my elected officials prepare to block the latest Supreme Court ruling on free speech I must raise my hand with the following question in mind... Have you completely gone over the edge? Your fearless leader has lobbyists running around the White House telling him what each of the special interest groups want him to do. A word smith lovingly builds a moving argument and loads it into a teleprompter. A button is pushed, and presto, the man who has become a puppet eloquently pours those words into the ears of his fellow citizens hoping to change our "opinion". In essence, your leader has become the most powerful lobbyist to have ever been born.

Now, you in the Senate have decided what is good for the goose is not good for the gander. You have developed a bill to block the free speech of a group of citizens who have formed a corporation and wish to make paid political commercials to present their views. Somewhat like a lobbyist except the doors are open and the smoke has cleared. You believe we are not smart enough to see through the "commercial". You believe we will go out and vote for whatever because we are "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs". You believe you are more worldly than us and wish to protect us from differing ideas. You believe we might become confused, disheartened, maybe even downright disgruntled when presented with an opposing viewpoint.

Senator, as a retired Navy chief I have been around the block more than a couple times. I have seen what happens to a country when the government controls its people instead of the people controlling the government. The muzzling of differing ideas in a public venue while allowing the ruling class access to the information from essentially the same people is not just being hypocritical, it is being truly pharisaical. In truth, your attempt to block the recent ruling by the Supreme Court by legislating the silence of American citizens is the first step in totalitarianism.

With the respect due the Office,
Edward Rodda

P.S. Perhaps a couple more definitions are in order...

Pharisaical- Hypocritically self-righteous and condemnatory.

Totalitarianism- A centralized government that does not tolerate parties of differing opinion and that exercises dictatorial control over many aspects of life.