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The unconscionable denials of Common Cause

September 13, 2009 Category :First Amendment| media| politics| SCOTUS| television 0

One of the most important cases regarding mass political discourse was argued before an unusual early session of the Supreme Court Wednesday last. The case is Citizens United v. The Federal Elections Commission (FEC), and the ultimate decision may rewrite campaign finance law. Common Cause is justifiably concerned, but they’re just not being honest about the fundamental issue that made SCOTUS revisit the whole question of campaign regulation.

This is first and foremost a first amendment question. You see that clearly in the amicus brief from the American Civil Liberties Union:

This case involves core political speech protected by the First Amendment, long recognized as a fundamental foundation of our democracy. Such core political speech enjoys the maximum possible protection under our Constitution. Yet a federal agency claims the legal authority to prohibit the broadcast of such core political speech. We submit that this Court should redouble its vigilance in protecting the fundamental freedom in this case so essential to our very democracy and self-governance, and our very nature as a free people.

It’s very possible, listening to Common Cause, that you wouldn’t even know the First Amendment is involved. If you joined their webchat expecting to hear the facts in the case addressed, you’d discover the words “First Amendment” never appeared in the discussion, though they did receive questions about it.

Here’s the problem:

U. S. C. §431(9)(B)(i)

The term “expenditure” does not include—

(i) any news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication, unless such facilities are owned or controlled by any political party, political committee, or candidate;
So the good old boy media gets to say what it wants, even if some of that media (I’m talking to you, Fox) is so close to being owned or controlled by a political party or committee that it’s a distinction without a difference. But Common Cause doesn’t want you to think about this, even though they assure me in private email that they believe they did talk about the first amendment and “freedom of speech” in the chat.

Common Cause claims they’re writing responses to the comments they didn’t get to, though none appears to have been posted yet. Meanwhile, they’re sending out letters begging for money that still fail to acknowledge there are substantial first amendment issues here and a new media landscape that in itself could be a game-changer.

The computer media revolution that made video production on a laptop the equal of million dollar motion picture methods makes U. S. C. §431(9)(B)(i) capriciously discriminatory. Striking it down would result in some really reprehensible pieces of documentary style trash, for which I assume Hillary: The Movie is a prime example.

But that’s the way things work in a free media environment. Common Cause needs to argue its position as an honest broker. Not try to stack the deck by refusing to acknowledge the very facts in the case that troubled the high court in the first place.

CommonCause:  

We’re going to be getting started in about five minutes. Please feel free to begin submitting your comments or questions about the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case that will be heard at the Supreme Court tomorrow.

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