|
The Media is at it again -- from the Desk of Christian Ziegler, Vice Chairman, RPOF
On City Council’s Move On Free Speech
By Bill Abatematteo
How is it that elected officials swear to uphold the US Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Florida, but then unanimously pass laws that fly in the face of that oath. So much for making a promise.
I am aware and understand that it sometimes can be in bad taste to publicly wear clothing, hold signs or have bumper stickers that some people find offensive, including some salty language. But SO WHAT? It's not ILLEGAL. The Supreme Court has already spoken to this issue.
Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court holding that the First Amendment prevented the conviction of Paul Robert Cohen for the crime of disturbing the peace by wearing a jacket displaying "F**k the Draft" in the public corridors of a California courthouse.
The Court ultimately found that displaying a mere four-letter word was not sufficient justification to allow states to restrict free speech and that free speech can be restricted only under severe circumstances beyond offensiveness. Under modern First Amendment jurisprudence profanity cannot categorically be banned.
Because Cohen's conviction was based on speech, Justice Harlan stated that the defendant may be criminally punished only if his speech (the words on his jacket) fell within a specific category of speech that is not protected by the First Amendment, such as speech that incites imminent lawless action. The justice then outlined why the word "f**k" did not fall into one of those categories.
As Justice Harlan said in the decision, "...while the particular four-letter word being litigated here is perhaps more distasteful than most others of its genre, it is nevertheless often true that one man's vulgarity is another's lyric".
The ruling set a precedent used in future cases concerning the power of states to regulate free speech in order to maintain public civility. We learned that; 1) Government at all levels cannot censor their citizens in order to make a “civil” society, because, 2) Knowing where to draw the line between harmless heightened emotion and vulgarity is difficult, arbitrary and subjective, and 3) People bring passion to politics and profanity is simply a side effect of a free exchange of ideas – not matter how radical or offensive they may be to others or how well-intended the law-makers were.
Either our City Council members DON'T know this OR they DON'T CARE. Whether it's ignorance of the law or a blatant disregard of the law, both are equally unacceptable. They Constitution is the Supreme law of the land and NO ONE, including our local lawmakers, are about the law.
In America there are many fundamental things that we hold sacred. They are what sets us apart from every other nation, even if it makes us uncomfortable. And Freedom of Speech is one of them.
Since our Founding, over 1.3 Million Veterans made the Supreme sacrifice so that others can keep saying, displaying and printing things that others may not like. And just like that, the Punta Gorda City Council tramples on their graves and spits in the face of the Constitution with their censorship law. Doesn’t that just suck?
Who made them the Ministry of Speech? The Centurions of Censorship? They should either repeal the unconstitutional provisions of this ill-advised law, no matter how “well intended” it was, or resign. People who do not honor their oath of office don’t truly represent or work for us at all, nor do they deserve to.
This attempt to outlaw protected speech could bring negative publicity to our community and has the potential to result in a series of lawsuits and costly litigation, settlements and awards by those charged with this unconstitutional offense, as well as from those groups and organizations that will target our City for this legislative transgression. If this happens, who will be responsible for these expenses? And will those responsible be held accountable?
I think it's about time we start electing Patriots to office. People who, no matter how unpopular it might be at times, will pledge to honor, uphold and make our Constitution their PRIORITY - rather than their latest version of Political Correctness or Social Control.
DeSantis Puts Florida School Boards on Notice
Letter From Christian Ziegler, Vice Chair Republican Party of Florida
I'll admit, it's VERY difficult to drill down to my favorite action taken by Governor DeSantis to date.
But outside of his freedom loving response to COVID, DeSantis pouncing on Critical Race Theory and Mandatory Masking of our Children might be my favorite action he has taken thus far.
And as the husband of Conservative School Board Member Bridget Ziegler(follow her on Facebook) who has battled "Republican" School Board Members in a Republican County that run & win as Republicans, but vote as Liberals once sworn-in, I am happy to see DeSantis has figured out the game and won't stand for it.
Because by putting both Democrat AND Republican School Board Members on notice that his political operation will target them if they support Critical Race Theory and/or Mandatory Masking of our children, he is not only cleaning house today, but protecting the next generation. This is fantastic.
Watch the video clip, share the image, and read the article (all posted below). Make sure to share each piece of content to help us get the word out!
New Precinct Leadership Join Our Ranks.
Sixteen new Republican Committeemen and women sworn in on May 27 at the Executive Committee quarterly meeting
Independents Forfeit Voting Opportunities
When voters choose to be “independent,” they forfeit their chance to pre-select their choice of whom will be on the ballot for President, Senator and other important Federal, State and Local offices in November when the general election takes place. In Charlotte County, largely Republican, often the final choice for whom will assume key local offices takes place in the primary election.
When a large percentage of our population does not participate in the primary process, our election system as a whole may be compromised by not having their weigh-in in the selection of who will ultimately run for key elected offices including the presidency.
While there may be a lot of moral or symbolic satisfaction in skipping primaries by declaring oneself “independent,” in a practical sense it’s a surrender of one of the most important political rights you have and could pose a threat to our Republic.
We encourage your full participation in our political process. And if you believe in a limited Federal Government, fair immigration policies with secure borders, equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, creed, sex, age or disability, we hope you will consider registering as a Republican.
It is quite easy to change your registration. Go to https://registertovoteflorida.gov/eligibilityreactive.
Fight Back against Fake News - Don't Cancel - Fight
It's easy to say I'm going to cancel the local paper when they continuously run articles against our conservative values and our Republican officials like Ron DeSantis, our Governor. But, unfortunately, until someone can come along with the bucks to start a local newspaper that will compete, we are where we are and can't afford to give up on a megaphone that reaches thousands of citizens in our community. So what to do. Do what the Dems do -- Fight.
Write letters to the editor supportive of Republican legislators, and supportive of legislative initiatives that will protect our vote, protect parent's rights in education. Write letters supporting our Bill of Rights - freedom of speech, the right to bear arms. Respond to negative articles and editorials in the paper -- present good arguments against them. If you don't have time to write letters yourself, join our letter writing group and we will help. Go to charlottegop.com and volunteer.
If you are really angry, talk to advertisers and ask them to tell the paper to get more articles and editorials in the paper that support conservative, Republican issues and events. Our county has 2/1 registered Republicans. Advertisers want to reach them. The advertisers have more power with the press - they pay a larger portion of the bill.
You accomplish very little by canceling your local subscription They will carry on without your subscription. What we need to do is intervene and do everything we can to get our message out.
<tmurtha>
Beware of the Poisoned Apple - The Left’s Agenda
In the classic fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the evil Queen arrives at Snow White’;s cottage disguised as an old peddler. Despite being warned by the seven dwarfs to not open the door for anyone or accept any gifts, Snow White answers the door. The Evil Queen lures Snow White into taking a bite from a beautiful , shiny apple, actually a poisoned apple.
The moral of the story is be wary of hidden agendas such as that behind much of the Democrat’s legislation but in particular their deceptively labeled For the People Act. Presented as a shiny apple that will repair democracy and bring social justice, the bill is transformative alright as described and poison to our Republic. It would essentially federalize elections and make it easier for Democrats to cheat.
Now in the Senate as S. 1, some of the poison:
Sends federal dollars to fund political campaigns. Not to build roads or bridges but to add 600 percent of federal money to every small dollar donated by Americans. So let’s say Mary from Michigan donates $200 to her preferred candidate. Well, now the U.S. Treasury has just chipped in another 1,200 bucks.
Legalizes voting for convicted felons all over the country…even if they were convicted of election fraud. Does that make sense to you? Not only is this dangerous…it’
Weakens the security of our elections and make it harder to protect against voter fraud. Here’s how: It would automatically register voters from DMV and other government databases. Voting is a right, not a mandate. In most cases, this legislation would actually prevent officials from removing ineligible voters from the rolls and would make it much more difficult to verify the accuracy of voter information. So future voters might be underage or dead or illegal immigrants, or registered two or three times….
Contains various poorly written and confusing requirements that could be difficult or even impossible to interpret leading to election malfunctions
The shiny apple with false misleading promises actually is designed to keep a Federal Government run by Democrats in power indefinitely - a dangerous, poisonous path.