The threats to our freedom of speech are growing. Congress has never been more willing to sacrifice your freedom of speech to placate their constituents, to advance their agenda and increase its power over those who dare to disagree. The International Law Courts and the United Nations are under increasing pressure to undermine the freedoms upon which western civilization and free societies depend.
Current Threats to the Freedom of Speech
Academic Censorship - the cult of the politically correct gone wild against Educational Freedom.
Read about the persecution of students and teachers who dare to exercise their free speech at American Colleges and Universities at The Foundation For Individual Rights In Education. www.thefire.org
Learn about the widespread suppression of scientific criticism of the Darwinian theory by watching "Expelled" by Ben Stein. www.expelledthemovie.com
In the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference has mounted a full court press to silence Christians, Jews and other critics of Islam, under the "Combating Defamation of Religions" resolution. This law would make it a crime in the United States to criticize Islam and would sanction the death penalty for blasphemy in Islamic nations.
For more information on this annual threat from the organized Islamic world, check out www.eclj.org and www.jihadwatch.org and www.americancongressfortruth.com
Hate Crimes legislation
The Gay rights activists have been relentless in their pressure to criminalize critics of the homosexual lifestyle, an open and frontal assault on the Catholic Church, Christians that believe the Bible is true, and thinking people that believe that humans have not outgrown or evolved beyond the natural laws handed down by Nature's God. Unwilling to have an open and robust debate over gay rights, unwilling to give parents the freedom to teach their children their faith and values, the Gay rights movement finds it is much easier just to outlaw objections to homosexuality. The advocates of "tolerance" have legalized "intolerance" to suit themselves.
Fairness Doctrine - Control of political views on the radio. Consider this press release on March 10, 2009 on the status of the fight to keep American radio free by US Senator Jim DeMint:
U.S. Senators John Thune (R-SD), Jim DeMint (R-SC), James Inhofe (R-OK), and Mike Enzi (R-WY) today released statements in support of Senator Thune's amendment to the Omnibus Appropriations bill (H.R. 1105) that would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reinstating the so-called Fairness Doctrine. The Senate passed a similar amendment to the DC Voting Rights Act with broad bipartisan support, but that bill has since stalled in the House of Representatives.
The Thune Amendment to the Omnibus Appropriations bill, which is expected to be considered by the Senate today, would prohibit the FCC from using any funding in Fiscal Year 2009 to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.
"This amendment is an opportunity for Senators of both parties to reaffirm our commitment to protecting free speech on the airwaves and the Internet," said Thune. "Government censors determining what is 'fair' is a far cry from what Americans understand their First Amendment rights to be. We live in an age where unprecedented numbers of people across the globe have access to more and more information and ideas, and I believe that Congress should not take a step backward by inhibiting the free expression of opinion."
"We won an important victory when the Senate voted to ban the Fairness Doctrine, but it hasn't become law yet and the fight is not over. As we have seen with the emergence of the new Durbin Doctrine that attacks free speech through backdoor FCC regulations, we know many on the left have no intentions to abandon their efforts to censor talk radio. Senator Thune's amendment is necessary to ensure the Fairness Doctrine cannot be implemented this year and I applaud his stand for free speech," said Senator DeMint.
[Quoted from Senator Jim DeMint's website www.demint.senate.gov]
So did Maryland's Senators bravely stand for freedom? No.
Sadly, your Maryland Senators, Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, both voted AGAINST FREEDOM.
Senator Mikulski voted NAY to the Thune Amendment (HR 1105), which means Maryland voted FOR CENSORSHIP.
Because Maryland's US Senators voted to NAY to freedom, the Thune Amendment was defeated by a vote of 47 YEAs to 50 NAYs.
Citizens of Maryland, the time has come to replace your Senators with leaders that will fight and vote to defend your precious freedom of speech.
Vote for Jim Rutledge for the United States Senate, a leader pledged to safeguard your Freedoms.
