Election Law Center
more red than the ivory tower
Injustice
Order INJUSTICE by J.Christian Adams Today.Bio Link
email: adams@electionlawcenterdotcom
Radio or TV Inquiries
Call Kelly Hoffman
(703) 535-3390
khoffman@blackrockgrp.com
Syndicate
Custom Text
Election Law Center: Should we trust anonymous political speech?
There's a difference between the Federalist papers and anonymously tweeting "Thomas Jefferson cheated on his wife." The former is a well-designed and considered social document, the other a baseless, pernicious slur. I think the founding fathers would have understood the difference.
EDITOR COMMENT: No doubt they would have understood the difference, because they engaged in it. Anonymous political speech was part and parcel of the nation's fabric from the 1700's. The presidential election of 1800 was in large part driven by anonymous political speech, for example. Jefferson's anonymous charges tainted Adams, and vice versa. These Constitutional giants practiced anonymous political speech as well as any since. I'm sure some academic's blogs would be appalled by their actions if they existed in 1800.
Reply to this