A Good Day for Freedom of Speech

“If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits jailing citizens for engaging in political speech.”

–Justice Anthony Kennedy, introducing today’s Citizens United decision.

Precisely. The correct way to rebut unwelcome speech is not to silence it. It is to counter it with more speech. Let the best arguments win. Advocating speech restrictions is a fancy way of saying, “my arguments are too weak to withstand criticism.” Get better arguments, then!

Free speech issues aside, there is a reason why McCain-Feingold is informally known as the Incumbent Protection Act. It stacks the deck against challengers. No wonder so many incumbent politicians from both parties have come out against today’s decision. It’s bad for their job security.