Democrats: Silence & Conformity Are The Highest Forms Of Patriotism!!!

THEN...NOW

They can't talk about the 'recovery.'  They can't talk about Obama's stunning foreign policy achievements.  And, as for Obamacare, well, they proceed at their own risks facing polls that have been underwater since May 2009, upended the healthcare system, caused skyrocketing premiums and deductibles, dropped insurance plans for millions and has produced an unprecedented  angry backlash.

So, with a dismal record like that, what would the typical Democrat consider a practical feat?  Silence their critics.  If Democrats can't speak about their pathetic record of one failure after another, then neither is anyone else.  Capisce or do we need to send over a heavy with a truncheon to teach your kneecaps a lesson or two?

From The Hill:

Senate Democrats will schedule a vote this year on a constitutional amendment to reform campaign finance as they face tens of millions of dollars worth of attack ads from conservative groups.

The Senate will vote on an amendment sponsored by Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) that would overturn two recent court cases that have given corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals free rein to spend freely on federal races.

“The Supreme Court is trying to take this country back to the days of the robber barons, allowing dark money to flood our elections. That needs to stop, and it needs to stop now,” said Senate Rules Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who announced the plan.

“The only way to undo the damage the court has done is to pass Senator Udall’s amendment to the Constitution, and Senate Democrats are going to try to do that,” he said.

Schumer said the vote would take place by year’s end and called on Republican colleagues to join Democrats to ensure “the wealthy can’t drown out middle-class voices in our Democracy.”

Amending the First Amendment will never succeed.  First, it takes passage of the proposed amendment by 3/5ths of both the Senate and the House before being sent to the states for ratification, which requires 38 states to vote in the affirmative - something that is just not going to happen for an issue like this in today's polarised and Balkanised America.  As Allahpundit of HotAir.com dryly observed:

'I doubt that Senate Democrats will get three-quarters of their own caucus to vote to amend the First Amendment, but if they do, that will make a really tasty talking point for Republicans in the midterms. “Democrats can’t defend their policy failures,” they’ll argue, “so they want to keep people from spending their own money to criticize them.” And they’ll be right.'

As authoritarian, dictatorial, lawless, and absolutely peevish the Democrats have become, I am, quite frankly, surprised that they didn't attempt to revive the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, which criminalised criticism of the President, Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Federal government.  No, I didn't accidentally omit the Vice-President.  He was specifically excluded from coverage.  John Adams was President and Thomas Jefferson was Vice-President.  The two, especially the former, loathed one another.

These were just a few of the 'terms of endearment' thrown around by both during the 1800 presidential election:

From the Adams camp:
 

'Jefferson is a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.'

'Should Jefferson prove victorious, there is scarcely a possibility that we shall escape a Civil War.  Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, incest will be openly taught and practised, the air will be rent with the cries of distress, the soil will be soaked with blood, the nation black with crimes.'

'Jefferson is the son of a half-breed Indian squaw raised on hoe-cakes.'

'Are you prepared to see your dwellings in flames? Female chastity violated?'Children writhing on the pike?  If, not prepare for the task of protecting your government.  Look at every leading Jacobin as at a ravening wolf, preparing to enter your peaceful fold, and glut his deadly appetite on the virals of your country.'

'Jefferson is a weakling, an atheist, a libertine, and a coward.'

'Every dissolute intriguer, loose-liver, forger, false coiner, and prison-bird; every hair-brained, loud talking demagogue; every speculator, scoffer and atheist - is a follower of Jefferson.'

'The question is not what he will do, but what he is.  Is he an infidel?  Then, you cannot elect him without betraying our Lord.  From all known infidels then let us withdraw our confidence and support.  We are highly criminal if we knowingly contribute in any way to increase their influence or power for in so doing we contribute to our own and our country's ruin.  Let us hear no more, at such times, of amiability and gentleness -- or candor, liberality, and moderation -- of conciliating, mild and generous feeling.  Such qualities are now not virtues, but vices.'

'Great god of compassion and justice, shield my country from destruction.'

– The banner of The Connecticut Current, a Federalist-leaning newspaper.

'If Thomas Jefferson wins, murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will be openly taught and practiced. The air will be rent with the cries of the distressed, the soil will be soaked with blood, and the nation black with crimes. Are you prepared to see your dwellings in flames, female chastity violated, and children writhing on a pike?'

'Jefferson is one of the most detestable of mankind.  Preach it!'

- Martha Washington to clergymen

From the Jefferson camp:

 

'President Adams has a hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.'

  

'Hamilton is a Creole b@stard brat of a Scotch pedlar.' 

'John Adams is a blind, bald crippled toothless man, who secretly wants to start a war with France.  When he’s not busy importing mistresses from Europe, he’s trying to marry one of his sons to a daughter of King George III.'

'Adams is a traitor, who wants to marry one of his daughters to the Prince of Wales and return the United States to Britain.' 

'Adams is a fool, a hypocrite, a criminal, and a tyrant.'

Fortunately, Jefferson defeated Adams and the Acts were repealed.

Woodrow Wilson resurrected the Sedition Act and added the Espionage Act for good measure, which saw even men criticising America's entry into WWI - that would be the entry into a war four months after Wilson won reelection with the slogan 'He kept us out of the war - at their own dining room tables prosecuted for sedition and/or espionage.

Read this horrifying story for an idea of the hideousness and flagrant abuse of these two Acts:
 

How Progressives Killed Robert Goldstein Through Censorship, Police State Tactics, Unconstitutional Laws, & Railroading All The Way Into A Cattlecar On The Road To A Nazi Concentration Camp

Fortunately, the Sedition Act, for all intents and purposes, was neutered by the Supreme Court in Brandenburg v Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969).  Per the decision, it is unconstitutional to punish Americans for their inflammatory or critical speech unless such is intended to incite and is likely to result in imminent, lawless action.
 
The most protected of speech is that which is political in nature.  Money is speech and when used for political purposes it should be given the same intense level of respect and protection that we afford the freedoms of speech, religion, the press, assembly, and the right to seek from our government redress of grievances.