Democrats to Lose Right to Free Speech...Oh My!

Here's a good one. In this letter sent out to Democrats, Governor Howard Dean, M.D. claims that Democrats in the Senate are about to lose their right to free speech if the Republicans change the number of votes required to kill a filibuster from 60 to 51!

I quote

"Today Harry Reid and the Democratic Senators asked us, the American people, to help them preserve the right of our elected representatives to speak their mind on the floor of the U.S. Senate."

Sorry guys, but the First Amendment does not address the rules of the Senate.

The interesting thing to note here however is that none of these great defenders of our First Amendment rights cried out when they passed Campaign-Finance Reform which turned the First Amendment on its head for us!!

(I was going to post a comment on their site, but in order to register you have to be a Democrat, and I just didn't have it in me to break their rules. I can understand them however. They surely don't want any truth to get in the way of their ranting.)

Oh heck - I was going to continue to pick this letter apart, but due to lack of time I'll just copy the whole letter below and welcome your comments. All I can do is shake my head at the lies and other misleading statements in it.

Here's the letter:

Submitted by golfmonkey on March 15, 2005 - 11:54pm.
I received this today from the Democratic Party. Please read and sign the petition.
Thanks!

Sometimes partisan politics gets overheated -- I know that as well as anyone. But when one
party controls all three branches of government, and then seeks to change the fundamental principles and rules of our democracy, we need to talk about it soberly and seriously.

The Republican Senate leaders have decided to fundamentally alter the role of Congress -- they want to give George Bush unprecedented power to manipulate the legislative branch and the
courts.

Today Harry Reid and the Democratic Senators asked us, the American people, to help them preserve the right of our elected representatives to speak their mind on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

We have to act. Sign this petition, which we will deliver to every U.S. Senator, asking them to protect the right to free speech in the Senate. If they don't, it is not only their voice that will be silenced -- it will be ours: http://www.democrats.org/freespeech

Here are the facts: George Bush has appointed judges to lifetime positions at a better rate than any president in nearly three decades. More than 95% of his nominees have been approved. Only ten nominees have been refused -- all because they are unqualified and out of the mainstream.
But that's not enough. And on this issue, as on Social Security, it is becoming more and more obvious to everyone that the Republican leadership is out of touch with reality.

More Americans voted against George Bush than any sitting president in history. And that same
day, across the country, the Democratic candidates for Senate received over 4 million more votes than Republicans.

Americans did not endorse the fringe agenda to dismantle Social Security. And they did not endorse dismantling the system of checks and balances that have served our country for over 200 years.

Please tell your Senator to stand up for free speech: http://www.democrats.org/freespeech

This is not a partisan issue -- it is an American issue. And we all must act together in
order to protect our democracy.

Thank you.
Governor Howard Dean, M.D.