tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364362406345742956.post3768084124813045841..comments2023-10-23T09:23:05.584-05:00Comments on Live Oaks: When Self-Defense is WrongBrian Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06604845862020723068noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364362406345742956.post-82868502492022067932010-02-03T07:50:59.496-06:002010-02-03T07:50:59.496-06:00According to your argument, any group of individua...According to your argument, any group of individuals--including unions and PACs--should be prohibited from contributing to political campaigns. Like corporations, these are organizations comprised of individuals. These groups don't have a right to vote, they are not citizens.<br /><br />The First Amendment does not state that Congress shall make no laws that abridge free speech, except when individuals act in unison. It states that Congress shall make no such laws under any condition.<br /><br />An exception to a principle negates the principle. Either individual rights are inviolate or they are not. If they are--and they are--then they may not be violated, whether the individual is acting alone or with others.Brian Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06604845862020723068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2364362406345742956.post-52858249320474051772010-02-03T05:36:08.346-06:002010-02-03T05:36:08.346-06:00I disagree with several things you say here, but I...I disagree with several things you say here, but I will only take specific exception to one of them: "Indeed, the Supreme Court ruling that he finds so distasteful actually extended some measure of freedom to the individuals who own businesses."<br /><br />What nonsense. The "individuals" who own businesses were not deprived of their rights. It was corporations (which, in some LIMITED ways, are allowed to act as individuals) that were restricted. And I would like to point out that despite the recent disastrous SCOTUS decision, corporations are NOT citizens, do NOT have a right to vote, and do NOT possess inalienable rights, such as those guaranteed by the First Amendment.<br /><br />Given those facts, they should also NOT be allowed to influence government.<br /><br />The INDIVIDUALS who work for or in those corporations have rights... but the corporations themselves do not. The individuals are and have been free to make whatever political contributions of their own that they want. It was corporate contributions that were formerly restricted, and that is a different matter entirely, both in fact and in principle.<br /><br />If you think corporations do and should have the same rights as citizens, then you need to go back to school and study your history and Constitution again. From the beginning.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com