RE: First Amendemnt

[Joan Johnson <joan@altair.com>]

First Amendment rights, while initially for political purposes, has indeed been extended to pretty much anything goes. As much as I am uncomfortable hearing some of the things others say, I can not subject them to restrictions. The best I can hope is that those individuals who hear the rhetoric will be thoughtful enough to discern the accurate information from the untruths. However, advertisement type of messages from organizations, whether political or commercial, have the obligation to contain their sources and speak the truth. Commercial ads (for products) are regulated to do so. Are we to understand that political advertisements, via first amendment protections, are therefore not obligated to speak the truth? Do such messages fall under "buyer beware"? If the message receives funding from either "hard" or "soft" money and hits the airwaves via radio, television, or Internet, I believe it must be accurate in its facts and tagged with its sponsors. Otherwise we hold two standards, one for commercial products to protect the public, and a second for political commercials where the public remains largely unprotected.