Tuesday, September 15, 2009

1st Amendment? Welcome to the "Silent Hill"

It's starting to sound like an insurance policy, that doesn't cover anything, what with all the exceptions.
Chairwoman Louise M. Slaughter, US House of Representatives Committee on the Rules Majority Office.
Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual it has been held that a Member could:

* refer to the government as “something hated, something oppressive.”
* refer to the President as “using legislative or judicial pork.”
* refer to a Presidential message as a “disgrace to the country.”
* refer to unnamed officials as “our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs.”

Likewise, it has been held that a member could not:

* call the President a “liar.”
* call the President a “hypocrite.”
* describe the President’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.”
* charge that the President has been “intellectually dishonest.”
* refer to the President as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”
* refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the President’s part.”
Sure you have free speech, just don't use it here.


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