Blue Collar Muse

[…] AZ County GOP Pols Squash 1st Amendment Rights | Blue Collar Muse conservablogs.com/bluecollarmuse/2009/10/27/az-county-gop-pols-squash-1st-amendment-rights – view page – cached Usually when I hear stories about a Governmental something-or-other trampling on the 1st amendment rights of Liberty loving Americans I think of national — From the page […]

[…] with links to additional blog coverage at Blue Collar Muse. Sphere: Related Content Share on: Facebook | digg_url = […]

I missed the 1st Amendment squelching in this article, amid all the hand-waving rhetoric. Freedom of speech does not equal freedom from consequences… how does disclosure of conflicts of interest according to ethics rules suppress speech?

Sorry, don’t see it. Of course people have the ability to speak their minds, but when doing so creates a conflict of interest something has to give. The 1st Amendment guarantees a person’s freedom from restrictions on his speech. It does not remove the expectation to act according to a code of ethics required as a condition of employment or certification. A code of ethics doesn’t stop when you clock out - this ain’t a job stacking groceries at the corner store.

There’s obviously a balance to be struck here such that general 1st Amendment rights are not ‘chilled’ but this is a grey and fuzzy line. Certainly the County is reasonable in wondering if a Public Information Officer is also anonymously blogging about county business… especially if the pseudonymous blogging conflicts with the official messages the PIO is supposed to be communicating.

@Spool -

But that doesn’t seem to be the case here. As the link to the Sonoran Alliance notes, the Alliance is editorializing on material sent to them as press releases by the County Supervisors, for heaven’s sake!! But since the Sonoran Alliance also maintains a strict anonymity policy when it comes to their contributors, Smith and company are demanding names. That’s not a violation of your properly noted responsibility to our employers. It is, however, a fishing expedition by Smith and it does not take a rocket scientist to wonder what Smith and his people would do with the information should they obtain it. That’s the chilling part …

[…] they keep telling us we need to act more like Democrats, […]

This article reinforces the need for the People to reclaim the GOP beginning at the local level. We must toss out the RINOs and other liberals in our midst. We cannot compromise our ideals by coniuing to elect corrupt politicians, whatever their label. We must become as relentless as the liberals in pushing a conservative agenda.
The very term RINO signifies corruption of ideals. RINOs and Democrats are always seeking bipartisanship and compromise. That only brings us closer and closer to the destruction of America. Remember, to compromise is to surrender.

[…] friend Ken Marrero over at Blue Collar Muse has posted an interesting if not entirely infuriating story about GOP officials coming down on […]

[…] again#gop #newshttp://voluntarilyconservative.blogspot.com/2009/10/gop-run-amok-in-arizona.htmlBlue Collar Muse has the story out of Maricopa County, one in a disturbing trend of recent Republican episodes that […]

@Spool -

I have to disagree, once again. If the nature of the problem is that the County Attorney’s office is releasing information that they should not, then that would be a legitimate complaint whether the offender publishing that material was an anonymous blogger or the County Attorney PIO. Because the nature of the problem is not WHO published but WHAT was published. I have found no legitimate complaint from the County Manager or Supervisors regarding the nature of the material being published.

If, on the other hand, the nature of the problem is that who is doing the publishing and the County Manager is upset because he does not have a real live target to go after, that is an entirely different thing. As I mentioned before, if the Sonoran Alliance is merely editorializing on material sent to them in a presser or on the content of a story from an Old Media source, then why isn’t David Smith squeezing the person who issued the press release and the Old Media as well? And if he were to do so, why not squeeze the leak for being the leak as opposed to squeezing him for who he leaked the story to? What harm has a blogger committed if he gets a presser from a PIO and reprints or comments on its contents? The blogger has the assumption that a PIO for the County would be aware of what he could or couldn’t send out. How is the blogger then wrong for using the material?

This is a fishing expedition by Smith, plain and simple. He hates it that he is getting whacked for legitimate things on a regular basis and has finally lost his cool. There have been any number of these sorts of things over the years and they generally end badly for the guy doing the complaining. Where it hasn’t, it’s been because the guy in Smith’s chair has been able to show that the blogger in question broke the law. Smith can’t even SEE that place from where he is.

Game over for Smith’s complaint. Game on for why Smith should be permitted to do what he did.

Either folks are not aware of this situation in it’s entirety or they have been duped and greatly mislead by a haphazard attempt to create an ulterior story to save someones ass. I would highly discourage folks from carrying through with this direction anymore than they already have. Very soon more light will be shed on this situation in Maricopa County etc.

There are folks on the inside of this preparing objectives etc, hell there are even folks within Thomas’s own office that are planning to assist with what is really going on behind those doors. This has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Bloggers, bloggers rights and or the 1st Amendment. ZERO..NOTHING.

There may in fact be argument to the accusations and or methodology etc…hell there rightly is with anything. However, don’t fall into the pre-conceived trap being set. People have already made huge mistakes online regarding this issue, those mistakes may seem small on onset however they multiply in severity daily. Should this continue beyond this point just how in the hell would you expect folks that know better NOT to publicly disseminate not only this but the half-ass ‘plan of attack’ coming out of Thomas’s own office? (which they weren’t even bright enough to mask properly as they so feverishly spoke of doing…and yep someone’s singing like a pigeon about that as well)

Don’t buy into this complete horse-shit. This has already gotten way out of hand as far as folks running with incorrect material etc.

Soon Thomas and some of his folks will get the trial experience they lack . . . too bad for them it will be as defendants.

Hewitt might indeed pick it up for those drooling for him to do so . . . of course I’m sure he will pick up the truth very shortly after.

[…] GOP NEWS: AZ heavies STOMP on 1st amendment rights? By BlueCollarMuse http://conservablogs.com/bluecollarmuse/2009/10/27/az-county-gop-pols-squash-1st-amendment-rights/ […]

[…] this story is really flying. As I reported earlier, my friend Ken Marrero over at Blue Collar Muse posted an interesting if not entirely infuriating story about GOP officials coming down on other […]

Rep. Tom McClintock made a great speech about this the other day.

http://mcclintock.house.gov/2009/10/in-defense-of-dissent-1.shtml

Check out his website while you’re there!