In a particulary tiresome letter intended to drum up more dollars for his personal war-fund, “Morality In Media” President Bob Peters recently sent an “open letter” to President-elect Barack Obama (did he forget the “Hussein”?).

http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/news/LettertoPresidentElectObama-Nov08.pdf

Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if the letter had looked like the following? Incidentally, we at TFW don’t support the “fairness doctrine” for talk radio. We also don’t support hate speech laws or hate crime legislation, per say. Let the Righties have their “hate porn”. We just think this clown’s priorities are unhinged. There are so many causes to which an American citizen can devote his time and effort - why go after sex, the First Amendment and the libertarian free speech tradition in this country, unless you’re either a money-grubbing charlatan, a religious extremist or a totalitarian (communist, fascist … pick a flavor)?

In a Letter to Presidential-elect Barack Obama, MIM President Bob Peters said: Your Choice is Either to Build on the Limited Progress Made Under Former President Clinton in Combating Hate Speech or to Follow in President Bush‘s Footsteps and Give Hardcore Right-Wing Talk Radio Haters Another ‘Free Ride’

NEW YORK (Nov. 6, 2008) – MIM President Bob Peters has sent President-elect Obama a letter. In his letter, Mr. Peters said in part:

…But if you now hope to become the President of all Americans, you will have to make policy decisions that citizens who voted for and against you can support.

I am writing to you again about the need to vigorously enforce federal hate speech laws…In particular, the individuals you nominate to serve as Attorney General, Director of the FBI…will play crucial roles in the matter of enforcement or non-enforcement of federal hate speech laws. In the longer term, your nominations for federal judges will also play a crucial role…

…The First Amendment does not protect hate speech materials. As the Supreme Court stated in a 1942 obscenity case, Chaplinksy v. New Hampshire, words “which by their very utterance inflict injury” and which “are no essential part of any exposition of ideas.” Are “wholly outside of the protection of the First Amendment” …

It is of course no secret that the U.S. has failed miserably at “enforcing effective safeguards against exposure to juveniles” over the public airwaves. AM radio in particular is awash with hardcore right-wing hate speech materials that are available to minors without cost or proof of age; and surveys indicate that large numbers of children have been inadvertently exposed to these materials or have sought them out.

Citizen organizations involved in the “war against right-wing hate radio” have often and rightly criticized the Bush Administration for its failure to vigorously enforce federal hate speech laws. But in fairness to the Bush Administration, this same administration has inadvertently given right-wing hate radio a bad name, since right-wing radio hosts parrot the talking points of Bush Administation propagandists, who have led the nation into a widely-acknowledged state of bankruptcy, both economic and moral.

The choice for you as the next President is either to build on the progress made by your Democratic predecessor or to allow the Justice Department to continue with the policy adopted under President Bush’s watch – namely, to give commercial distributors of hardcore radio hate speech a “free ride.” If you choose to be a builder, the large majority of Americans old enough to vote will support you….

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