Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Jamie Comer wrong on freedom of speech

It's no secret gubernatorial candidate James Comer has been talking to lawyers about people talking to bloggers. Looks like he may need some better advice or something.

Comer claimed in a radio debate today in Louisville that Hal Heiner's campaign violated the law by speaking to a Lexington blogger.

Speaking to Heiner, Comer said "if you see an email that was sent from your running mate to this blogger, encouraging this blogger to contact all the Republican Party chairs and vice-chairs of the state and spreading lies about me, coordinating -- which is illegal on its own -- with this blogger, how would you react to that as the leader of your ticket with your running mate and your campaign staff?"

I would love to challenge Comer to show us the statute forbidding conversation, interaction or -- if you must -- coordination between a blogger and a candidate or a member of a campaign staff. He can't do it, of course, because no such prohibition exists anywhere.

This is really getting embarrassing. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for someone speeding in a school zone. That should go ten times more for someone who claims he wants to be Governor. The state government's chief executive officer is charged with faithfully executing state law. How can he be expected to do that if he doesn't even understand citizens' rights regarding our ability to speak to each other?