The Glade 4.0

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"...but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom." - De Tocqueville

I'm torn on this one. I dislike any attempts by government to actually stop people from saying whatever they want. However, the amount of misleading and wholly incorrect information being tossed around out there from various parties is insane, so I understand where the HSS is coming from.

I come away thinking of Chris Rock's comments about O.J. "I'm not saying he should have done it, but I understand..."

I'm not sure its really misleading. If a senior is on Medicare Advantage, their health plan will be affected. Obama claims they are being "grossly overpaid", but they are being paid the same amount as Medicare pays for the services.

I believe in this case, from the limited amount I have read, the information being sent to seniors by the insurance company was a break down of the changes as outlined and reported by the CBO. Its pretty damn hard to claim the letter is misinformation when its the CBO releasing the data.

Unabashed total abridgement of the Freedom of Speech.

How can you have mixed feelings about that?

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

There's no excuse for this. Claiming they are 'misleading' seniors is no excuse; how do we know they are doing that? We've seen innumerable examples here of people claiming statements are 'misleading' because they don't like them.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Duh. Anybody who doesn't speak government propaganda to the letter is being misleading. You can only trust the government. They are the only ones who will never lie to you, and they always have your best interests at heart.

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
█ ♣ █

I think you're forgetting the U.N., KOS, MSNBC, and a few others...

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Hypothetically, is lying protected by the 1st amendment?

It depends on a number of factors.

The first is how strictly you interpret the 1st. The second, and most important, is how it really works in society.

The answer to the second is yes, sort of. You can lie your *** off about anybody you want. If you cause them harm through the lie, they can sue you for libel/slander. You may be found guilty. If found guilty, and this is the important part, you can lie your *** off again.

Preventative usurpation of your free speech rights is not allowed except in incidents where it creates a clear and present danger to other citizens, such as directly advocating violence or shouting "fire" in a crowded theater. All other [related] speech is protected.

Therefore, if the government believes insurance companies are: 1) lying to people, 2) causing causal harm by doing so, and 3) believes they can prove it in a court of law; they should sue.

Otherwise, simply using the power of law to close down the right to free speech is a bold-faced total abridgement of the 1st Amendment.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine