A former rural Missouri sheriff's deputy is suspected of killing his ex-wife and her new boyfriend before leading officers on a high-speed chase that ended with a shootout at an upscale hotel hosting a Christmas party for hundreds of doctors, nurses and their families, authorities said Sunday. [More]And we learn:
Rice had worked as a Dent County sheriff's deputy from 2004 until he was terminated in 2009, the sheriff's office said without elaborating on why Rice was fired. He previously worked for the Houston, Mo., Police Department and, after leaving the sheriff's office, got a job with the Missouri Department of Corrections. A department spokesman confirmed Sunday that Rice is a correctional officer at the South Central Correctional Center in Licking.Seems there's always a place in the system for good "Only Ones."
[Via several of you]
Wow. These politicians have a complete lack of understanding on how the 1st Amendment applies to business. If they truly believed in commercial 1st Amendment rights then they should advocate that tobacco companies sponsor this program instead of Lowe's. Better yet, what would be the effect of an alcohol vendor, Victoria's Secret or a pork products company sponsoring this program?
ReplyDeleteOne of the fundamental concepts of the 1st Amendment right to free speech is the ability to select the topic, content and medium of your speech, or in this case the choice not to speak. No advertiser should be compelled to sponsor any program that may adversely alter consumer's perceptions of the business. No business should be compelled to sponsor or not to sponsor anything. That is their choice.
If any consumer feels slighted or not slighted by Lowe's choice to sponsor or not to sponsor anything, then they are free to choose to purchase or not to purchase goods and services from Lowe's. That is freedom. Freedom is a painful concept to those who would control you.