Accountable America's Reversal on the Threat to Free Speech?

Published on September 10, 2008 12:38 PM
by Reid Cox

Assuming The Huffington Post's Sam Stein quoted Accountable America's founder Tom Matzzie correctly --which seems likely--then, in a matter of a few short weeks,  Accountable America and its founder have flip-flopped when it comes to whether our complex campaign finance regime poses a real threat to constitutionally protected independent citizen speech. 

Back in late August, when Matzzie's Accountable America attacked speech that came in the form of American Issues Project ads linking Barack Obama to Weather Underground co-founder Bill Ayers, Matzzie's position was that such actions wouldn't threaten or chill other independent speech because Accountable America was only going after illegality. 

"Accountable America ... is aimed at warning conservative donors of the legal thicket they may be entering by financing independent attack ads like the Ayers spot,"  The Washington Post paraphrased Matzzie as explaining.

But now, less than three short weeks later, Matzzie has changed his tune, lamenting in The Huffington Post that other citizens (here liberals) might be unwilling, or too afraid, to engage in independent free speech and association because they might not "have the guts to take the heat that comes with" exercising their First Amendment rights. 

What "heat" is Matzzie referring to here?  Perhaps, the heat that Matzzie and his Accountable America are helping to produce? 

As CCP pointed out last week, if political opponents are only all too willing to use the maze and mystery of campaign finance restrictions and regulations as a sword to threaten and hasten possible investigation, enforcement and prosecution for speaking around election time, then the obvious result is that citizens will just steer clear of the hazard. 

We wholeheartedly agree that, as Matzzie characterized, "sadly" independent speakers face such a situation.  Of course, Matzzie should also admit that he and his Accountable America are at least partly to blame.