As Pennsylvanians, do we really have freedom of speech?

- Main Line Media News Page 1 of 2

Main Line Media News (mainlinemedianews.com)

Main Line Suburban Life > Opinion

As Pennsylvanians, do we really have freedom of

speech?
Tuesday, May 25, 2010

By Carla J. Zambelli

Will Pennsylvanians soon be looking forward to a new slogan for the Commonwealth? How will “Welcome to the
People’s Republic of Pennsylvania” roll off the tongue? I don’t think it will dance as nicely as “You’ve Got a Friend in
Pennsylvania” somehow. Nor should it.

What has my wanton blogging soul all a-twitter (pardon the pun)? News which went viral across Pennsylvania as well as
the country: Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett, upholder of truth, justice and the American way in
Pennsylvania as attorney general, issued a grand-jury subpoena to Twitter to unmask a couple of anonymous bloggers
who weren’t part of his fan club.

Huh?

Yes, that’s what I said, “Huh?” Apparently these two bloggers are known on Twitter by the handles of @bfbarbie and
@CasaBlancaPA and they have been criticizing Mr. Corbett. OK, well, it’s 140 characters or less, right? He’s a tough-
guy politician, right? So why the thin skin? Surely Mr. Corbett has faced tougher criticism from opposing candidate Dan
Onorato? In today’s world, who hasn’t criticized a politician? Over dinner, in the editorial page, at the grocery store, in a
public meeting, on a blog, on some other form of social media? It’s an American tradition as old as this great nation for
goodness’ sake!

This is so confoundingly perplexing on so many levels that this issue has even prompted a comment from Paul Alan
Levy, a litigator with the Public Citizen Litigation Group. Mr. Levy commented in part on Mr. Corbett’s decision to sue the
federal government to try to block the new health-care bill as being too invasive in citizens’ lives. Like Mr. Levy, I have to
wonder: what is so different about this?

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution was written to protect things like free speech, freedom of
religion, freedom of the press. It says literally:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.”

So how does this work with politicians again? Are we as human beings supposed to blindly follow where all lead? Are
we only supposed to agree with politicians, never disagree? I’m sorry; did I fall asleep and wake up down the rabbit hole
with Alice in Wonderland or something?

Is Tom Corbett the new Henry VIII of Pennsylvania? “Off with their heads” and all that? Instead of priest holes, will we all

http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2010/05/25/main_line_suburban_life/opinion... 5/25/2010
As Pennsylvanians, do we really have freedom of speech? - Main Line Media News Page 2 of 2

soon have blogger holes in our houses and an underground railroad to move bloggers from safe house to safe house to
avoid the AG’s guards?

Are bloggers all now criminals and outlaws for expressing our opinions about elected officials and those seeking not
only local but higher state and even federal-level office? If some of the most famous founding fathers were alive today
would they be in jeopardy as well for scribbling broadsheets under pseudonyms? You know, like Benjamin Franklin or
John Adams or Thomas Paine?

Seriously, what century are we living in? What’s next? Resurrection of the Scarlet Letter? Only this time it is a “B” for
Blogger? Stocks? Pillories? Being paraded through the proverbial town square in chains?

This is a man who wants us to consider him for governor, right? So how many people across the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania blog or use some form of social media to express themselves? And should elected officials use their office
as a bully pulpit to squash all critics like bugs? What is it about politicians? You can write about them as long as it’s
good news or they can control the content? That is what their publicists are for, I thought.

If the First Amendment rights of these bloggers were or are in peril, can it be considered that so could be the First
Amendment rights of every American from coast to coast?

Given the now undeniable symbiotic relationship between the media and bloggers, one would hope the media would
pay close attention to this story as it unfolds and at its conclusion. After all, the media get a lot of information from blogs
and bloggers (“citizen journalists”), they can’t deny it, and so in theory if the First Amendment rights of bloggers are
challenged thusly, the press is next.

Media reports indicate that by Friday, May 21, 2010, Mr. Corbett was just having a bad day and is pulling his subpoena.
It is a good thing that Mr. Corbett has done the right thing, but it still gives all of us pause for thought, doesn’t it?
Pennsylvanians of all political persuasions indeed have a lot to think of come November 2010.

Carla J. Zambelli writes an occasional column for Main Line Suburban Life.

URL: http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2010/05/25/main_line_suburban_life/opinion/doc4bfc33fc89c18340907149.prt

© 2010 mainlinemedianews.com, a Journal Register Property

http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2010/05/25/main_line_suburban_life/opinion... 5/25/2010