Cross Posted from The Pennsylvania Progressive:
The Berks County Democratic Party, under the leadership of Chair Tom Herman of SEIU, voted to stifle dissent, free speech and freedom of the press today. Engineered by the Chairman of the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee, they passed a resolution forcing me to change the name of my local blog or they will will sue me.
The local blog is written by three Democrats from Berks County and is called Berks Democrats. A disclaimer sits on the masthead notifying readers it is in no way affiliated with the Democratic Party. The very first article on the blog also specified and disclosed this information. They don’t have a legal leg to stand on, as exemplified by the President’s failure to stop a website called GWBush.com. Gee, if the President of the United States failed what makes Tom Caltagirone, John Ryan and Tom Herman think they can overturn settled and established internet case law and shut me down?
That’s what this is really all about: shutting down my local blog. They don’t like articles I’ve written about them. They can’t handle dissent and criticism so they decided to infringe my free speech and freedom of the press rights with a resolution threatening legal action.
What has become of the Democratic Party when it begins trying to stifle free speech rights? I’d like an answer to this question from Pennsylvania Chair T.J. Rooney and Howard Dean.
This isn’t just anyone doing this, it’s the Chair of the Judiciary Committee, his Judiciary Committee Legal Counsel, and others. These are all Democrats folks, chew on that for a few minutes then call the DNC (202-863-8000) and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party (717-920-8470) and ask them yourselves.
