Congress shall make no law …

As a Sirius stockholder I’m a huge fan of Senator Frist’s latest craptacular foray into public policy. As an American, though, I’m disgusted:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is trying to push through a bill that would increase indecency fines on broadcasters and threaten to take away their licenses after three violations.

Frist is championing the bill after conservative groups, a key voting bloc if he runs for president, expressed frustration at the lack of congressional action to curb broadcast indecency.

His stand also puts opponents of the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 in the position of appearing to cast a vote in an election year against decency.

I can’t begin to express the shame I feel that the First Amendment has been reduced to a bygone principle, where attacking it is an accepted political ploy designed to shore up the conservative base for 2008. I don’t give a fuck about decency when the real issue is that Sen. Frist and his fellow small government defenders meddling, prudish comrades in Congress will trade my liberty for a few votes.

Liberty is the ability to give offense without governmental repercussions, not the freedom to do only what’s acceptable in polite society. They’re all devoid of principles. Otherwise, they’d accept that the Constitution is our foundation, not a religious text. May they rot in defeat in November.