Al Gore Takes A Hit
If you hire someone to teach about the First Amendment, you would hope he actually knows what he is talking about. Former veep Al Gore clearly does not. Commenting on the recent flap over Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines' comments critical of President George Bush and the Iraq war, Gore said the First Amendment and democracy have "taken a hit" because of the public's reaction to Maines' comments.

After a public outcry against Maines' comments - which she made in front of a concert crowd in Britain - some country music radio stations stopped playing Dixie Chicks songs.

The Chicks "were made to feel un-American and risked economic retaliation because of what was said. Our democracy has taken a hit. Our best protection is free and open debate," Gore said in a college lecture at Middle Tennessee State University, where Gore is head of the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies.

How, exactly, did democracy take a hit? Because conservatives protested something a liberal said? That's not a threat to the democracy and the First Amendment. That's the essence of democracy and the First Amendment. There is no constitutional right to be immune to verbal criticism and economic backlash if you say something controversial.