Defaming Those Who Defend Freedom is No Joke

Al Franken is best known for his career as a comedian.  What he did in his role as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota yesterday though was no joke.

In a hearing to consider the nomination of Amy Barrett to become a judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Sen. Franken cited the radical leftist Southern Poverty Law Center to sully Prof. Barrett’s character and confirmation prospects. The nominee had spoken before the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, which the SPLC has smeared as a “hate group.”

Fortunately, the public will not be amused at Franken’s legitimating of a defamatory political warfare operation devoted to suppressing the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech of those with whom it disagrees.  A new McLaughlin and Associates poll found that, by a margin of 85 to 8 percent, respondents favor free speech, even if it “offends” some others.