{"id":2027,"date":"2019-04-26T10:58:41","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T15:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=2027"},"modified":"2019-04-26T11:01:08","modified_gmt":"2019-04-26T16:01:08","slug":"truth","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=2027","title":{"rendered":"TRUTH"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TRUTH
And The First Amendment
By Susan M. Halpern
Former Addison Councilmember (1992-1999)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongress 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<\/strong>; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The First Amendment guarantees the right\nto a public discourse, including with respect to elections and\ncandidates.  More than 50 years ago, in the seminal case of NY Times v.\nSullivan<\/em>, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court forcefully rejected\nefforts to discourage or \u201cchill\u201d public discourse regarding public\nfigures.  The case arose in connection with the civil rights movement, and\ninvolved public officials who were trying to prevent reporting on their\ninappropriate conduct.  Revisiting it reminds us that the ability to\npublicly proclaim the TRUTH, as guaranteed by the First Amendment, has been and\nmust continue to be zealously guarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our recent article regarding a council\ncandidate\u2019s inaccurate, alarmist mailer was 100% factual and TRUTHFUL. \nHis claim that $41 million is somehow missing was laughable, and we\nappropriately chastised him for his clear failure to educate himself regarding Addison\u2019s\nfinances.  Neither he nor anyone else has identified any inaccuracies in\nthe article, including with respect to his pending, nine-years-running\nbankruptcy case.  And yet, some among us have been subjected to threats \u2013\nsome direct, and some veiled \u2013 specifically intended to chill our publication\nof the TRUTH about this candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s beyond shameful.  Threats\naimed at chilling public discourse \u2013 whether direct or veiled \u2013 are dangerous\nand subversive, and have no place in our democracy.  Rest assured that we\nwill not be intimidated.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s make a few other things clear\nhere.  First, publication of TRUTH is appropriate, even if that TRUTH is\nunflattering.  If a candidate feels \u201cdamaged\u201d simply because his conduct\nis TRUTHFULLY reported, then the only thing that confirms is that the conduct\nwas inappropriate in the first instance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, what we said about ethics\ncomplaints stands.  If you file one, you don\u2019t talk about it.  As the\nTexas Ethics Commission has forcefully stated, anyone can file a complaint,\nwhich means that filing a complaint does not establish a violation. \nTherefore, publicizing the mere filing of a complaint is an effort to mislead\nvoters, something we will not do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, I have reviewed the law on which\nthe negatives and naysayers have attacked Mayor Joe Chow regarding the use of\ncampaign funds, and I think their claims are baseless. In my view, they\nmisconstrue the applicable law. But then, given that they misnamed the law and\nfabricated a quote supposedly taken from it, perhaps they didn\u2019t even read the\nlaw. In any event, I say again, they have done exactly what the Ethics\nCommission condemns: they are publicizing the filing of a complaint with the\nclear intent to mislead voters by improperly treating the filing as establishing\na violation. It speaks volumes about these folks, and the magnitude of\ndesperation they feel regarding the election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and one bit of trivia: the actual\ncomplaint was not filed until almost a week after the negatives\u2019 designated\nblogger wrote about it.  I guess once they went public they had to find\nsomeone to actually file something.  Which confirms yet again that the\nnegatives\u2019 designated blogger is exactly that, doing the bidding of the\nnegatives and naysayers, including by carefully coordinating their mutual\nnegative efforts.  It\u2019s not what Addison needs.  But more to the\npoint, in the end, the Texas Ethics Commission will sort it all out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth, Mayor Joe Chow\u2019s opponent is\nonce again making claims about signs, insinuating that people are taking and\/or\ndefacing signs.  I\u2019ve said it before: if people are harming signs or\ntaking them, then by all means, catch those folks and prosecute them.  Put\nup cameras, set up surveillance, do it all.  But, I again express my\nskepticism about these claims.  After all, these are the same folks who\nbrought us \u201cPoopgate,\u201d where they made wildly unfounded and absolutely false\naccusations to the effect that a current councilmember put dog poop on\nsomeone\u2019s sign.  What nonsense.  And, I do observe that claiming the\ntheft of a large quantity of signs would be a clever way to try ot explain away\nthe absence of visible support in our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, we published an article a while back titled \u201cThe Politics of the False Plurality\u201d (http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=1869<\/a>).  It\u2019s a good read, particularly these days, with the negatives and naysayers in full blast mode.  For purposes of this discussion, I\u2019ll just leave it at this: Don\u2019t be fooled by claims of legitimacy founded in the supposed approval of unnamed commenters (\u201canother reader commented\u2026\u201d).  And, judge Truth in Addison\u2019s articles by their content, not by who comments on them.  Remember, when you speak TRUTH you don\u2019t need propping up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We live in a wonderful town that is\nmoving forward.  Let these negatives and naysayers describe how they would\npositively contribute to our town, rather than attacking and threatening people\nand claiming that things are awful when they\u2019re not.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s\nkeep the Addison Way moving forward!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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