Dear Dr. Laura and Sarah Palin: Please Read The First Amendment Before Speaking

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Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin defended Dr. Laura Schlessinger after using the “N” word 11 times during an on-air conversation with a black caller. The public outcry was swift and immediate and was most likely a key factor in Dr. Laura announcing the end of her radio program. In two separate Tweets on Wednesday night, Sarah Palin unsurprisingly blamed the demise of Dr. Laura’s radio show on "Constitutional obstructionists" who trampled her rights under the First Amendment.

Ironically, for as big of a role that the Constitution plays in Sarah Palins political ideology, it’s a subject that she seems to know very little about. Even most 8th graders could articulate that the First Amendment only provides protection to citizens from Government attempts to restrict or obstruct the right to free speech. This misguided interpretation of the Constitution has been a growing trend within the Republican Party as well as their public relation arms otherwise known as The Fox News Channel and The Tea Party. They claim to be defenders of the constitution while simultaneously adapting an “ala Carte” approach to that very document.

When President Obama weighed in on the “Ground Zero Mosque” debate, he reminded everyone about the constitutional right of freedom to practice religion and the constitutional restriction for Government to establish or impose religion upon the people. Yet from Republicans comes talk about using the power of the legislative branch to ban the issuance of building permits for the construction of places of worship for a single religion. Also from republicans comes talk of amending the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to deny citizenship to a group of people that are primarily of a single ethnicity. Now that Glenn Beck has reformatted his Fox News show into a daily revisionist history lesson about the constitution, it’s becoming quite a task to even maintain the perception of being Fair & Balanced. If anything, Beck is simply preaching to the choir or to that segment of people that are politically unsophisticated, yet predisposed to embrace anything anti-Obama.

Even in her defense of Dr. Laura, Sarah Palin couldn’t resist using references to weapons and war in her Twitter post. Instead of encouraging Dr. Laura to standup and not back down from the public outrage, Palin urged her to "reload" and not "retreat," declaring that she'd be "even more powerful" and "effective" without "the shackles."

After the controversy erupted with calls for Dr. Laura's resignation, including from Media Matters for America, Schlessinger admitted the following day she did the "wrong thing." But just like Sarah Palin, Dr. Laura doesn’t seem to understand that public outrage over offensive remarks, regardless of outcome or consequences, are not an infringement upon First Amendment rights. Government is the sole entity from which that protection exists. Nevertheless, Dr. Laura lashed out at her critics using this false narrative.

"My First Amendment rights have been usurped by angry, hateful groups who don't want to debate," Schlessinger said. "They want to eliminate."

These are simple realities of life that people like Dr. Laura cannot seem to understand. Instead, they rationalize them in ways that minimize their responsibility and redirect some or all of the blame elsewhere. Why can’t she understand that as an employee of a radio network she is obligated to refrain from saying anything that would seriously offend listeners or drive away corporate advertisers. In fact, such an obligation is basically a conditional waiver of your right to say whatever you want.

Here’s the condition! – It’s really simple! - Unless you own your own radio station and do not rely on corporate advertisers for revenue, or answer to a Board of Directors or stockholders, you have no right to free speech behind that microphone. You’re a fucking employee and guess what? – If you cross the line your ass is fired!

- Chico Brisbane