This is wrong. I, for one, am standing up for my rights as a writer and citizen of these United States, to have freedom of speech. If and when it comes down to it, I will defend my rights as a citizen of this, my once beloved country, to say what and how I feel.

I will continue to blog proudly.

But I find this another reason to dislike McCain. He does not believe in free speech. He is simply an authoritarian for “conservative values”, rather than a true lover of freedom. Count me in with Kevin on this one, things like this add to the reasons I’ve already decided that I will not vote for him in ’08.

Regardless of the legal status of child porn itself, there is an issue about whether the burden that McCain’s proposed law would impose is reasonable under the circumstances and the impact it would have on otherwise protected speech.

Also, to listen to McCain, you’d think this was a widespread problem. According to things I’ve read, the actual amount of child porn or other illegal material available on the internet is relatively small.

McCain specifically referred to child pornography, which enjoys zero First Amendment protection. McCullagh suddenly substitutes the term “obscenity,” which is an entirely different legal term of art and which enjoys some First Amendment protection, including the right of possession. (“Obscenity,” incidentally, is not just “naughty pictures,” but hard-core XXX material.)

So McCain gets a thumbs down, but so does McCullagh for yet more sloppy journalism.