Does this disturb anyone else as much as it does me? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4100170.ece Denial of Service attacks, anyone?
Actually, I think you are referencing when his son, Martin Luther King, Junior was assassinated. Yeah, that was but one of the many stepping stones on the path to "political correctness" and the fear of speaking one's mind about the events that occur to bring this nation down. The drive towards totalitarianism began with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln at the end of the War of Northern Aggression when the "State of Emergency" he had used as an expediency was never rescinded. Hence we are now suffocated with "Bureaucracies" and "Agencies" that have no Constitutional Authority but the full clout of "Executive Order" and secret laws.
I read the article you posted, but I doesn't say anything about the "death of free speech" and it says nothing about "denial of service attacks". It says, There is a lot of propaganda on the internet, if they can support what they are saying with truth and facts, and do not stop other people from saying what they think, then I guess I don't care.
No, it does not disturb me that a candidate for President seeks to respond to rumors. The article you cite in now way impacts rights to free speech, nor does it have anything to do with a DOS attacks.
I can not believe that no one who has answered this thread finds nothing disturbing about any of this! I find it very disturbing. It is an attack on free speech. I do not happen to believe Barack Obama is qualified for the position of president any more than I think Hillary or McCain are. However, they do have much more political experience...but they weren't worth voting for either. Obama, however, is barely a single term senator who has no track record good or bad. He is lying about his muslim background...and THAT should at least raise a warning flag to anyone. Not only is this shit disturbing, but this is even more disturbing and should really have people taking notice and being extremely cautious! http://obamamessiah.blogspot.com/
During the 2000 Republican primaries McCain upset Bush in New Hampshire, after Bush won in Iowa. The upset totally through the Bush campaign. Some source(s) spread attacks on McCain claiming he fathered a child of color. In fact McCain and his wife Cindy adopted a child of color. Whoever spread that rumor, whether directly connected to the Bush campaign or indirectly, contributed signficantly to Bush's victory in South Carolina, and muted the strength that McCain had with veterans living in the state. That is just one example of how totally unsubstantiated rumors fly around during campaigns. Democrats claim that the consistently slow response that Kerry had to attacks on his character by groups supporting Bush had similar effects in attacking his character and contributing to his loss. This is not to say that only Republicans can play the game of unsubstantiated rumors. Today the internet is signigicantly more popular and powerful than in 2004 and 2000. This effort by the Obama campaign is a simple response to a technique that has been played out in politics for many years. The web makes the process of spreading unsubstantiated rumors that much easier. I'd be surprised if McCain didn't set up the same kind of group. I wouldn't fear this as an attack on free speech. It is an internal effort by a campaign to protect the candidate.
Then they will stand up to any scrutiny and be accepted as facts. Why do you take the position that rumors must go unchallenged? Is that not arguing to limit the right to respond? Frankly, the OP seems to be saying that people have a right to free speech to attack Obama but he does not have any right to respond. Or that some how his responding is stopping anyone from expressing their views. Only someone like ThraXed would find any merit to this type of pathetic argument.
Than they'll be put to debate. Right? Obviously he can say what he wants as can everyone else. Free speech lives! Amazing, magical, spectacular.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cointelpro Free speech has already been destroyed through Cointelpro which existed from 1956 to 1971. It wouldn't surprise me if it was still around today, under a different name.