Quote:You don't see a compelling reason why political campaign ads should be transparent? Really? None at all? 

 

Lol.   You seem to be asking me if I meant what I said above.   The answer is yes.  

 

There is a long and distinguished history of anonymous political speech.   Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense and published it anonymously.   Alexander Hamilton wrote for the Federalist Papers anonymously.   Benjamin Franklin wrote opinion pieces under a pseudonym.   Anonymous political speech goes back to the beginning of political speech.   They had it in ancient Greece.  

 

To limit anonymous political speech would have a chilling effect on free speech in general.  

 

So as curious as I am about who is really behind advertisements that tout various political points of view, if I were the Supreme Court, I would have to rule that limiting anonymous speech is a violation of the First Amendment.  

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