2024 Presidential Election
- Thread starter PF5
- Start date
Is mediastouch promoting an article written by……mediastouch? The GIFs in post above are correct.
All betting sides moved significantly towards Trump over last two weeks after each being for Harris after debate.
Electionbettingodds is 57% for Trump vs 42%
Smarkets is 58% for Trump vs 42%
Predicting is 57% for Trump vs 42%
Kalinin is 57% for Trump vs 42%
Polymarkets is 60% for Trump vs 39%
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'It's the First Amendment, Stupid': Federal Judge Slams Florida for Threatening TV Stations
Floridians this fall will vote on a constitutional "Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion." So authorities decided to interfere with free speech in an attempt to thwart voters from limiting the government's right to interfere in reproductive decisions. The state threatened TV stations with criminal penalties for running an ad supporting the abortion initiative (known as Amendment 4).
A federal judge isn't impressed. "To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it's the First Amendment, stupid," wrote U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker in an October 17 opinion.
Walker temporarily enjoined Florida from attempting to censor the ad, granting the temporary restraining order request sought by Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group sponsoring Amendment 4.
"Importantly, this is a temporary restraining order, which is not generally appealable," noted legal writer Chris Gender, author of the Law Dork newsletter, on BlueSky. "The preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for Oct.. 29, and the state could appeal from that."
Florida has been pulling out all the stops to try and stop Amendment 4 from passing. The state has been using taxpayer money to run ads in opposition to the amendment while trying to prohibit people from seeing an ad in support of it.
The ad in question is "political speech—speech at the core of the First Amendment," notes Judge Walker. "And just this year, the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed the bedrock principle that the government cannot do indirectly what it cannot do directly by threatening third parties with legal sanctions to censor speech it disfavors. The government cannot excuse its indirect censorship of political speech simply by declaring the disfavored speech is 'false.'"
This is the rub of the state's argument against Floridians Protecting Freedom's ad. It features a woman called Caroline who was diagnosed with brain cancer while pregnant with her second child. "The doctors knew that if I did not end my pregnancy, I would lose my baby, I would lose my life, and my daughter would lose her mom," she says. "Florida has now banned abortion, even in cases like mine," she ads.
The Florida Department of Health alleged that the ad constituted a "sanitary nuisance"—an act "by which the health or life of an individual, or the health or lives of individuals, may be threatened or impaired, or by which or through which, directly or indirectly, disease may be caused." John Wilson, former general counsel with the department, sent letters to Florida TV stations saying that anyone found to be committing such a nuisance must remove it within 24 hours or face legal proceedings, including possible criminal proceedings.
While TV stations have a right to broadcast political ads, this does not include "false advertisements which, if believed, would likely have a detrimental effect on the lives and health of pregnant women in Florida," Wilson told TV stations.
This is incorrect: TV station are not required to fact-check political ads before running them, nor to take down ads simply because they contain matters of disputed fact or statements that officials say are untrue. If this was the case, it would allow those in power to chill or shut down all sorts of political speech simply by asserting that the content of the speech was false.
"There is no 'general exception to the First Amendment for false statements,'" noted Walker, citing the 2012 Supreme Court case United States v. Alvarez. "Falsity alone
does not bring speech outside the First Amendment absent some other traditionally recognized, legally cognizable harm," since (Alvarez again) "it is perilous to permit the state to be the arbiter of truth."
(For the record, Florida's six-week abortion ban does contain exceptions for abortions needed to save the life or "a major bodily function" of a pregnant woman. But what types of scenarios fall under this exception is a matter of a discretion for doctors and the state.)
After Wilson's letters went out, "at least one of the TV stations that had been running
Plaintiff's advertisement stopped doing so," noted Judge Walker.
Floridians Protecting Freedom responded by filing a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, arguing that its First Amendment rights had been violated. The group asked the court to find that Wilson and Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo had engaged in unconstitutional coercion and viewpoint discrimination and to issue a temporary restraining order against Lapado, who is in charge of Florida Department of Health, from taking further action against the ad or entities that broadcast it.
At an emergency hearing on October 17, the state claimed that it was enforcing a generally applicable law and thus immune from a First Amendment challenge.
"Nonsense," wrote Judge Walker. "Defendant's cases addressed a different issue—namely, whether enforcement of a law of general applicability against the press, which incidentally affects the press's ability to gather and report the news, offends the First Amendment. That is not this case. The issue here is whether the State can censor core political speech under the guise that the speech is false and implicates public health concerns."
Walker also rejected the idea put forth by the state that the Caroline ad constituted an "imminent threat" to public health. Speech is only an imminent threat "when it incites or produces imminent lawless action, or poses a clear and present danger by bringing about the 'substantive evils' that the government has a right to prevent, like obstacles to military efforts, obscenity, acts of violence, and charges to overthrow the government," he wrote. "But there is no suggestion that Plaintiff's ad would bring about the 'substantive evils' that the Supreme Court has recognized, nor is there any suggestion that Plaintiff's ad would cause individuals to take any imminent lawless action."
The judge ultimately determined that Floridians Protecting Freedom are likely to succeed on the merits of this case and issued a temporary restraining order against Florida's Surgeon General, forbidding him "from taking any further actions to coerce, threaten, or intimate repercussions directly or indirectly to television stations, broadcasters, or other parties for airing Plaintiff's speech, or undertaking enforcement action against Plaintiff for running political advertisements or engaging in other speech protected under the First Amendment." The restraining order is valid until 5 p.m. on October 29. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for earlier that day.
"Of course, the Surgeon General of Florida has the right to advocate for his own
position on a ballot measure," wrote Walker. "But it would subvert the rule of law to permit the State to transform its own advocacy into the direct suppression of protected political speech."
"This critical initial victory is a triumph for every Floridian who believes in democracy and the sanctity of the First Amendment," Lauren Brenzel, campaign director of Yes on 4, said in a statement. "The court has affirmed what we've known all along: the government cannot silence the truth about Florida's extreme abortion ban."
President Obama: Have you seen Trump lately? He held a town hall where he stopped taking questions and just swayed to Ave Maria and YMCA for half an hour. You would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this. We don’t need to see what an older, crazier Donald Trump looks like with no guardrails. We’ve had enough arrogance and bumbling and bluster and division. America is ready to turn the page
www.threads.net
Kamala HQ (@kamalahq) on Threads
President Obama: Have you seen Trump lately? He held a town hall where he stopped taking questions and just swayed to Ave Maria and YMCA for half an hour. You would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this. We don’t need to see what an older, crazier Donald Trump looks like with no...
www.threads.net
Uh, yeah…mediastouch is about as credible as a $3 bill. It’s like Ben Shapiro fact-checking Trump.Um, yeah… it’s called content marketing. It’s not a new thing. Welcome to 2015.
Would have assumed most understood context was about their credibility and not marketing practice.
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Mike Flynn is unhinged. He demands “sacrifice” from the audience, claims “our blood” comes from religiously persecuted “Europeans” & lies about the 1st Amendment.
Flynn compares himself to William Travis who was slaughtered with all his men at the Alamo.
www.threads.net
Flynn compares himself to William Travis who was slaughtered with all his men at the Alamo.
🇺🇦Barbara Sobel🇮🇱Slava Ukraini (@barbaraj.sobel) on Threads
Mike Flynn is unhinged. He demands “sacrifice” from the audience, claims “our blood” comes from religiously persecuted “Europeans” & lies about the 1st Amendment. Flynn compares himself to William Travis who was slaughtered with all his men at the Alamo.
www.threads.net
Haha! If that was what you meant, you should have asked if they were citing themselves as a source. But they weren’t. They were promoting their content, which is what you wrote. Which is also exactly what anyone wanting clicks does on social media. It’s been this way for years.
I stand by my comment. Welcome to 2015.
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Stillwater Townie
Ranger
She is risking getting sued:
www.mediaite.com
Marjorie Taylor Greene Pushes Claim Dominion Machines Are ‘Switching’ Votes to Democrats in Wild Alex Jones Interview
Marjorie Taylor Greene Pushes Claim Dominion Machines Are ‘Switching’ Votes to Democrats in Wild Alex Jones Interview
Greene claimed that she had been alerted that some GOP voters who had cast ballots early for her and Donald Trump said their votes had switched to Democrats.
www.mediaite.com
So is the thought that people are dumping thier $$ on these sites to create a perception of winning? I wouldn't think the perception of winning would be an advantage.
President Obama: Have you seen Trump lately? He held a town hall where he stopped taking questions and just swayed to Ave Maria and YMCA for half an hour. You would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this. We don’t need to see what an older, crazier Donald Trump looks like with no guardrails. We’ve had enough arrogance and bumbling and bluster and division. America is ready to turn the page
Kamala HQ (@kamalahq) on Threads
President Obama: Have you seen Trump lately? He held a town hall where he stopped taking questions and just swayed to Ave Maria and YMCA for half an hour. You would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this. We don’t need to see what an older, crazier Donald Trump looks like with no...
I've heard several different accounts of what happened with this. Anywhere from a medical issue in the crowd, technical difficulty, to complete mental failure. LOL. Only one can be true.
It's phenomenal how many people out there are working to create alternative realities to get a win.
PF5
Ranger
I lost faith in polls in 2016, and sealed the deal in 2020...however, I still look at several (kind of still watching OSU football)...my question is has anyone on this site ever been chosen to take part in one of these polls? I never have, nor know anyone who has... just wondering...
mugatu
Ranger
I was called just before 2020 election as a state focused election survey.
I have a couple of times. Honestly it feels more like a political ad disguised as a poll-i.e. would you still support politician A if you were told he kills puppies type questions. Not that direct but enough that it felt more like an attempt to sway my opinion than ask it.
Not saying they are all like that and I would suspect the more reputable organizations don't, but that's been my experience.
Stillwater Townie
Ranger
Dominion said it was due to voter error, apparently voters unintentionally voting for Biden instead of Trump. So, some people don't know how to vote.She is risking getting sued:
Marjorie Taylor Greene Pushes Claim Dominion Machines Are ‘Switching’ Votes to Democrats in Wild Alex Jones Interview
Marjorie Taylor Greene Pushes Claim Dominion Machines Are ‘Switching’ Votes to Democrats in Wild Alex Jones Interview
Greene claimed that she had been alerted that some GOP voters who had cast ballots early for her and Donald Trump said their votes had switched to Democrats.
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mugatu
Ranger
Early voting numbers. Take a look at the gender gap in swing states. It's interesting women are turning out big in GA, MI, WI, and NC but not so much in AZ and NV. I wonder if women there feel safer about abortion access?
www.nbcnews.com
Early Voting and Mail-In Ballots by State 2024 Results
View the results for mail-in and early in-person ballots in your state for the 2024 general elections
www.nbcnews.com
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Stillwater Townie
Ranger
She has it down what Republicans are doing with the polls for political strategy. Ignore the polls.
