I was sad to see Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Bremerton, coming out against free speech, selectively supporting who and how campaigns are funded.

The First Amendment was not written in order to be fair in the eyes of one political party. The First Amendment was written for people we disagree with, not for those we agree with.

Liberalism has changed dramatically from its origin of free and independent thinking that founded this country. The concept of ideas being debated and shared were never considered the threat; the attempt to stop those ideas and concepts were.

The concern for money being used in politics is shared by all, as the other avenues are — such as the bias in our information outlets, academia, Hollywood, and so on. Our health care laws are basically written by lobbyists in the health care industry. We also see employment in state governments requiring union membership, supporting one party with campaign funding regardless of the issues that ensure monetary reward and special consideration paid for by taxpayers.

Recently, the Rutgers Faculty Council called for Condoleezza Rice to be uninvited to commencement because of their hostility to Republican politics. We have comedians that use politics as a means of promoting left-leaning ideas in the political realm and Hollywood movies supporting political themes. Corporations are allowed to use the First Amendment to distribute porn throughout our culture.

A view that limits free speech on the basis of its own agenda is what is dangerous. Today, liberalism appears closer to what lay behind the Iron Curtain than the founders of this nation.

Mick Sheldon
Kingston