Promoting a candidate could get you thrown in jail

October 30, 2004 6:57 AM

David Dreier doesn't like free speech. The California Congressman and the Republican Party have filed a felony federal complaint against one of their own, which could possibly lead to jail time, all for opposing the incumbent. Apparently, spending a million dollars wasn't enough. More coverage of Dreier here and here.
posted by calwatch (12 comments total)

is this connected to the outing at all?
posted by amberglow at 9:34 AM on October 30, 2004

This is bizarre. There are lots of talk radio hosts who spend the bulk of their show in diatribes against specific candidates; how does Dreier expect any judge to see this as any different?
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:07 AM on October 30, 2004

Desperation really is a stinky cologne. All this press can possinly do is ensure he's thrown out of office. And as an aside the the fine folks at the Pasadena Star-News: Please fix the fucking quotation" marks in your "article. I have no idea "who said what.
posted by yerfatma at 10:20 AM on October 30, 2004

I guess Rush Limbaugh is in big trouble.
posted by 2sheets at 11:15 AM on October 30, 2004

and FOX, and many thousands of other radio talkshow hosts...
posted by amberglow at 12:15 PM on October 30, 2004

This seals it. I really did get sucked into my t.v. and am living out the rest of my days in some Lynchian nightmare. I KNOW YOU'RE WATCHING ME.
posted by The God Complex at 2:49 PM on October 30, 2004

Oh, Drier can go suck a ... wait, never mind.
posted by nofundy at 3:09 PM on October 30, 2004

is this connected to the outing at all?

As far as the outing goes, aside from those mentions in the LA Weekly by Doug Ireland, no mention of it has been made in the print media. John and Ken interviewed Doug Ireland, as did other talk show hosts, but the main focus on Dreier this past month has been about illegal immigration.
posted by calwatch at 6:08 PM on October 30, 2004

ah. I was wondering if that was the real reason why they're trying to silence the radio guys.
posted by amberglow at 6:11 PM on October 30, 2004

Jon and Ken decided to 'sacrifice' a Republican to show the Republicans that the people are serious about illegal immigration reform, since the Repubs play lip service to the issue but then don't do anything about the 'problem'.
posted by cell divide at 6:58 PM on October 30, 2004

This is odd because KFI features non-stop right wing talk shows. On the other hand, a lot of SoCal conservatives are unhappy with Bush's loose border policies.
posted by mrhappy at 9:43 PM on October 30, 2004

Well, David Dreier won by the lowest vote margin of any incumbent in California. Dreier lost the election day vote but locked up the early votes and the absentees, enough to give him a decent sized victory by national standards. KFI will probably run a Republican against Dreier in 2006.
posted by calwatch at 12:43 AM on November 6, 2004