Book banning

THE progressive attack on the First Amendment isn’t limited to college campuses. On Thursday, another Nevada Democratic congressional candidate came out in favor of allowing the government to police campaign speech and even ban books.

Two weeks ago, Susie Lee, a fundraiser for Southern Nevada nonprofits who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2016, announced she will seek to replace Jacky Rosen in Congressional District 3. Rep. Rosen, not even through her first term, has decided to run for the Senate.

Last week, Ms. Lee’s campaign touted an endorsement from End Citizens United, which describes itself as a grassroots political organization working “to take back our democracy from special interests.” It all sounds noble and high-minded. Unfortunately for those who revere the Constitution, the group’s dangerous agenda includes amending the Bill of Rights to give federal censors the power to regulate political discourse.

Rep. Rosen has also received the group’s endorsement. End Citizens United takes its name from the 2010 Supreme Court decision in which the justices ruled that the First Amendment prohibits the government from limiting independent political expenditures. During oral arguments, the deputy solicitor general representing the Obama administration admitted to the justices that under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, federal regulators were free to ban books, pamphlets and other forms of political expression. This is disturbing, to say the least.

We’ll pose the same question to Ms. Lee as we did to Rep. Rosen about her endorsement from End Citizens United: Why does she believe that allowing the government to suppress politically themed books comports with the ideals of a free society?