IMPARTIAL: Don’t defame Republicans

RE: The article, ‘Lawmaker who named rape accuser says she did nothing wrong’

According to the author of this article, she attributes to Rep. Greg Chaney the statement that, “not all speech is protected under the First Amendment, including speech that wrongly defames someone.” Is that a true statement? From what I read, defamation and slander are protected by the First Amendment because of the greater damage of restricting speech. The supposed rape victim can sue Giddings in civil court.

The ironic thing, however, is that the author and the Coeur d’Alene Press did what they often do — opine in a news article about Republicans. The article shows a picture of approximately 30 people in the room. My guess is that there are more than 30, so let us round up to 40. The author then states about those people present to support Giddings as “some supporters — which included some militia members, members of an anti-vaccination group and others with far-right political organizations.” How many is “some?” Two? Three? It certainly isn’t all or most because otherwise the author would have stated that. This statement does not belong. It appears to have been inserted to either — wait for it — defame Giddings or her defame her supporters. When the Coeur d’Alene Press starts opining about Democrats as baby-killers, pro-riots, defund police, pro-open borders, supporters of self-hatred and hatred of country, then I will begin to think of the paper as impartial.

BEVERLY CAIN

Post Falls