>>28
"As for the Mass Media not preventing you from your opinion's expression, you have no idea how coercion and public humiliation factor in."
You still have the right to say what you want without fear of *GOVERNMENT* reprisal. This is what the 1st amendment protects, not your right to say what you want without any kind of refutation of your arguments by other people. They have their property rights, and their first amendment/other constitutional rights as well, you know.
"As an independent individual, I have nowhere near the ability of major corporations to express my opinion to a wide audience of people, whereas the Networks do, and they have a much, MUCH stronger ability to smear your name, generate outrageous rumors, make unchallenged accusations and in general ruin my good name."
If I'm not mistaken, libel is illegal (not saying it never happens). Some things may have and likely do happen which would push the limmits. Nonetheless, we all should have the same set of rights, regardless of income or whether we have a news network or not. Yes, the news companies have more power to express their opinions than you, but so what? It is their networks, they should be able to use them how they want.
"Networks play upon the inherent need for trust between the source and the audience, and people will believe a powerful company with numerous talking heads rather than one nobody who speaks his mind."
So? They have the right to believe who they want, and the media company has the right to say what it wants. We have a free press, and that press has a closely related right to free speech.
"Speaking up in America means risking your reputation, and regardless of what you children want to believe, what people say CAN fucking hurt you, as in how the rest of your community treats you, how police will call you up when FOX news calls you a terrorist, how your family may be terrorized by radical opposition."
Speaking up anywhere always means risking your reputation, this is nothing new. As for the terrorist bit, the cops aren't going to just toss you in jail because FOX refers to you as a terrorist. If there is an accusation of lawbreaking, you gotta go through the standard law process before anything happens, and you are innocent until PROVEN guilty.
"The field is imbalanced, and don't fucking act like the 1st Amendment takes away the consequences of what you say, corporations and people have as much or more power than the government ever has."
I never said the 1st amendment takes away all consequences of anything you say. Whenever you say anything, your reputation is always up in the air. So what? Yes, I'm sorry, but you can't say WHATEVER you want, WHENEVER you want, with no consequences whatever. If your boss is a republican, and you are a democrat, and you say something that irritates him, he can and may well find an excuse to get rid of you. So the fuck what?
"Say that you openly oppose the War in Iraq at a republican caucus in, oh say, Alabama, and tell be that you stand very little chance of being hurt."
Your personal safety is your personal responsibility and right. Go get a concealed carry permit (shall issue there I believe, thanks to republicans) and defend yourself. Unless I'm mistaken, that state should also have some kindof Castle Doctrine-like pro self-defense legislation as well to protect victims of crime.