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BY SIERRA MISION

SUNCOAST NEWS COLUMNIST

Published: November 7, 2009

The First Amendment declares that Congress shall "make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech."

In 1918, the Sedition Act was passed, prohibiting U.S. citizens from "convey(ing) false reports or false statements" that tainted the image of the government and military during times of war.

The act restricted First Amendment rights and was repealed in 1920.

The sentiment driving the Sedition Act remains, though - right here, right now.

People across the spectrum - civilians, professors, media personnel and government officials - bicker over credibility, over what qualifications determine who can and cannot execute an opinion. Take the White House vs. Fox News Network dispute.

"The only way to get somebody to stop crowding the plate is to throw a fastball at them.

They move." That was how Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs, employing a timely baseball metaphor, explained the White House's attempt to get the rest of the news media to expose Fox News as right-wing zealots and GOP stooges posing as journalists.

In response, Fox News executives said they have a duty to report political affairs, even if the White House doesn't like what it hears.

Given its high-strung emotions, the White House-Fox News flap resembles another athletic arena, one in which, like politics, polls play a big role: college football.

In this case, both sides are accusing the other of late hits and attempted eye gouging.

This narrowly focused effort to declare one side or other the "winner" is devaluing the national debate.

Sierra Mision is a student at the University of Florida.

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