This is disturbing on so many levels.

KMOV TV in Missouri is reporting (video link here) that Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has signed up law enforcement officials ”to target anyone who lies or runs a misleading TV ad during the presidential campaign.”

According to a summary on National Review Online by Jim Geraghty, prosecutors and sheriffs in the state are joining “the Barack Obama Truth Squad.” Mentioned in the report are Jennifer Joyce, a St. Louis Circuit Attorney, and Bob McCullough, prosecutor for St. Louis County. NRO reports:

The reporter says, “They will be reminding voters that Barack Obama is a Christian who wants to cut taxes for anyone making less than $250,000 a year.”

While the report never quite comes out and says that anyone running an ad saying those things would be subject to prosecution, that certainly is the message implied. 

Not all things that are wrong are illegal. Saying that Barack Obama is a Muslim is wrong, but it does not warrant prosecution by the state.

Of course, the senator is perfectly entitled to fight back if he believes his positions are being misrepresented, but he should do that with more speech, not heavyhanded legal maneuvering aimed at suppressing speech. We don’t need politically correct Inquisitors. (We profiled Senator Obama in the June Foundation Watch. The article has proven so popular we had to order reprints.)

Other liberal groups seem to have been inspired by Marxist philosopher Herbert Marcuse (the no-free-speech-for-Fascists-guy), like the improbably named Accountable America, which is focusing on using legal (though scummy) means of advancing its agenda. Headed by professional activist Tom Matzzie, Accountable America tries to scare conservatives into not writing checks. It sends warning letters to donors who might be considering giving to right-wing groups that they could face legal problems, public ridicule, and have kooky MoveOn.org members sifting through their garbage cans.

But, returning to the topic at hand, Missouri’s (Republican) governor, Matt Blunt, is plenty peeved at the use of stormtrooper tactics:

Gov. Blunt Statement on Obama Campaign’s Abusive Use of Missouri Law Enforcement

JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Matt Blunt today issued the following statement on news reports that have exposed plans by U.S. Senator Barack Obama to use Missouri law enforcement to threaten and intimidate his critics.

“St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, and Obama and the leader of his Missouri campaign Senator Claire McCaskill have attached the stench of police state tactics to the Obama-Biden campaign.

“What Senator Obama and his helpers are doing is scandalous beyond words, the party that claims to be the party of Thomas Jefferson is abusing the justice system and offices of public trust to silence political criticism with threats of prosecution and criminal punishment.

“This abuse of the law for intimidation insults the most sacred principles and ideals of Jefferson. I can think of nothing more offensive to Jefferson’s thinking than using the power of the state to deprive Americans of their civil rights.  The only conceivable purpose of Messrs. McCulloch, Obama and the others is to frighten people away from expressing themselves, to chill free and open debate, to suppress support and donations to conservative organizations targeted by this anti-civil rights, to strangle criticism of Mr. Obama, to suppress ads about his support of higher taxes, and to choke out criticism on television, radio, the Internet, blogs, e-mail and daily conversation about the election.

“Barack Obama needs to grow up. Leftist blogs and others in the press constantly say false things about me and my family.  Usually, we ignore false and scurrilous accusations because the purveyors have no credibility.  When necessary, we refute them. Enlisting Missouri law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent of the Sedition Acts – not a free society.”

Extremist Saul Alinsky, the leftist Machiavelli who wrote Rules for Radicals, which if it were written today might be called The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Marxist Agitation, would be delighted that his methods are being widely used today.

By the way, lest you think this blog post is too hard on the senator from Illinois, we’ve said before that Senator John McCain is no friend of the First Amendment either. The Arizona senator has long been a fan of so-called campaign finance reform that limits free speech.

Meanwhile, as we reported before, ACORN’s vote fraud operation is up and running. It’s worth noting that ACORN, the radical left-wing community organizing group, has been accused of electoral fraud in Missouri too. It is truly amazing that the group hasn’t been prosecuting or sued for racketeering under RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act). It’s equally amazing that ACORN might get oodles of money from Uncle Sam soon in order to continue its illegal activities.

Perhaps ACORN will have the last laugh in a few weeks. Saul Alinsky, who died in 1972, just might vote on Election Day – and maybe more than once.