This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Friday, September 18th, 2009.

I'm Caleb Brown.

Freedom of speech may have broad support, but only before you pull back the veil of ignorance.

Once Americans know who is speaking, the support... before you pull back the veil of ignorance.

Once Americans know who is speaking,

the support for free speech often drops dramatically.

Nadian Strossen, former president

of the American Civil Liberties Union,

and professor of law at New York Law School,

as free speech needs defenders as so few people defend speech they find personally

bothersome. We spoke at the Cato Institute's Constitution Day festivities held yesterday.

I would say there is an even more pronounced tension if you just look at free speech issues

and it can be explained by the title of a book that Nat Hanoff, who of course is now affiliated with Cato Institute,

wrote a number of years ago, and it was called Freedom of Speech for Me, but not for thee a subtitle how the left and right

relentlessly censor each other and I think really what it comes down to is people

really strongly believe in freedom of speech for people like them, for ideas that

they support, but not for people they dislike or ideas that they dislike.

So it's true that many liberals as well as many others in this country support restrictions

on speech for certain speakers because of the form in which they're organized.

And that includes not only corporations but let us not forget unions.

It's kind of odd that liberals with their historic support for the labor union movement

every time they support so-called campaign finance reform, which is a

...