On Nov. 4, the United States elected a president who will become the most powerful man on the planet.

What distinguishes Americans from most nations is a unique collection of 10 laws from our Constitution known as the Bill of Rights. These 10 laws guarantee the rights of individual citizens. The first of the 10 guarantees free speech and a free press.

On Oct. 23, a reporter for an ABC affiliate in Orlando, Fla., Barbara West, asked Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden some difficult questions that he chose not to answer. His response was to laugh and ask “Is this a joke?” He asked West, “Who writes your questions?” as if she were somehow incompetent.

The Sen. Barack Obama-Biden campaign released a statement through Florida spokesperson Adrianne Marsh, saying, “This station’s interview with Joe Biden wasn’t tough – it was just absurd.” This attempt to demean both the station and the reporter was followed on Oct. 24 by a fiat from the Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign stating WFTV would not have future access to the Obama-Biden campaign.

The official statement said, “This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely.”

The content of the questions is unimportant, but the response of the Democratic Party leadership certainly was. It is obvious from this demonstration that for them, only approved questions are covered under the First Amendment.

G. Earnest Lynch, Temple