Not good enough for the 1st Amendment?

For quite a while now I’ve been on a mini-campaign to have elected officials, members of police forces and fire departments, and others in positions of authority submitted to random drug tests. By the way, I am not a fanatic. But if the elected assholes in Tallahassee, for example, are constantly trying to pass laws that mandate drug testing of government employees… well, what’s good for the goose. You understand.

I recently read in the Daily Kos that the Florida legislature recently passed through a key committee in the House a bill that would allow state agencies to conduct random drug testing of government employees every three months. But the bill sponsor, a republican from a place in Florida called Lecanto (anybody know where this is?), excluded state representatives because he said it would breach the lawmakers’ First Amendment rights.

So let me understand. This republican from Lecanto is telling us that elected officials in Florida have first amendment rights. Fine. OK. But then, what about the rest of us? First Amendment doesn’t apply to us?

Alvaro F. Fernandez