A TIME columnist tackles this week the issue of Democrats using images of flag-draped coffins in their campaign ads.

The column endorses the idea, and I agree with him on that point. For many Democratic candidates, opposition to the war is the single issue they use to justify their campaigns. Without the antiwar sentiment, they would have little to say.

These critics have just as much right to excoriate the GOP leadership in the war effort as Republicans have to blast the critical Democrats as unpatriotic.

In a roundabout way, this article leads me to an issue that should concern voters of all stripes: efforts to limit any type of political speech.

Excepting libelous material (for which there is a remedy in the courts), no political speech should face excessive shackles — especially from government regulation. To paraphrase one of our legislators from a recent debate, that scenario equates to the government saying: “Sit down and shut up! We don’t want to hear what you have to say.”