Why James Bopp Jr. is full of it

McClatchy chats with appellate advocate James Bopp Jr., whose work in Citizens United and others has helped roll back restrictions on campaign spending; he was also the lead advocate in Republican Party of MN v. White, the case that struck down judicial canons against partisan identification.

Bopp is a smart guy, too smart to believe there's anything constitutional, as opposed to partisan, in guff like this:

Bopp said that he's crusaded against both federal campaign donation limits and disclosure requirements because he thinks corporations have First Amendment rights in election campaigns and shouldn't be "punished" with negative publicity for exercising them.

GMAFB. There's no First Amendment right for one's speech to be protected from public criticism. If Megacorp wants to fund Republican candidates and run negative ads vs. Democrats, or vice-versa, then voter-consumers should be able to find out that it's Megacorp paying for 'em, not "Citizens Raging Against Politicians," an allegedly neutral 501(c)(4) that's just a front for Megacorp and its pals.