free speech banned in congressional chambers?

Not exactly.. let me give an example.

I used to work in this one particular bar, nice place that attracted a happy hour crowd of legal professionals, law enforcement agents/FBI, and your typical run-of-the-mill "yuppies", I guess you could say.

Anyway, we kept a list of rules posted on the wall and anyone who broke the rules would be immediately escorted out.

The rules were:

1. Don't talk about politics


That's it. And you know what? People didn't talk about politics. Not because they allowed themselves to be "oppressed" by this tyrannical rule, but because they knew drinking alcohol and talking about politics with random strangers is pretty much always a bad idea.

I hope you can figure out what the moral of this little story is

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so you are saying the floor of the house of representatives is like a bar full of douchbags? i'll agree with that but banning specific words? still sounds like, walks like, talks like, smells like fascism to me....but what the hell do i know?

jeff f said:

so you are saying the floor of the house of representatives is like a bar full of douchbags? i'll agree with that but banning specific words? still sounds like, walks like, talks like, smells like fascism to me....but what the hell do i know?

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you evidently don't know the definition of fascism.

you evidently don't know the definition of fascism.

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Fascism, pronounced /ˈfæʃɪzəm/, comprises a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology[1][2][3][4] and a corporatist economic ideology developed in Italy.[5] Fascists believe that nations and/or races are in perpetual conflict whereby only the strong can survive by being healthy, vital, and by asserting themselves in conflict against the weak.[6]
Fascists advocate the creation of a single-party state.[7] Fascist governments forbid and suppress openness and opposition to the government and the fascist movement.[8] Fascism opposes class conflict, blames capitalist liberal democracies for its creation and communists for exploiting the concept.[9

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i dont know, but the forbidding and suppressing openness sure sounds like what congress has done. but again, you are way way way smarter than me so take it for what its worth.

i don't know where you got that definition.
here's mirriam webster's

Main Entry: fas·cism
Pronunciation: \ˈfa-ˌshi-zəm also ˈfa-ˌsi-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian fascismo, from fascio bundle, fasces, group, from Latin fascis bundle & fasces fasces
Date: 1921
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition

i hardly think that mutualy agreed to, and mutualy adhered to rules of decorum in the house chambers ( a rule that has stood since 1909) fall under the definition of fascism. in fact i know they don't.