The New York Times offers an editorial today which actually seems to argue in favor of commercial speech. This is an astounding development from an editorial page which does it best on a daily basis to quash political speech through the invention of campaign finance regulations.

The paper suggests that the U.S. Supreme Court should hear a challenge to a California ruling against Nike, in which the sportswear company was found liable under a consumer protection statute which prohibits false and misleading advertisements for statements made about its labor practices in third-world countries. I’m glad to see that the NYT has expanded its view of free speech beyond the freedom of the press. Perhaps soon they will embrace political speech as well.