[nverno]

> If I do this while refusing to show any real proof of it and, when cornered by the truth, I claim that it was just my opinion and should be respected... well, this is a different issue.

If that 'public figure' is the government itself, or a member thereof, then making 'false' statements was, at one point, criminalized in the Sedition Act of 1798 [1]. This was extremely unpopular, and while never directly ruled upon in the Supreme Court, is roundly assumed to be unconstitutional [2].

Making up shit about the federal government is simply a protected right of free speech in the USA.

> > You would say other thing if it was somebody from "your party"

Not sure where this is coming from, but I think you are responding to someone else.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts#cite_n...