In reading this, it was the first time I realized enough slander and libel on a politician CAN cause them a great amount of damage or a job loss. I'm surprised they don't hide behind the law on this point in keeping people from saying things that are untrue. Regardless of whether I like a particular candidate or person in office, I think untrue statements against that person (or their families) is totally wrong.
Under the law, we have a greater amount of freedom when it comes to slander or libel against a politician or another public figure than when the victim is not in the public sphere.
Politicians expect it, and where they come out on top is pushing the person to prove it, or disproving that person. With the media as it is, they will usually jump on something to see if it is true. If politicians sued everyone who lied about them, that would tarnish them as well. There's an unwritten rule to leave the kids and spouses out of it, so when someone crosses that line, they usually get a trial by public.
The United States (and other countries) are rapidly being indoctrinated into supporting freedom from speech rather than freedom of speech. This, of course, is a political agenda designed to empower the elite and disempower everyone else, yet those who would be among the everyone else are increasingly supporting this agenda. That's where the indoctrination comes in. While this is more vocal among the younger generations, who have been subjected to a larger degree of indoctrination, and from a younger age, than some of us who are older, it isn't restricted to young people. There are plenty of adults, even senior adults, who simply cannot tolerate hearing anything that might make them reconsider their worldview. Rather than examining their worldview closely enough to be able to support it, they don't believe that anyone should be allowed to say anything that they disagree with. US universities and secondary schools are the main base for censorship of thought, but it has found its way into local, state, and certainly, the federal government, enforced by police departments and, all too often, ratified by the courts.