Protecting the Right to Blog; Thanks Rep. Kennedy
Suffocating the First Amendment
Those of us who specialize in venting on Da Interweb tend to take our “right” to do so for granted. Sure, it’s the freedom of speech and expression, and it’s guaranteed by the Constitution, but whether any of y’all have notice or not, there are those out there who see us as a threat. Since 9.11, there is a large segment of the political population that operates under a “loose lips sink ships” mentality, and that any form of speech not uniformly supportive of the current Administration is unpatriotic and Anti-American.
Of course, it’s an expression of free speech to voice the opinion that political bloggers are guilty of engaging in offensive, unpatriotic, and/or anti-American speech. The problem comes in when these folks decide the time has come to regulate our free speech simply because they find it threatening. Our nation’s history is replete with examples of “offensive” and/or “threatening” speech that has stood because of it’s protection under the Bill of Rights. You may not like it, you may find it “un-American”, but do you have the right legislate us into some acceptable version of “compliance”? Not hardly.
The Online Freedom of Speech Act recognizes that the online political dialogue enhances public debate, and should be allowed to flourish. New technologies continue to make it easier for Americans to be active in politics.
In a country where only 60% of eligible adults vote, we cannot afford to allow the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to burden political participants with arbitrary and cumbersome rules. If the FEC imposes any regulatory scheme on the Internet, bloggers will be in legal jeopardy. This bill has unusual bi-partisan and bi-cameral support, being introduced in the Senate by Democratic Leader Harry Reid. H.R. 1606 excludes the Internet from “public communications” as defined for FEC purposes. It will mean that no campaign finance regulations apply to communication over the Internet.
Of course, what I’m really interested in is how exactly the FEC proposes to regulate political bloggers? Given the nature of da Interweb, and the reality that government is generally at least two or three steps behind the technological curve, I’m not going to lose any sleep until I see the particulars. At this point in time, I honestly think that reigning in and regulating poltical speech on the Internet is beyond the capability and resources of the US government. I may be wrong in this assessment, but I don’t believe I am.
And yes, you can have my laptop when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers….
