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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (103151)	3/3/2005 11:35:23 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793964

Red State - FEC regulating Blogging? By: krempasky · Section: Diaries The FEC hates freedom. How many times has that passed my lips? Too many to count. CNET has just published an interview with FEC commissioner Bradley Smith regarding earlier rumors that the FEC would soon determine whether blogging and other Internet activity should be regulated (read: stamped out). And the outlook? Not good at all. In just a few months, he warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines. A little background: back in 2002, while the FEC was developing rules and regulations to go along with the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Law, the Commission voted 4-2 to exempt Internet activity from the process. In 2004, however, a US District Judge (I was, of course, shocked and stunned to learn that she's a Clinton appointee) overturned that ruling, claiming that allowing this little corner of freedom undermined the entire spirit of the BCRA. And unfortunately, the FEC could not muster four votes to set aside the Judge's decision. That's three Democrats, folks. Three Democrats that don't believe that the Internet should remain free, and that citizens have the right to participate in the political process without lawyers and accountants. Make no mistake - Democrats and Republicans together got us into this mess, including President Bush - who in the most glaring example of political cowardice of his administration signed McCain-Feingold. But now that it's becoming clear what sort of disaster we're heading for as this law evolves and expands - the Democrats own this one. The Republican members of the FEC have seen the edge of the cliff and are trying to back away, only to be frustrated by the three Democratic appointees on the Commission. So I hope that our friends on the left side of the blogosphere will join us in urging those Democrats to stop this before it's too late. Consider it the first opportunity for the left-of-center bloggers to have their very own Sister Souljah moment. At the same time, let's just hope that Messrs. McCain and Feingold and all of their fans don't get another chance to tighten their grip on incumbency while keeping us riffraff out in the street and out of power. redstate.org