Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Just when I was getting warmed up...

So now, blogs are under attack by the FEC. A recent posting on the Free Market News Network website outlines action being taken by the Federal Elections Commission to regulate and censor internet activity.

Voice your opinion by visiting DownSizeDC.org, and sending a letter to your representatives.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Um . . . Sorry, dude, I'm inclined to take any information source that trots out words like "heroic" and "infidels" to support its position as a bit . . . histrionic? I took the advocates for self-government test, by the way, and scored as a "Liberal Libertarian," which I find mildly hilarious as I give a four-flavor political model only slightly more credence than a two-flavor model, which isn't much. I've been a registered Independent since I was 18 ("declines to affiliate," in modern voter registration parlance) and until/unless an orgasmically superior political mapping system comes along, I'm sticking by it.

Ron Jennings said...

C'mon...ever hear of sarcasm? Histrionic or not, I encourage you to look beyond the hyperbole and check the facts for yourself.

Here's a link to the CNET article: The coming crackdown on blogging, to Ellen Weintraub's rebuttal, and to some legalese concerning the actual decision.

I grant that I reacted much as the writer hoped I would react...with righteous indignation. Upon reading the articles linked to above, though, I realize that the implications are not so clear cut. That said, I feel there is still cause for concern as there has been plenty of insideous legislation of late that portends the eventual shredding of the Bill of Rights. Witness The Patriot Act, for instance.

As for the World's Smallest Political Quiz...I don't put much stock in it. With questions so obviously geared to evoke a particular response, it's just too convenient. Besides, I see really only two ends of the spectrum...Totalitarianism and Anarchism. The ideal system lies somewhere in between, and where you place your values on that line indicates your particular political philosophy. At this point, Libertarianism just happens to be based on a set of principles with which I agree.

Anonymous said...

"I grant that I reacted much as the writer hoped I would react...with righteous indignation." Of course, that's the response it was designed to evoke in its target audience. Let's hear it for rhetoric (and grammar and poetic and ethics) - we're much more likely to offer up an emotional response rather than a critical one for hot topics (politics, religion), as Americans aren't exactly raised to think critically. (Else who would buy all that needless crap that drives the consumer economy?) :) Of course the Bill of Rights is under attack. It always has been. If you believe in it, do what you feel you need to to protect it, but be aware that *all* sides seek to emotionally manipulate prospective sympathizers. It's good policy to guard your own brain at all times. "I see really only two ends of the spectrum...Totalitarianism and Anarchism." I guess that's what makes me a real weirdo, it's been ages since I've anything that complicated as two-dimensional.