What part of "free speech" don't they get?


"I am a friend of free speech but we need to draw lines." Yeah, right.
I've talked about it before, but Matt Welch sums it up at Reason Online.

The bill itself would have placed an extra layer of statutory protection over what should already be (but isn't) protected by the First Amendment—the right to buy political advertisements online. As the mess of appalling FEC rules currently stand, nobody can legally purchase a broadcast, satellite, or cable advertisement that even mentions a candidate for federal office within 60 days of a general election (30 days for a primary), unless he or she sets up or joins a political action committee (PAC) and agrees to abide by the heavy regulations that govern PACs' funding and disclosure.

Now, under pressure from crusading campaign-finance Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), the FEC is finalizing rules that could mean the restriction not only of online advertisements, but of e-mail lists, partisan blogging, and potentially even hyperlinking. The Online Freedom of Speech bill, sponsored by Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling and co-sponsored by three Democrats and six Republicans (including Jeff Flake and Ron Paul), would have amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 "to exclude communications over the Internet from the definition of public communication," essentially making the Internet off-limits to the FEC. Because the measure was not brought up under normal House rules, it required a two-thirds majority for passage, but fell 46 votes short, 225-182. Democrats voted nay, 143 to 46.

"The bill that we are considering will...allow political parties to use soft money to pay for Internet ads bashing candidates," warned Massachusetts Democrat Martin Meehan. (Horrors!) "I am a friend of the Internet. In fact, I sponsored legislation that would exempt bloggers from FEC legislation. But the issue is how we draw the lines to balance. We do not exempt the Internet from laws controlling child pornography; we do not allow child pornography on the Internet. We do not exempt the Internet from consumer safety laws. We do not exempt the Internet from intellectual property or copyright laws. We do not because we think those laws are important."

I think this quote speaks volumes about some Democrats' Mel Stuart–like internal dissonance on the First Amendment. I am a friend of free speech, they assure us at every turn, but we need to draw lines, because when yucky people spend money to communicate a political message through the news media, it's just like child pornography, reckless endangerment, and intellectual property theft. Combine this attitude with a general cluelessness about the unintended speech-impairing consequences of FEC rule-making, and you get the obscene sight of the New York Times editorial board, which bathed itself and Judith Miller in the holy waters of the First Amendment in 15 different editorials, arguing with a straight face that "The bill uses freedom of speech as a fig leaf."

Once they start distinguishing between political speech and free speech on the internet, I can pretty much promise you that any controversial speech will be labeled political. And that means no discussion of taxes, no discussion of unfair laws, no discussion of jury nullification, and no discussion of idiot candidates. And it won't stop at blogs, it will apply to any information carried on the internet.

Except the press of course, they already have a special exemption. Which means that the mainstream press is all in favor of regulating blogs because it removes potential competition. That has been one of the results of government regulation since the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Don't believe me? Then ask any Congressman what "interstate commerce" means and how it can apply to things that are never sold outside of a state. Or ask them how "public use" has come to mean whoever can pay the most taxes.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Sat - November 5, 2005 at 04:44 AM  Tag


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