Posted on 11/02/2005 6:44:50 PM PST by tsmith130
Apparently the Online Freedom of Speech Act failed to pass in the House of Representatives tonight. I infer this from a statement we got a few minutes ago from Minnesota Congressman Mark Kennedy, a leading proponent of free speech, including free speech on the web. Mark writes:
I'm horribly disappointed that this important measure failed to pass. This bill was designed to protect the free speech rights of Americans whose only alleged crime is wanting to use the Internet to express their opinions.
I disagree with the mainstream media elites who seem to think that an unregulated media is dangerous, unless it is them who are being regulated. What is disturbing and dangerous to me, and to the constituents I represent, is the ease with which so many advocate government regulation of speech.
Bloggers are everyday citizens. They are our neighbors, friends, and coworkers who want to be able to share their ideas without asking permission from a gatekeeper in the mainstream media and certainly not from a government official. They are the historical descendants of Founding Fathers like Thomas Paine and other pamphleteers who contributed enormously to our democracy.
We are trying to spread a message of hope, opportunity, and freedom around the world. I supported this legislation so that we don't lose the ability to have that message shared among the American people, and I am frankly disappointed that a majority of Members don't see it that way.
Mark Kennedy is staking out a position as one of the leading advocates of free speech in America today. What is happening here is that certain people--the editorial board of the New York Times, the Democrats on the Federal Election Commission--are trying to put sites like this one out of business. Frankly, I haven't followed the progress of the Online Freedom of Speech Act closely because I thought the idea that the FEC would try to shut down political discussion on the web was ridiculous. It appears that we have to take the threat to our First Amendment rights more seriously.
Ooooooh, I have not yet begun to fight...
(obscure cultural reference PING)
It all just makes me wonder....
Maybe I do need a tin-foil hat.
Wasserman-Shultz and Wexler. The communist Siamese twins from the People's Republic of South Florida voting against.
Now there is a shocker.
There has to be more to this. Somebody from his district in PA email him.
I find it amazing that the article doesn't include the bill number. More censorship.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
someone is going to have to explain the specific way in which the FEC could shut down this website (and the thousands of others that host political speech). I just don't see it.
You do. Things are far worse than you can possibly imagine.
uh oh
That's the ticket!
on what grounds? there are no paid political ads here, its just speech.
Did you get permission from your employer before posting that?
durn
Uh oh ping.
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