Hey, what the…. We’re just getting started around here, and already the Federal Government is kicking around rules that might severly limit our activities. (Nod: Cox and Forkum)
Well, okay — I doubt they’re kicking around these ideas in order to put a stop to Jason and Rich in San Francisco. And, sure, maybe this is is all temporary sound and fury and it won’t go anywhere. But the very idea that McCain-Feingold’s regulations — which were designed to combat big-ass, multimillion dollar campaign finance abuses might now be used in an attempt to crack down or curtail the explosion of individual citizen-journalists known as “the blogosphere” must give us pause.
Obviously, here at The Golden Gate, we’re big believers in the power and utility of blogs. Hell, we like blogs so much, we decided to start our own! And, not to get to sentimental or poetic or anything, but I think blogs are a fantastic new addition o our democratic society — right in there with what Jefferson, deTocqueville et. al. had in mind for our democracy. People, expressing themselves, coordinating, getting involved in the ever-lovin’ societal conversation.
So, as I said, maybe all this McCain-Feingold hoo-hah isn’t going anywhere and this’ll all blow over in a month or two. Maybe.
But, just for exercise, let’s all go ahead and kick an email to internet@fec.gov and make our feelings known. We’ll tell ‘em we value free speech, and that free speech on the Internet should be the number one guiding principle for their deliberations.
Put more succinctly: “Hey FEC — KEEP YOUR LAWS OFF OF MY BLOG!”