Shooting The Messenger - Bloggers, McCain-Feingold and the FEC

For those of you that may not have been able to take the link to Doc Farmer's article Wednesday morning, here is the article in full. I have posted some other insights and opinions on this. - Sailor

Shooting The Messenger - Bloggers, McCain-Feingold and the FEC
Written by Doc Farmer
Wednesday, March 09, 2005


As a columnist, I'm pretty much in favor of the constitutional concept of Freedom of Speech. For those unfamiliar with the Constitution (see also: damn near all Federal Judges), let me refresh your memory:

Amendment I

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.

Freedom of Speech does not equal license to lie, of course. That's why we have laws against libel and slander. It also does not permit us to yell ''Fire'' in a crowded moviehouse (or ''Movie'' in a crowded firehouse). Freedom of Speech is not an issue if you commit perjury - in fact, unless you're a certain former president you can go to jail for it. However, when it comes to issues of politics or government, Freedom of Speech is our most cherished right.

Or at least, it used to be.

In the name of campaign
finance ''reform'' we were handed a piece of legislation known as the McCain-Feingold Act. The initial intent (or, more accurately, the bill of goods we were sold by Congress) was to clean up the ''big money'' and influence peddling that was part and parcel of Federal politics. Donation limits would be put in place, records would be kept, etc., etc., etc. However, there was some rather disturbing stuff tucked away in that bill. For example, you couldn't run ads against an opponent within x number of days of a primary or general election. So, this bill actually limited the freedom of speech we as Americans held dear. Note again the beginning of the First Amendment - Congress Shall Make No Law. Well, looks to me like they did just that.

Now, it would appear on the surface that this is a simple issue to fix. Take it to federal court, and they'll strike the law down as unconstitutional. Except an amazingly stupid thing happened. The Supreme Court of the United States, in an act
that must have made even the Florida Supreme Court shake their collective heads in wonderment, decided that the law was just peachy-keen and okey-dokey. Which means, of course, that they found the Constitution to be, well, unconstitutional.

Well, we somehow survived the 2004 election, despite the kvetching of the lib/dem/soc/commies, who while complaining vehemently about Campaign Finance Reform spent most of their time and money violating it. Still, they lost, which should prove that even when they break the rules, they still couldn’t find their backsides with both hands, a map, a GPS locator and a radio-bloody-telescope.

Now, despite all of this, we've generally gotten information about both candidates that gave Americans the ability to make a decision about who they wanted to run the Free World for the next quadrennial. A lot of the information we received came not from the ever-so-slanted mainstream media, but from the
so-called ''alternative'' media. In fact, the alternative media pointed out some rather glaring ''mistakes'' (see also: intentional forgery, journalistic malfeasance, electoral tampering, attempted insurrection, etc.), which ended up with the downfall of a few chosen sacrificial lambs from a certain television network. These and other facts were dug up by a dedicated group of men and women who decided that the truth was something they'd not receive from the likes of ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS, NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, et al. At their own expense, they created ''web logs'' where folks on the Internet could share information, ask important (and, to the minds of most lib/dem/soc/commies, impertinent) questions, and generally be a thorn in the side and a pain in the ass of the Mainstream Media.

''Web Log'' was shortened into ''blog'' and those who participated became a new word in the American language - ''bloggers.''

What they did to news was something unheard
of in decades. They became a watchdog for the truth - something the news media was supposed to be, instead of cheerleaders for their chosen candidate or (in some cases) blatant liars. The Mainstream Media berated the bloggers, belittled them, called them names like the ''pajamahadeen'' and tried their best to ignore the fact that, for them, the jig was well and truly up.

The odd thing is that despite the fact that bloggers are not ''journalists'' per se, they seem to have a lot more journalistic integrity than the members of the MSM. If they're wrong, they are found out rather quickly, and most of them will raise their hand, say ''oops,'' and correct the error. They share information and look to a variety of sources and ask for input from the folks who might have more expertise than they in various areas - for example, document authenticity. Bloggers aren't perfect, and they generally have an opinion about what they're reporting on,
but they make that opinion plain. They're up front with their biases, but they still provide useful information that is making the Mainstream Media run scared.

Unfortunately for the bloggers, however, it would seem that those in power in the ivory towers of newsdom have run scared right into the arms of the Federal Election Commission. Because of that, there is a move afoot by at least one member of the FEC to put a muzzle on the bloggers, making the Mainstream Media again ''the only game in town.''

Bradley Smith, one of six FEC Commissioners, has decided to lower the boom on the bloggers. According to a report posted on the web by Declan McCullagh, Smith has warned that ''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.'' I'm only guessing here, but I'd wager
that Smith is feeling his oats since Michael Powell left the FCC - apparently, he must feel that Powell's departure meant he could ride roughshod over the law, the truth, and the ''little guys'' who don't wear Brooks Brothers suits in the beknighted towers of the Mainstream Media.

Someone should perhaps send a letter to Bradley Smith and the other FEC Commissioners, and remind them that there's this little thing called ''The Constitution'' that they are in danger of violating.

If you'd like more information on this particular threat to Freedom of Speech, please go to http://mccain-feingold-insurrection.blogspot.com/ and let your voice be heard. While you still can.


About the Writer: Doc Farmer is a writer and humorist who is also a
moderator on ChronWatch's Forum. He formerly lived in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but now resides in the Midwest. Doc receives e-mail at docfarmer9999@yahoo.co.uk.

This Article Was First Published In ChronWatch At: http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=13474