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Democrats Defeat Online FOS Act
not so anonymous writes "The Online Freedom of Speech Act was defeated in the House of Representatives yesterday. The Act would have immunized political bloggers from having to comply with hundreds of pages of FEC rules." From the article: "In an acrimonious debate that broke largely along party lines, more than three-quarters of congressional Democrats voted to oppose the reform bill, which had enjoyed wide support from online activists and Web commentators worried about having to comply with a tangled skein of rules. The vote tally in the House of Representatives, 225 to 182, was not enough to send the Online Freedom of Speech Act to the Senate. Under the rules that House leaders adopted to accelerate the process, a two-thirds supermajority was required."
is my understanding of u.s. politics so backwards? i would have expected the party breakdown to be 180degrees opoistite this...
Interesting, isn't it? Despite the common association between left/liberal politics and liberty (to do/be anything), it's the left that usually acts to restrict or condemn speech. It's common on college campuses and is apparent in this congressional vote.
There's another dimension to this, as well. Because much of the mainstream news media, as people, lean to the political left, there's a built-in advantage for leftier politicians in the way they are covered. When exposure for a politician comes in the form of "reporting" (or op-eds in a newspaper), it's not subject to the campaign laws. If personal/group expression is limited by law, then the democratic candidates benefit by getting more "free" journalistic exposure. People will whine about Fox being a more right-leaning news outlet, but that scarcely puts a dent in the coverage from CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR and the majority of big city newspapers and local broadcasters. So, the Democrats, in limiting free speech in this way, are morally bankrupt, but are working to improve their odds of winning elections.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
... if we can't rely on the Democrats to protect our freedoms, then who are we to rely on?
Time to start looking into up-and-coming libertarian/green party candidates...
I've noticed that there are a whole lot of conservative leaning Anonymous Coward posts on this thread.
Coincidence?
Democrats making a stupid decision? SHOCKING! Shocking I say!
Is your terror cell living in terror? Is your safe-house not so safe? If so, read the New York Times, the jihad journal.
"It is impossible for the Democrats to stop anything in the House."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster
Nice try though, playing the victim. You are perfect Democrat material.
saying you're in favor of control doesn't mean you're automatically a "facist."
That's like saying I'm a hardcore PETA supporting vegan because I want a salad.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
You are missing the point. Yes, the GOP sent the bill up under rules where it would fail. Why? They wanted the Democrats to scuttle a free speech bill. The Democrats obliged. Now the GOP can simply pass the bill under normal rules. This is win-win for the GOP. Not only do they get their bill, but they get a big headline of "Democrats scuttle free speech bill".
From the GOP perspective, this was a highly successful way of getting the democrats to vote down a free speech bill at the cost of nothing. At the end of the day the bill will be passed through with a Republican majority amd be signed by a Republican president, but only after the Democrats unsuccessfully tried to stop it. I personally am baffled as to why the Democrats let themselves be set up so cleanly.
The Democrats only savings grace is that the American public is much more interested in American Idol then free speech issues. The indifference of the American public will turn what would have been a political coo into a footnote and a nice blurb in some political campaign.
If it makes you feel any warmer, I think neither party gives much of a care about free speech. I loath election day and having to pick between the lesser of the two evils. I feel like I am checking off who I think will be the lesser douche bag with my liberties, not the guy who has any interest in protecting them. Yeah yeah, the Republicans set this bill up to protect free speech. Of course, they are also the same dick heads who want to ban flag burning and passed a number of lovely measures via the Patriot Act (with democratic help none the less).