01.20
Just in case you missed it, a bill that would require political bloggers to “register as lobbyists” was stripped out of the lobbying reform bill that congress is working on. Slashdot is reporting it this morning:
“The attempt to require political bloggers to register as lobbyists previously reported by Slashdot has been stripped out of the lobbying reform bill. The vote was 55 to 43 to defeat the provision. All 48 Republicans, as well as 7 Democrats, voted against requiring bloggers to register; all 43 votes in favor of keeping the registration provision were by Democrats.”
–Lawrence Person, Slashdot
Wow! That is a lot closer than it should have been, but it doesn’t surprise me. The negative political buzz-phrase being used for the last decade in this country is “special interests”. Any time a politician wants to slam his opponent, he will accuse him of bowing to “special interest groups”. But what exactly is a special interest group? I have news for you people: It’s you. Special-interest groups are how most common people in this country get a hearing from politicians. Organizations like the NAACP, AARP, NRA, NEA, AICPA, AFL/CIO and the like are all special-interest groups. Take the AICPA(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) for example. If you are a CPA in this country then you are almost certainly a member of this special-interest group, and with good reason. You pay your dues for the leadership of the AICPA to lobby politicians on your behalf. Otherwise, how in the world would your voice get heard. It’s not like you can just take a vacation day, fly up to Washington and get a meeting with your Senator. No, you let the AICPA do that for you.
Special-interest groups are paid to lobby congress on the behalf of your “interests”. That is how 90% of Americans get there voices heard in the political halls of the U.S. Sure, some interests are bad and some lobbyists like Jack Abramoff are creeps. But that doesn’t mean that the system as a whole is a bad one or that special interest groups should be silenced. In some ways, special interest groups are the traditional ties that bind most average Americans to the people they elect. So tell me. How in the world does somebody writing a political blog even faintly resemble a lobbyist or special interest group? They don’t. Most political blogs are not directed at politicians. They are directed at the grass roots; at you and me. This direct to the people, from the people model is scary to many liberals in Washington. They have always enjoyed the liberal filter that the major media outlets have supplied.
The Dan Rather Bush National Guard document scandal showed many Democrats the power of this direct-to-many internet model. It was only a matter of time before they set their eyes on blogging as a threat. I’ve said before that I hate politics and I do. I hardly ever read political blogs. But the thought of making them register as lobbyists just sends chills up my spine. We already had to suffer the total destruction of the first amendment called McCain-Feingold. This would have been just one more step towards a “Minister of Information”.
