Res Publica 2005

Bogus Gold puts it very well:

John McCain and Russ Feingold. Two rumored presidential hopefuls who ought not earn a dime of revenue, or a word of support from any blogger, from now until forever.

Not only was their "campaign finance reform bill," which was lauded for taking the money out of politics, proved laughably ineffective by the last election. Now they are pushing the FEC via a lawsuit to stifle political speech on the Internet. It seems as long as they call it a "contribution" instead of "speech," they see no First Amendment violation.

Obvious to anyone but a modern judge, this violates the letter and the spirit of the First Amendment. Heck, it might as well spit on the Constitution altogether. It's simply a power grab by a bi-partisan elite who fear the power of democracy the Internet is enabling. They want something easier to control. Well tough.

Should blogging be considered an in-kind contribution to a political campaign? Is there an official designation for freedom of speech and freedom of the press which requires that you are a large corporate institution before you are considered worthy of having a true voice?

What part of "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." does McCain and Feingold not understand?

Bloggers of the right or left, if you want the right to petition the government, to have a voice in politics, to have the right to be heard on the internet, it is time to make your voice heard. Write. Email. Complain most loudly!

Need an idea of how to complain? Go see the letter that the Captain's Quarters has.

Some others blogging this:

Josh's Weblog
Mount Virtus
Bunker Mullican
Polipundit

There's a lot more out there, but I am sure that's enough to get you excited about this power grab!