The Subjugation Will Not Be Televised

A rather disturbing trend has begun.

(Wait...which one? So many disturbing trends, how can anyone keep track?)

This trend is a direct attack on the First Amendment, the one we should all hold most dear to our hearts. Slowly, but surely, this pillar is being chipped away. A piece here for national security, a piece there because of social pressures, another piece off the top for this or that reform... Each part lost, a wound across the face of liberty; each chunk taken away, something precious gone that is almost impossible to replace.

(Wow, am I being dramatic or what? Hey, I'm allowed, this is the Internet.)


I knew this was happening, but it really came onto my radar when the FCC began trying to crack down on 'Bloggers as a part of "Campaign Finance Reform." It seems that many people in Congress were concerned with the "Undue Influence" that readily accessible media such as weblogs presented. In other words, some of the Oligarchy in our government has decided that a form of media that can be written by anyone about anything, including such things as the virtues of lesser known candidates or the dissatisfaction with the current representation, is too much of a wild card in their 93% reelection rates. It also tends to make certain businesses uncomfortable when they screw over customers, as weblogs give an even more effective and easy to use outlet to express unhappiness and frustration with the services they received. Businesses getting nervous translates to money being passed around, and those officials, easily coerced by cash and already nervous for their own positions, go off on a small war that they try to keep as quiet as possible.

First, Bloggers are sued into revealing their sources. Because they are not "Real Journalists," the ability to protect their sources do not apply.

Then, the FCC states that it wants to regulate blogs under certain campaign finance reform acts ...ones forcing them to stop talking about the election, supposedly so that richer candidates can't pound poorer ones into the ground through "soft money"... (It fails to work, by the way.) ...because Blogs are media and should not be exempt.

So now bloggers are members of the media, but not real members of the media...

This is still bouncing around in the system, and is on shaky legal ground... but that doesn't stop people with a lot of influence trying to silence people through legal fiat.



Most recently, NYT Reporter Judith Miller was found in contempt of court for refusing to testify and reveal her sources on a CIA leak. Instant repercussions occurred, as I've heard at least two instances where newspapers have refused to run stories because they were afraid of the government suing them!


The government has begun to beat down hard on Free Speech...

..The subjugation will not be televised... There won't be anyone with media access left to report it.