FIRST AMENDMENT BE DAMNED!! McCain-Feingold assault on bloggers

(this topic will be pinned and updated as events unfold) Dear readers...

Free political speech is now under assault. Under application of the McCain-Feingold Act, the Federal Election Commission is looking to place a monetary value on a private blog's link to any candidate's website, thus contributing to the $2000 contribution limit imposed by McCain-Feingold. Additionally, if, say, the blogger's link or support of a candidate can directly be linked to additional fundraising as a result of that link or support, that, too could contribute to the $2000 limit.

Friends, the First Amendment to the Constitution:

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.

Friends, members of the established press are free of the confines of McCain-Feingold. The FEC, however, will NOT extend that privelege to the general public. In effect, the fines imposed on bloggers and other independents for violating these laws will be so unwieldly as to prohibit them from carrying on. Independent viewpoints will be shut down. The established media will have a monopoly voice in the election process.

"If Congress doesn't change the law, what kind of activities will the FEC have to target?
We're talking about any decision by an individual to put a link (to a political candidate) on their home page, set up a blog, send out mass e-mails, any kind of activity that can be done on the Internet."

The Ice Palace asserts: Is this the United States of America or the United States of the People's Republic of China?!?

IT IS TIME TO STOP THE ASSAULT ON FREE POLITICAL SPEECH EXPRESSLY PROTECTED UNDER THE FIRST AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION! THE TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW. CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES TODAY!!

Dear readers, this is not a "liberal vs. conservative" issue. Many liberal blogs are up in arms about this as well. One may think that I am saying this in my own self interest, but if they're going to throw the Constitution away on this issue, the Constitution will become nothing more than a meaningless, quaint piece of parchment, subject to the whims and fancy of those in power. When that occurs, rather than saying "God Bless America", we will be whimpering, "God help America."

***update****

The Captain's Quarters Blog has written a fabulous open letter to Sens. McCain & Feingold. He has also posted a response from McCain and Company as well as analyis that is well worth reading. This issue is not over by a longshot.


***update****

Details are supposedly still being worked out, but Don Shingleton points out that the Lone Star Times is in the process of investigating if it can offer all bloggers press passes, so as to make bloggers official press agents of Texas' KSEV Radio; thereby making them exempt from this abomination (hat tip to The Night Writer and to Bogus Gold). While "creative" means of escaping the wrath of McCain-Feingold may certainly be needed and welcome, such means are merely band-aids and still do not directly address the threat to our First Amendment Rights posed by M-F. Whether or not this "exemption strategy" is feasible, we must all (left and right) band together to ensure that this travesty of justice called the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act meets a swift and certain end.

As Bogus Gold so eloquently stated,

"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."

The Ice Palace would like to add to that dubious list any politician who would be a party to and/or an ongoing supporter of their odious piece of legislation.