Richard Disney

John Culberson (R Texas) describes in the video below, how the House of Representatives Leadership (Nancy Pelosi (D California)) is trying to impose a rule in committee that would limit Congressmen from communicating with Twitter, Plurk, YouTube, Qik.com and other internet services without authorization from House Leadership.

Culberson talks about shining a light in every corner of Congress because a thief can’t steal from you in the light. Seems that Pelosi wants to keep Congress dark enough so The People don’t notice their pockets being picked.

I think so many Americans have become dependent on government largess that they forget the meaning of Independence Day.

The 4th of July is celebrated because after the American Colonies had petitioned the King of England for redress without favorable consideration for many years, the Colonial leaders made the decision that unjust rule was sufficient reason for a People to rule themselves.

Everyone should read the Declaration of Independence at least once a year and this is a great day to do it!

Don’t just read the resounding opening lines– read the whole thing.

Read the damning point-by-point indictment of King George’s gross misrule and petty tyrannies.

“In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

(Realize that those were fighting words that could have put the signers of the Declaration to death.)

So definitely enjoy the blessings of liberty! Enjoy the cook-outs, the fireworks, the beer, and the guns too. Remember to shoot the guns before drinking the beer!

Raise a glass or two to the health of our Armed Forces, to the glory of the United States, and damnation to our enemies.

Tags: independenceday, 4th of july, liberty, armed forces, declaration of independence, king george, tyrannies, cook-outs, fireworks, beer, guns, shoot

This is a horrible indication of how many Americans are willing to vote away all of our freedoms. Talk about the Wussification of America!

If the federal government starts regulating the Internet “the same way it does radio and television”, say goodbye to free speech in the form of blogging written audio or video content. Say hello to licensing and regulation that will limit Internet content production only to those who can afford the massive fees, compliance and lobbying necessary to have a sanctioned site.

As Ronald Reagan said, “Government is not the solution to our problems…Government IS the problem.”

Article follows:

From Rasmussen Reports

Nearly half of Americans (49%) believe that the federal government should regulate the Internet the same way it does radio and television, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national survey.

Thirty-five percent (35%) disagree, and 16% are undecided.

Americans also believe overwhelmingly — 73% yes to 13% no — that it should be a crime to harass someone on the Internet.

The findings come as a Missouri woman faces an unprecedented federal prosecution for allegedly setting up an account for a fictitious 16-year-old on an online social networking site to harass the 13-year-old daughter of a neighbor.

Click here to read entire article Rasmussen Reports™: The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a presidential election.

Tags: internet, free speech, government regulation, blogging, federal regulation of the internet, rasmussen, poll, 49%, americans want regulation, wussification of america

This is a concerning post as the enforcement of tolerance is trumping the protection of freedom of speech worldwide. The spirit and fact of speech as a right is to have the right to say or write things that offend others, including governments. When governments arrest or intimidate people who say or write what they think, it has a chilling effect on the entire society which weakens the people and strengthens government.

Post from Publius Forum follows:

-By Warner Todd Huston

Bloggers are being arrested more and more as the importance of the Internet is realized by governments across the world, at least so warns the BBC.

It seems an alarming report where community activists and democracy advocates are finding themselves being oppressed by government, arrested, and maybe even tortured because of their blogging.

But, one little fact of the story is never really focussed on in this alarming BBC report on the release of the WIA report from the University of Washington.

The fact that bloggers aren’t threatened much in democratic nations has been glossed over by this report.

Unfortunately, a cursory reading of this piece would leave the reader with the vague feeling that people all over the world are being arrested merely because they are blogging, but that isn’t quite the case.

The way this report is written serves as a perfect example of a PCism more concerned with upsetting the tender sensibilities of tyrannical, undemocratic governments, than in reporting the oppression of its citizens. It’s a PCism gone so far that it makes the report uninformative at least to the most important aspect of the reason these bloggers are being arrested.

Here is how the BEEB starts their almost whitewashed report:

“More bloggers than ever face arrest for exposing human rights abuses or criticising governments, says a report.

Since 2003, 64 people have been arrested for publishing their views on a blog, says the University of Washington annual report.”

The BBC also gravely informs us that, “Citizens have faced arrest and jail for blogging about many different topics,” and that “Arrested bloggers exposed corruption in government, abuse of human rights or suppression of protests. They criticized public policies and took political figures to task.”The report goes on to explain why this new threat to bloggers has arisen. The report said the rising number of arrests was testament to the “growing” political importance of blogging.

Click here to read entire post Jailed for Blogging « Publius’ Forum

Tags: PCism, bbc, bloggers arrested, blogging, political importance, warner todd huston, publius’ forum