Unfortunately, it's Harry Reid, and one has to take a shower afterward.

I'm more at the Goldstein end of the spectrum than the Hackbarth end: this blog-registration idea is very troubling to me. It does, indeed, seem like the first step in a massive effort to curtail free speech. So though I'm sure there have been overreactions, the whole proposal makes me queasy.

There's also the idiocy involved: if legislators want to figure out who's getting traffic and buzz, can't they just have their staffers check out Technorati, and monitor the Ecosystem? Why should the onus be on bloggers to get in touch with the government? It's not like buzz is a big secret: by definition, it's pretty easy to figure out where it is.

Oh, but money. Right. We must ferret out where money might be changing hands.

Sorry, guys: that's also pretty easy to figure out. When someone is taking dough and doesn't disclose it, he/she always gets caught—generally by fellow bloggers. And there's something worse than government fines involved: his/her reputation always takes a hit for that sort of conduct.

The whole thing is patently ridiculous.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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