The pushback against Democrats' attempts to limit online communication continues
By Congressman Mike Conaway Posted in Congress — Comments (13) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Thank you to the hundreds of you who took time out of your day yesterday to sign my petition, to join my Facebook group, and/or to call Speaker Pelosi's office about Democratic attempts to limit online communication between the American people and their elected representatives. If you haven't yet, I encourage you to do so at your earliest convenience. You can also put a petition widget on your site by copying and pasting the code from the bottom of this post on my blog.
I am grateful to sites like RedState, which are keeping readers informed about this issue while keeping the heat on Congressional leaders. Several of my House Republican colleagues, including John Culberson, Thaddeus McCotter, and Minority Leader John Boehner, have also been working hard to make sure that the truth about this issue is presented to the American people.
Please read on.
As was written on Rep. Boehner's Republican Leader Blog earlier today:
The Internet is a powerful tool. House Republicans understand that embracing technology is essential in improving communicating with their constituents and increasing transparency in government, and they will continue fighting to ensure this new form of government censorship is not enacted.
Mark Hopkins, writing on social networking news site Mashable.com, called this proposed House rule a sign that Democrat leaders are "afraid of the shift towards openness in access to our nations legislators made possible by social media."
Honest leaders and representatives have nothing to fear from the openness and transparency that come from greater communication between government and the people. Unfortunately, Democrats' attempts to limit this communication sends the message that they are afraid of the accountability that comes with that transparency.
Like several of my colleagues, I use the Internet to communicate with my constituents and with the broader American population. I welcome the greater accountability the New Media has brought to government, and find it very disturbing that Congress's current leadership -- a group that claims to stand for free speech, open communication, and benefits for the little guy -- is so eager to shut down this inexpensive and ultra-convenient communication pipeline.
I will do my best to keep you posted as the situation develops. In the meantime, please continue to tell your friends about this issue, and push them to sign the petition, to join my Facebook group and to call the Speaker's office to let their voices be heard on this issue.
Will Nancy Pelosi also stand up and say that anyone who expresses an opinion that they developed through a blog shouldn't express that opinion on the floor of the House of Representatives?
Will she say that the people who are House staffers should have their internet access filtered so that they don't encounter thoughts that might be discomfiting to her in her role as Speaker?
The next steps after this are even more draconian, and they all point in one direction.
..over at The Next Right: Why does Pelosi want rules she already violates?
In the somewhat bizarre ongoing fight over House Franking Commission rules, Nancy Pelosi has made it even worse. Yesterday, on her Speaker's Office blog, she published a letter that she sent to House Republican Leader John Boehner:
Thank you for your letter on the recommendations by Franking Chair Capuano to the Committee on House Administration regarding posting web video external to the House.gov domain. We share the goal of modernizing the antiquated franking regulations to address the rapidly changing realities of communications in the internet age. Like many other Members, I have a blog, use YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Digg, and other new media to communicate with constituents, and I believe they are vital tools toward increasing transparency and accountability.
Founder and contributor to The Minority Report and Editor for The Hinzsight Report
Fixed an html thing for you.
As for your content:
Only Republicans break rules. Democrats have Nuance!
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Dependence is Slavery.
Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: 7.12
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 1.85
You don't have the access to correct anything let alone my non-existent html problem.
As to your response it was hardly worth posting imo!
Founder and contributor to The Minority Report and Editor for The Hinzsight Report
Note that your signature line is in block quotes. You had fouled the page up.
Thank God 3.0 launches tonight.
McCain for POTUS so the left can't ruin SCOTUS.
McCain for POTUS so the left can't ruin SCOTUS.
As for his response it's still crap!
Founder and contributor to The Minority Report and Editor for The Hinzsight Report
Came right after she was elected and was reported to me by a friend, who sitting in a tavern in Georgetown one night with a group of (I can assure you) Democrats talked about her ascendency, in very candid terms. I'm paraphrasing, but it was basically this:
"She's so stupid she's going to do something even stupider, eventually."
And so she has. That person was right back in 2006 and they know who they are.
That comment didn't come from a Republican. It came from a Democrat who was drowning their sorrows over the fact that the Party had just put into power one of the most incompetent individuals they could imagine with that much influence. It only took them a couple of hours and a few beers to say that unequivocally: there was no waterboarding, just a lot of crocodile tears.
Have any Democrats condemned this stupid Idea?
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle
...sent a letter to Leader Boehner earlier today in which she said that our efforts to maintain the transparency that the Internet creates are "a disservice to the vital dialogue on using technology to increase citizen involvement, education, and transparency in the House."
This is representative of how the Democrats have been dealing with this -- by accusing those of us who are fighting to maintain the open line of communication the Internet provides of misinformation and inaccuracy.
It's disappointing, because Internet communication benefits all of us.
It's not very nice that Nancy Pelosi wants to limit the ability of Congress to speak through the blogosphere. It's particularly not very nice since so many of her own consitutents have caused her to believe that cracking down on it is the right thing to do.
The first thing Nancy Pelosi should do is talk to the people on her own side first, who have been so much of an embarrassment to her, before she goes and tries to limit free speech for the rest of the country.
It's really almost Stalinist.
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