A great deal has been made in the last couple of days about the newly proposed House rule that would prevent representatives from posting on non-"approved" Internet sites. Initially directed at legislators who post floor speeches on video-sharing site YouTube.com, this rule has raised concern that personal and community blogs and social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter could be the next targets of House Democrats' apparent desire to exert more control over the amount -- and types -- of information that the American people are able to access from within the halls of Congress.
Several Republican Congressmen are burning up the series of tubes that is the Internet in an effort to make know their disagreement with attempts to limit interaction between Congress and the people they are supposed to represent.
The actively-Twittering Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) was one of the first to break the story about the "Dem "Supreme Soviet" leadership of House's" attempts to limit representatives' communication with the citizenry, and he has been on top of it ever since.
Further, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) released a strongly-worded statement about the proposed policy, and Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) created a petition, which he posted on RedState.com and on Facebook.
"I believe in open communication with the American people," Conaway wrote on Facebook, "including the younger generation which uses the Internet, and social networking tools like Facebook, to gather and share information."
He continued:
The internet and new media have made government more transparent, and it is imperative that we keep it that way. That's why I recently joined Facebook, and I am encouraging my colleagues to do the same.Please join me in sending a message to the Democratic Congressional leadership that we won't stand for their attempts to reduce government transparency and limit communication from elected representatives and the American people.
The always entertaining Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) created the video below to call attention to the situation.
The letter that started this controversy can be seen here. This is a situation that will bear watching, both for the slippery slope that this proposed House rule could lead to on communication regulations, and for the extent to which Republican representatives -- often far behind the Left in terms of online and New Media savvy -- begin to embrace the wide-ranging tools of the Internet to better communicate with their constituents.
Lately I wake up and wonder if we are living in some sci-fi movie gone bad! How, in a country that guarantees FREE SPEECH to EVERY American citizen as part of our constitutional and God-given rights, can our elected representatives have the AUDACITY to even propose, much less try to push through such a thing as restricting what web sites our representatives, or any other method of communicating for that matter, may choose to use to communicate their opinions, and matters of interest to the citizenry of this country?
In my humble opinion, I think it is WAY past time for folks to start reviewing the voting records and performances of those we have elected into office. I have been expounding to anyone who will listen that I think we need to change the rules whereby an elected official can only ever serve one term in an office, thereby eliminating the career politician. Career politicians seem to go in with great ideals and committment and then are quickly tarnished by a system that allows such undue pressure and influence to be placed on those representatives through lobbying tactics and incentives and back room deals and pork barrell politics results. I cannot help but wonder what "incentives" have been waived under the noses of those supporting this proposal that would make them take leave of their senses and their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. Or is it just more of the "politics as usual" activities that Obama keeps swearing he is going to change (yeah RIGHT! As if he has any chance of controlling any of that!) I spent the first two thirds of my life as a liberal Democrat. I now consider myself an Independent with serious Republican, conservative tendencies. I am NOT politically correct and think it is time to put that nonsense aside and speak plain, blunt truth every chance we get! And the truth of this abomination and attempted perversion and subversion of our Constitution cannot be left unchallenged. But then, that's just MY humble opinion!
I live in the state of Texas...my wife is a school teacher at
a title 1 school. I must say that it is frightening to hear
Senator Obama's suggestion that American's should learn Spanish...when many young children from various backgrounds
are not even learning ENGLISH !! Some kids cannot even recite
the Pledge of Allegiance and have no clue when is comes to use of grammar and vocabulary. Yet, it is being suggested
that they take on a new language and become beholden to a culture where the average level of education of its citizens is 6th grade....No Thanks
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