Patterico's Pontifications

3/4/2005

Register Here for Your First Amendment Protections

Filed under: Civil Liberties,General — Patterico @ 6:36 am



Instapundit reports that a talk-radio station is attempting to get bloggers media credentials, to protect us from campaign finance reform legislation:

While we still need to talk to some sharp lawyers and nail down the details, if these restrictions come to pass, KSEV and LST are committed to working out a legally sound way in which individual bloggers– of every ideological persuasion and partisan affiliation– can somehow register with us and be credentialed as a press representative of KSEV and LST.

Like Raoul Wallenberg handing out passports, we will start issuing press credentials to any blogger that asks for one.

It’s the word “register” that jumped out at me. I know that, theoretically, we’d be registering with the radio stations and not with the government — but in reality, this would be registering with the government. For freedom of expression.

To hell with that.

They’ll have to pry this keyboard from my cold dead hands before I am going to “register” with the government for permission to state my personal views without fear of prosecution.

Excellent Letter on Bono

Filed under: Dog Trainer,General — Patterico @ 6:13 am



I am overdue posting this wonderful letter to the editors of the L.A. Times, regarding their laughable suggestion that U2 rock star Bono be named the head of the World Bank:

Your Feb. 25 editorial, “Bono for the World Bank,” is so naive it frightens me. This editorial exposes how little your editorial board understands about the role of president of the World Bank, a daunting administrative position that chiefly requires serious managerial skill, deep understanding of banking and economics and sound diplomatic and political expertise.

To think that [U2 rock star] Bono, a well-intentioned person but largely uninformed about anything beyond basic concepts of international affairs, could run the World Bank is simplistic.

Bono would be a perfect candidate to serve as a consultant or a spokesperson for the bank, as he is committed to his cause and has effectively raised the profile of issues such as debt relief.

But to think that Bono’s public relations skills translate into management qualifications is like suggesting that Bill Clinton should have had a saxophone career because he was a great president and loved the saxophone.

Joe Brinker
Washington

Well said. My only quibble with Joe Brinker of Washington is his surprise at the naivete and silliness of an L.A. Times editorial.

Favorite Times

Filed under: Real Life — Patterico @ 6:12 am



My latest trial is over. The family all went out for dinner with my mother-in-law. I held my daughter’s and son’s hands and we danced around as we walked to the restaurant. At dinner, we went through the alphabet and I tickled my daughter every time a letter in her name came up. Starting with “a.”

It was a good night.

By the end of the day, I had plenty of favorite times of the day to talk about.


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