When Congress Attacks ... the Internet

That fucko Santorum's (R-PA) at it again. He introduced a bill - HR 2726 - that opens the door to more and more influence from the private sector on what media we - as supposedly "free" Americans - get access to to read, form ideas --- you know...that whole "marketplace of ideas" thing.

According to this article from the Palm Beach Post:

The bill, introduced last week by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., would prohibit federal meteorologists from competing with companies such as AccuWeather and The Weather Channel, which offer their own forecasts through paid services and free ad-supported Web sites.

Supporters say the bill wouldn't hamper the weather service or the National Hurricane Center from alerting the public to hazards — in fact, it exempts forecasts meant to protect "life and property."

But critics say the bill's wording is so vague they can't tell exactly what it would ban.

This utter bullshit bill just reminds me of this paper I wrote back in grad school about public journalism and how the Chinese government banned all websites that were critical of the government, like the Falun Gong.

The Great Red Firewall, as its called, exists solely to stifle and discourage any type of forum for "free information and discussion."

I mean, if Santorum's bill passes, the Internet as we know it will become sanitized, filtered, bland, non-confrontational. Sure, maybe we'd have to pay for an AccuWeather forecast because of this bill, but who's to say that they won't try to extend this ban to libraries who offer free internet access to people who can't afford it? Or ban websites overly critical of this current administration (I can think of a couple of blogs that fit into this category)? Based on how this administration loves to fudge data and overutilize PR to the max, the idea isn't all that far fetched.

At least to me. Maybe I'm making this a bigger issue, and at its essence it's about big business given free reign over our lives with the Republicans as the evil enablers.

Either way, it's got to fucking stop already. Leave media alone. A democratic society needs a free marketplace of ideas and a place for discourse. Stop fucking with it. That's my message to Rick Santorum and everyone else in the legislature who continues to be an accomplice to the most non-transparent administration in history.

Tom's post at Who Hijacked Our Country is responsible for getting me all riled up. As a journalism-school graduate, media issues really get me excited. Excited enough to sign this petition.

Please, check out Tom's post. I hope it gets you riled up enough to take some action too.

Again, have a great weekend, everybody.