Thursday, March 3, 2005 - The Progress & Freedom Foundation Blog

FEC Meets the Blogosphere?

Over at IPCentral, Jim has a good post on the ties between campaign finance and the Internet. Declan McCullagh has written an interesting story for CNET.

One thing is certain, the impending collision won't be pretty. Perhaps the saving grace of distributed media and independent writers will be what James Madison observed about factions.

"It is in vain to say, that enlightened statesmen will be able to adjust these clasing interests, and render them all subservient to the public good. Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm: Nor, in many cases can such an adjustment be made at all, without taking into view indirect and remote considerations, which will rarely prevail over the immediate interest which one party may find in disregarding the rights of another, or the good of the whole."

What I meant to say is that in the end, reliance interests will rule. Democrats, Republicans and a wide range of fringe political forces all love the blogosphere and won't stand for it to be sucked into the morass of McCain-Feingold.

posted by @ 5:31 PM | General