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The liberal magazine The New Republic hits Daschle on a big flip-flop: DASCHLE'S NEW STANCE ON SOX ISN'T THAT SPECIAL (INTEREST) I don't see any particular role for me as a lobbyist, former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle told NPR...

Ron Volesky of Huron will be entering the race to be South Dakota's next governor soon:Former state legislator Ron Volesky of Huron will make his formal announcement for the Democratic nomination for governor Nov. 4. The announcement will be made...

Judith Apter Klinghoffer:WE ARE WINNING THE WAR ON TERROR IN IRAQ That is the irrefutable message of Bernard's Haykel's op ed in today's NYT, yes, the same NYT which Ed Koch so correctly takes to task for denigrating the war...

From NewsMax:According to two sources close to former Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan, ex-president Bill Clinton was on the verge of tears over legal woes brought on by the Monica Lewinsky scandal during a Sept. 1998 meeting with Crown...

SDP is taking some heat from the radical website High Plains Drifter which is Sowing Seeds of Revolt on the Dakota Prairie. HPD says that the Great Plains Anarchist Network met up in Vermillion, SD, from September 16-18 and has...

The French press is noting Daschle [Update: Here's the link]:US ex-senator says undecided about whether to run for president in 2008 Tom Daschle, a former US senator who lost his seat last year, told AFP that he was undecided about...

Shield Law Sponsor: Bloggers 'Probably Not' Considered Journos

It looks like the establishment is doing what it does best, stick up for itself, and to hell with anyone or anything that rocks the boat.

The comment was made by Sen. Richard Lugar (RINO-IN):

Bloggers would "probably not" be considered journalists under the proposed federal shield law, the bill's co-sponsor, U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R.-Ind.), told the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) Monday afternoon.

Lugar emphasized, however, that debate is not yet closed on how to define a journalist under the proposed law. "As to who is a reporter, this will be a subject of debate as this bill goes farther along," he said in response to a question from Washington Post Deputy Managing Editor Milton Coleman. "Are bloggers journalists or some of the commercial businesses that you here would probably not consider real journalists? Probably not, but how do you determine who will be included in this bill?"

Sen. Loogie has shown that he should be in line for an unsparing application of a cluebat upside the head.

The story does go on to note the following:

A key reason some journalists oppose the popular federal shield proposal is fear that giving Congress the power to define who is and isn't a journalist could lead effectively to the licensing of journalists.

THIS is the crux of the whole matter, right out on the table finally.
Can't anybody remember that little detail about the First Amendment? Apparently not, judging from further remarks from Sen. Loogie:

Lugar acknowledged that the legislation could amount to a "privilege" for reporters over other Americans. "I think, very frankly, you can make a case that this is a special boon for reporters, and certainly for their role in freedom of the press," he said. "At the end of the day what we will come out with says there is something privileged about being a reporter, and being able to report on something without being thrown into jail."

YIKES! It is absolutely in-f'ing-credible that anyone in government, sworn to "uphold and defend" the Constitution of the United States could say something like this! Don't look now folks, but we're being set up for a legal/media aristocracy, protected in their position and place by force of self-imposed law.

Sen. Loogie went on to demonstrate that he has fully mastered the art of Orwellian "newspeak" with this mountain of hypocrisy:

The bill is necessary to help the United States regain its status as an "exemplar" of press freedom, Lugar told the IAPA. "Even as we are advocating for free press (abroad)... we'd better clean up our own act," Lugar said.

It leaves me breathless with amazement! Protect presss freedom by preventing unauthorized/unofficial people from having the same freedom that the Recognized Established Reporters have???!!!! Come again?

Commentator Claire Wolfe stated that "America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to start shooting the bastards." The Chief begins to wonder if in fact, the latter part of that statement is still operative.

F.E.T.E.

Cougars Use Gift to Overcome Errors/Argus Leader...

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