Sickening And Detestable

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If you're one of the nation's 30 million-plus bloggers - or among the 75,000 joining their ranks every day - keep an eye on Thursday's House vote on the Online Freedom of Speech Act.

Unless the bill passes, you may need a lawyer, if you discuss politics online. If it passes, you may still need a lawyer, if you spend more than $250 a year on your blog.

If all that seems confusing, you're not alone. Both critics and supporters of this bill, sponsored by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, claim to want to protect bloggers and 'small speakers' from onerous federal campaign regulation.

But the Hensarling bill could also open a huge loophole in a 2002 law limiting the influence of big money in politics by allowing unlimited spending by corporations, unions, and wealthy individuals for political ads on the Internet.

What happened to the First Amendment, anyway? Co-opted into the tools of Big Business? Lost in the fold?