I'm so relieved.
"We’re not interested in playing gotcha in the gray areas."
Not yet. But once the law is on the books, will you never feel tempted? Nothing will motivate you to venture into the gray?
IN THE COMMENTS: Meade said:
As Chief Justice John Marshall might have remarked, "the power to [call 'gray' 'black & white'] involves the power to destroy."Very, very apt...
But don't go to law school.
Posts
53 comments:
Handwringers, busybodies and hysterics are in charge now.
The economy has lost jobs by the millions...except in Government Agencies. So we should think of this as a WPA project.
As Chief Justice John Marshall might have remarked, "the power to [call 'gray' 'black & white'] involves the power to destroy."
Exactly. Are their assurances of good faith legally binding in court?
I didn't think so.
More shots across the bow for dissenters.
This isn't going to end pretty, is it?
May lend a whole new meaning to Glenn Reynolds' headline...
"IN THE MAIL..."
--A subpoena, instead.
[Excellent observation and substitution, Meade.]
Trust us. We're from the government, and we're here to help.
Never forget, Santa Claus always has a list and is checking it twice.
Just who is the FTC protecting?
Their budget.
As they say,
Slippery, meet slope.
WV "muzesatc" college entrance exam for Muzak vendors
Punch back! TWICE AS HARD! Get in their FACES!
It's pretty obvious how the executive branch feels about entities that are critical. They 'a branch of the GOP', and therefore, not only does the president not have to answer questions from the critical press, but also urges you to send a contribution and GET IN THEIR FACES.
Look at that Rush fella. The targetting of Rush as the leader of the GOP came right from the white house, and has culminated in ABC and CNN fabricating slurs to destroy his investment efforts.
What are the going to do to some blogger? Fabricate comments like Killgore Trout did, and throw them in prison for inciting hatred? Sounds so far fetched and ridiculous, but if Mccain and Palin had clairvoyance enough to accurately predict what this administration was going to be like, the left would have called it far fetched and ridiculous.
The way Rush has been able to use his voice to defend himself... only somewhat, shows the power of this WhiteHouse, which includes its media organs.
This is already chilling expression. Or as Norwegians say, easing tensions.
The point isn't to prevent Rush from buying a football team, but to damage the Rush brand in public.
Well how will we know if it's a gray area or more toward the black or white? Isn't it the nature of "gray area" that it's not clearly defined, so anytime the enforcer chooses to do so, he can define the offense out of the gray and into the black?
There never has been an abuse so inconsequential that it doesn't merit the full majesty of the Federal Government descending upon an individual.
If that sounds like hyperbole, consider my surprise 30-odd years ago, when, as a starving musical instrument craftsman working out of an abandoned farm building, an OSHA inspector showed up, stepped out of his white Interagency Motor Pool vehicle, cocked his white hard at a jaunty angle, gripped his clipboard authoritatively, stepped into my shop, and proceeded to fine me $1200 for having a band saw guard "too high" (I was resawing wood, for chrissakes), and an extension cord draped across the floor.
I thought the then-new OSHA would focus on safety in large, interstate industries. Naw, that was too hard. Starving artists were much easier.
I said, "But I don't have any employees!" Inspector answered, "You have had. You employed ..... for 3 months this year." I had hired a friend who taught at the same school I did for the summer. I made the mistake of making him an official, tax-paying, full-time employee. I wanted to be a good citizen, yes, I did.
Since then, I have had many encounters with OSHA, but that first one, where Your Federal Government descended in, as I say, all its Majesty upon poverty-stricken me, attempting to ruin my paltry business, and nearly succeeding—well, that was the one that turned me from a conventional, dewey-eyed liberal into something else.
What that was, I can't exactly say. It didn't make me a Republican. After all, OSHA was Nixon's idea. But it did make me, as my great uncle used to say, an Againster.
Now that I'm sliding slowly toward retirement as a musical instrument maker, I'm enjoying blogging more and more.
By the end of the current Administration, what Federal agency do you think I'll need to apply to for a license?
And if my forms are not in order, will I be fated to have begun my active working life with a knock on the door, and to end it the same way?
But oh, nooooooo, Barry and friends aren't socialists!
Distrust of the government is patriotic.
P.S. to the above.
The same sweep put two other woodworking operations out of business in the same little valley I was living at the time. One was a door and window business (yes, they were wood in those days), and the other was an extremely good restoration contractor, who specialized in keeping up the oddly large number of Victorian "cottages" in the area.
The contractor came down with Lyme disease at the same time he was trying to get right with OSHA, and lost everything.
And did I mention my income taxes were audited that same year? Funny how that works.
P.P.S.— The wood I was resawing was Sitka spruce—10-12 inch wide shaggy timbers to make harpsichord soundboards (I know, I know, it's real Norway Spruce or Englemann these days, IF you can get good, quartered boards), and a replacement soundboard for an 1848 Viennese grand piano I was restoring.
Not only does the Federal Government dislike small businessmen, it hates music, too.
Theo Boehm said...
...will I be fated to have begun my active working life with a knock on the door, and to end it the same way...?
It used to be that was the difference between this country and places like Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia.
No more, sad to say.
WV "paticat" Like patty cake, but you do it with cats
""We are not planning on investigating individual bloggers.""
Nah. Just those who, as a group, speak out against Barack Obama.
LOL -- Three letters Y-E-T
So, has anyone sued yet to enjoin the enforcement of the FTC's rule? I haven't followed this closely; perhaps it hasn't been issued as a rule yet. But, if a suit is eventually brought, I don't think the "we're not planning ..." argument will do the FTC much good. Quite the opposite, I suspect.
So, has anyone sued yet to enjoin the enforcement of the FTC's rule?
I doubt anyone has standing until they're actually sanctioned somehow. So the administration can hold it up there like the sword of Damocles as long as they don't use it.
I understand the need for standing requirements, but it sure would be better for everyone if some issues could be resolved promptly. If somehow you could make the argument the threat posed by a rule like that is enough, in itself, to give you standing.
This has much too little to do with "truth in advertising", for which there are already laws on the books in this land.
Come up with your own pet theories, because I know I have many.
All your blog belong to us.
Yeah, and the promise that Patriot Act "sneak and peak" searches would only be used for terrorist investigations has been honored by the Feds.... NOT! And where was the press, who so hated the patriot act, when this info was revealed. Bozos.
Ver Word: bledwor
Ann, quite whining and get back to what you're really good at: Posting drivel for your wing nut fans.
Before the 2008 election, Obama told an audience, "We are one week away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America."
That was arguably the most audacious statement in this campaign and many another. Fundamentally transform America. How many people stopped to consider what that meant? The fundamental principles of our government are the Constitution. Transform that and you don't even have the same country.
The FTC's idiocy is part of the narrative: It is transforming one of those fundamentals, the First Amendment.
We were warned by The One himself. And a majority still voted for him. We are getting what we voted for.
First thay came for Rush....
This is the Administration's way of creating new jobs. Since government has never ever created real jobs in profitable industries, it needs to create more jobs for the entitlement college graduates.
Next, the EPA will make a rule on air pollution aimed at talk radio and Fox News.
OSHA will make rules outlawing work at work in the private sector because it could be hazardous. Unemployment benefits are safer.
They will have to hire people to enforce and prosecute. All in the name of job creation.
Say, what was the name of the book Hugo Chavez gave Obama?
"The wood I was resawing was Sitka spruce"
Right there's your problem, Boehm. Under Wilson, the government assumed control of all Sitka spruce, for biplane production. They may have lost the form that put it back in private hands.
You may have been depriving the Signal Corps of a longeron.
I'm not as concerned about the FTC as the FCC:
Mark Lloyd, newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer
What follows is a comment to a comment over at Left Coast Rebel that I thought might amuse some.
"Maybe a Starbucks Boycott is in order. Fastest way to get a liberal to STFU is to deprive them of their income.
Too many stores anyway, too expensive for what you get and their coffee is over-roasted to bitterness in my opinion.
Try Cafe Caboclo (Brazilian). MUCH BETTER! And in pre-compliance with FTC rules,
I, Libertarian Advocate, hereby certify that I have received no compensation of any kind, tangible or intangible, in exchange for my endorsement of the product herein-before referenced. /sarc off"
The revised guide expands on product endorsements by consumers, experts, celebrities and organizations, and the disclosure of connections between endorsers and products.
This reminds me, did I mention the Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator aerates wine in seconds for better tasting wine by mixing just the right amount of air with your wine at the precise moments? The Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator's see-through design allows your reds and your whites to breath instantly and the Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator results are better bouquet, enhanced flavor and a smoother finish. You can get perfect aeration with the Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator in the time it takes to pour a glass of wine. The Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator comes with a no-drip stand a a travel pouch and the Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator couldn't be easier! Additionally, the Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator and stand are dishwasher safe.
Plus its hissing sound is fun.
I have found through side by side comparison using un-aerated cheap wine that the result with the Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator was indeed an improved bouquet, enhanced flavor, and smoother finish and I have concluded the wine aerator called VINTURI is essential for every household that enjoys wine. They also make excellent gifts at the thirty dollar price range.
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"We are not planning on investigating individual bloggers."
Bullshit.
That's precisely what they're planning to do. Otherwise, they don't need these regulations. If they get complaints (and they will), are they not going to investigate?
Believe me, Ann, the moment these regulations get the force of law, lefty bloggers will launch an unprecedented assault on the right-o-sphere to shut down speech. They cannot wait. They are salivating at this chance. And they will say anything now to get this power.
They are lying through their fucking teeth. This is nothing less than a frontal assault on our rights as Americans to say whatever we fucking want, for whatever reason we want.
The Constitution is pretty simple: "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press."
That's it. That's all it says. That's what it means.
No. Fucking. Laws.
None.
Not some. None.
Not just a few.
None.
If you and other bloggers and (and especially lawyers) do not now stand up for freedom of speech; if you do not now stand up for freedom of the press, then I say fuck you. Society has no use for you if all you represent is government approved speech.
The employees of the federal government are out of fucking control. We have a choice; we either get them under control now, ... or we will lose our ability to get them under control later.
Hey, FTC, if you're listening...
I know this blogger, let's call them A. S., who get's special treatment from a certain organization, let's call the U. S. A. O., and attacks that organization's enemies without ever mentioning his special treatment.
The kind of stuff we are talking about, on both sides, would be valued in the millions of dollars.
E-mail me if you would like details.
@Florida, you are missing the cleverness in all this. "Congress shall make no law," but this isn't Congress and it isn't a law, it's merely agency-issued guidelines.
Get ready for your speech to be chilled.
The revised guide expands on product endorsements by consumers, experts, celebrities and organizations, and the disclosure of connections between endorsers and products.
How about going after MSM reporters for endorsements :)
Michael Hasenstab said...
Say, what was the name of the book Hugo Chavez gave Obama?
Somehow, "Mein Kampf" leaps to mind only because Das Kapital would have been a little heavy.
The Drill SGT said...
I'm not as concerned about the FTC as the FCC:
Mark Lloyd, newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer
Excellent point - throw in Cass Sunstein and you see how this is intended to go.
Jeremy:
For once, try to think with an open mind and clear your deeply held opinions for a moment.
If you had kids and they asked you what careers to consider, what would you advise them?
The banks and auto industries are almost defunct & on life support as is Wall Street. Construction and real estate are dead for how long? What is next? Will health care and medicine be under the govt's heavy thumb??
What do you tell your kids? The industries I mentioned are not evil! Can we all be teachers or govt workers or lawyers?
Where are the career opportunities for smart young kids?
"Get ready for your speech to be chilled."
I can't wait for some Armani suit clad FTC fuck to try to chill my speech.
Can't. Fucking. Wait.
The power of a Sword of Damocles might that it only dangles. But that's only if you never intend to wield the sword.
Jeremy went back to doing what he does best: inserting his cranial cavity deeply into his anal aperture.
That's what's so infuriating about people like Jeremy: it's okay to shut down speech as long as it's his side that benefits from it.
People like Jeremy can't conceive that his "side" could possibly be authoritarian in any way.
"No. Fucking. Laws. . . None. . . Not some. None. . . Not just a few. . . None."
- - - -
We cannot defame. We cannot buy certain advertisements prior to a federal election. We cannot yell "fire!" in a crowded theater. We cannot say words that clearly incite others to violence. We cannot say "XYZ Company is merging next Thursday!" if we know that to be true. We cannot start screaming our slogans in front of a hospital. We cannot buy the letters "F", "U", C", and "K" for our personalized license plate. . . . .
The Constitution says that "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech."
Stare decisis has added the following text to the Amendment:
" . . . unless Congress wants to."
"No. Fucking. Laws. . . None. . . Not some. None. . . Not just a few. . . None."
- - - -
We cannot defame. We cannot buy certain advertisements prior to a federal election. We cannot yell "fire!" in a crowded theater. We cannot say words that clearly incite others to violence. We cannot say "XYZ Company is merging next Thursday!" if we know that to be true. We cannot start screaming our slogans in front of a hospital. We cannot buy the letters "F", "U", C", and "K" for our personalized license plate. . . . .
The Constitution says that "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech."
Stare decisis has added the following text to the Amendment:
" . . . unless Congress wants to."
@section9, Jeremy -- and others of his ilk -- are very well aware.
Speaking of the likes of Jeremy, wasn't it Trilling who said of these folks that they consider the underprivileged to be equal in every way except being equal to them?
My wife had a child in one of her classes who rolled across the floor everyday when entering the class. What to do? What to do? Ignoring the child worked fine because he was simply looking for attention and affirmation.
The orgy of self-indulgent power projection we are currently witnessing will play itself out soon. Obama's "Power to the people" activities are fundamentally flawed. Eventually, when they have had enough, the adults will step in and give the miscreants a well-deserved time-out. The Woodstock loving generation will retire soon to the ultimate commune, the assisted living home and their acolytes will be left rolling across the floor where they belong.
Then, we will be done with them once and for all...
"The point...(is)...to damage the Rush brand in public."
Rush does that amply well by his own efforts.
"But oh, nooooooo, Barry and friends aren't socialists!"
No, they're not. Your comment is a non sequitur.
"Distrust of the government is patriotic."
Would that more had felt that way during the previous administration.
"The banks and auto industries are almost defunct & on life support as is Wall Street."
You got one out of three; the banks and Wall Street are doing just fine...it's the rest of us whom they're thieving from who are fucked.
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