Redstate

By krempasky Posted in FEC — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

We've just finished the dual keynote speeches - FEC Chairman Scott Thomas followed by our very own Glenn Reynolds. At the end of the presentation - Michael Bassik presented The Online Coalition's open letter to the FEC, accepted by Chairman Thomas.

Chairman Thomas did NOT do himself any favors if he came here to reassure bloggers and internet activists that they had nothing to worry about. He used the words "fecal matter" to describe Brad Smith's earlier warnings about the upcoming rulemaking - and then in my opinion spent the next ten minutes proving Smith correct.

A transcript will be most interesting - if only to determine how many times the Chairman used the word "most" to describe the kinds of people that would be protected. He was unwilling to tell a documentary film maker that since he accepted more than $1,000 to get his political documentary distributed, he loses the protection that Michael Moore enjoys.

A hint to the Chairman - if you want to come talk to us about our concerns, don't start by making fun of bloggers as people sitting in their basement wearing Lyndon Larouche shirts.

On the other hand - Glenn Reynolds. Is. A. Rock. Star. He started by explaining the blogosphere has been divided, in many ways artifically because of the war, because of the election. But now, it looked the blogosphere was coming together because of new common enemies - namely, the FEC. He spent the next 10 minutes destroying (in my mind) the credibility of the FEC, and comparing them to the much maligned FTC.

More to follow, including (hopefully) a transcript and video of both speeches.