Just when you thought the left had a monopoly on dumb, retrograde, authoritarian and probably unconstitutional ideas, along comes a Republican state senator from northeast of Orlando to restore a little balance.
Meet Sanford’s Jason Brodeur, who, on the threshold of the Florida Legislature’s spring lawmaking session, has demonstrated it is possible to have lived 47 years under the blessings of the Constitution without having learned the first thing about it.
Brodeur, a Daytona Beach native and (alas) a two-time University of Florida alumnus, introduced a bill Friday that proposes something absolutely Stalinesque: Under his plan, bloggers who write about the state government and receive compensation for their efforts would be required to register and report their activities to the state.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is precisely correct in its assessment of this dunderheaded idea.
If enacted, the legislation would require anyone other than a newspaper journalist who writes online about Florida’s government leaders — its governor, lieutenant governor, cabinet officer, or any member of the state legislature — to register with the state if they receive any “compensation” for the post … and then file a monthly report with state regulators if they write about Florida officials that month. [Violators risk up to $2,500 in fines per report.] …
It is difficult to imagine a legislative proposal more fundamentally at odds with our nation’s founding spirit than requiring citizens and journalists to register their publications with the government under pain of fines. …
The First Amendment protects not only a free press, but the right to speak anonymously — a cherished tradition from America’s earliest days, when anonymous pamphleteers played a crucial role in the founding of our constitutional republic. …
SB 1316 is not just unconstitutional. It is fundamentally un-American.
It’s difficult to improve on the characterization provided by Charles W. Cooke at National Review. The bill is, indeed, “an unconstitutional, moronic disgrace,” and Brodeur has embarrassed the GOP. Notably, Brodeur’s boneheaded bill lacks cosponsors in the Florida Senate, and there is no companion bill in the House. This bizarre sideshow is 100 percent of, for, and about the gentleman from Seminole County.
How this nonsense got past Senate President Kathleen Passidomo to become part of the legislative record even for the nanosecond it will take to put a stake through its heart is beyond imagination.
Now that it’s out there, you can predict the questions alert media folk are prepping even now for every GOP elected official and candidate across America.
Do you support Sen. Brodeur’s bill to choke off free expression?
Where do you suppose Sen. Brodeur got his idea?
Why do Republicans hate the First Amendment?
Are there other parts of the Bill of Rights Republicans hate?
Are Republicans afraid of a free and unfettered press?
First you come for bloggers. Will Republicans want to license newspaper and television reporters next?
Listen, there’s nothing journalists like better than attempting to corner their perceived enemies with outlandish charges disguised as questions whenever anyone wearing the same uniform commits some offense to common sensibilities.
Wait. Are those enemy offenders ever Democrats? Don’t be silly.
Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor and uncandidate for president, is going to love this line of inquiry when he takes his book tour to Iowa next week.
Particularly awkward about the Brodeur bill: It debuts on the threshold of a legislative session in which the GOP supermajority is expected to approve carrying firearms without state permits, a law popularly known in the 25 states where it already exists as constitutional carry.
Wait for it.
Gov. DeSantis, it looks like lawmakers in your state want an expansive view of the Second Amendment, but restrict who has full access to the First Amendment. What other parts of the Constitution do Republicans want to eliminate?
Nice work, Sen. Brodeur.
