GOP lawmaker drafts bill requiring journalists to register with police

[seph]

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/35527 ... police?amp

[RoyGBiv]

Where's the LIKE button?

[Liberty]

I find it frightening even if the legislation is only designed to make a point. Putting such a bill in play is like giving a baby a loaded handgun. The trigger just might get pulled

[DevilDawg]

I can empathize with his angst against the complete and utter lack of “standards” to which reporters are held, however this is not the solution. This would de facto put potential for removal of 2nd Ammendment Rights into Law which would be rammed through the courts at light speed. I find it baffling that a proponent of the 2nd could even consider it making me question his true loyalties.

[flechero]

"If I was as irresponsible with my handgun as the media has been with their keyboard, I'd probably be in jail," he said. "Why wouldn't I push for it? If one constitutional right is OK to license, then they all are."

Equally absurd to the press and makes the point.

And that is where we all know that he means NONE should be.

[flechero]

"If I was as irresponsible with my handgun as the media has been with their keyboard, I'd probably be in jail," he said. "Why wouldn't I push for it? If one constitutional right is OK to license, then they all are."

Equally absurd to the press and makes the point. I think 99% see the sarcasm.

And we all know that he means NONE should be.

[parabelum]

While I understand this lawmaker’s frustration with the leftists weasels, I would not support this bill.

[Abraham]

I hope it's a bluff to generate a bit more honesty in the media...though I doubt it'll work.

[ELB]

The left has tried for years to get the government to regulate (read: eliminate) "right wing news" (e.g. Fox), Rush, Tea Parties etc. They have succeeded wildly on college campuses, and they effectively used the government, with the acquiescence of not a few GOP operatives and politicians, in suppressing the Tea Parties' voices.

Trump and various Republicans are now deliberately showing them why it's a bad idea to let the government decide who gets to talk. "Leading by example" has failed miserably over the last decade.

It doesn't matter that I think the First (and Second) amendment are near absolutes. What matters is that a significant number of Democrats do not, and they make up the majority of "journalism" and the government do not, and they see no problem with regulating other viewpoints out of existence. Short of an actual shooting civil war, they are not going to come around to a "constitutional" view of freedom of the press without a hard punch to the nose.

I am not in favor of passing this legislation, but I am in favor of scaring the bejabbers out of the MSM and the Democrats (sorry for the redundancy).

[Vol Texan]

I don’t believe that he actually wants to do this. He is doing it simply to show a parallel argument: you do x to the second, well here is what it looks like to do the same x to the first.

Yes, it is idiotic, but only to prove a point. No way this sees the light at the end of the legislative tunnel.

I, for one, appreciate that he is exposing the hypocrisy of how the left views “shall not be infringed”, even if the majority of the left will never be able to see the logical comparison.

[ELB]

The fact that this: Scalias All the Way Down
is going on in the background makes me hope/think that Trump and a few others are in fact using the current kerfuffle as a "teachable moment" and a path to getting back to having some respect for constitutional protections.

The WSJ article is behind a paywall, but there is good extract here: https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/278287/

[treadlightly]

I get his tactics, but I still hate to see this. As a once small-time penny-ante journalist myself, it bugs me how many people seem to think the press has some kind of special power.

We are all free to observe, we are all free to report. Some people do it for a paycheck. There should never be a legal difference between a journalist and a citizen. At the end of that rainbow is state controlled media..

[rotor]

I bet that the White House press pool doesn't get to jam into that little room without being registered with secret service or other LEO. Not saying that I favor this legislation but "press" is given certain priority over average citizens and that doesn't mean that everyone calling themselves press should be able to bypass security checks. Perhaps an "instant background" check before an official "press" card needs to be done. Gee. that sounds almost like a LTC.

[treadlightly]

I hear what you’re saying, but you don’t need anyone’s permission to be a journalist.

If you want to be picky, the word journalism shouldn’t apply to a weekly or monthly publication. The ‘jour’ root of the word means some who reports daily, not monthly.

[spectre]

"If I was as irresponsible with my handgun as the media has been with their keyboard, I'd probably be in jail," he said. "Why wouldn't I push for it? If one constitutional right is OK to license, then they all are."

Equally absurd to the press and makes the point.

And that is where we all know that he means NONE should be.

I think for parity the bill should require broadcast journalists to get Chief LEO sign off, fingerprints and FBI background check, and have to pay a $200 transfer tax every time they change jobs. Oh, and notify the FCC every time one of their broadcasts will cross state lines.