The Republican Watch (Num. 2, Vol. I)

Well, this might become bi-weekly...

#1: Hide Your Magazines!

Bush and his friends are off on another adventure through the murky world of 1st Amendment rights. This time, they want to crack down on porno. From CNN.com:

"...they joined a growing number of purveyors of pornography whom the Bush administration has pursued.

Since 2001, 40 people and businesses have been convicted and 20 additional indictments are pending, said Andrew Oosterbaan, chief of the Justice Department's child exploitation and obscenity section. By comparison, there were four such prosecutions during the eight years of the Clinton administration, he said.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, like his immediate predecessor, John Ashcroft, has pledged to make obscenity prosecutions a priority. The department is expected to announce soon the creation of a special unit within its criminal division to focus on adult obscenity cases."

Just another example of the Bush administration deciding they have the right to regulate what you can do in the privacy of your own home. Which I absolutely hate.

On a related note, an Alaskan senator (Republican, of course) recently proposed a bill that would allow the federal government to censor cable like they censor the networks. First, this is illegal. The reason the government can regulate the networks is because they broadcast through radio waves, which travel through the air, which is "public property," constitutionally speaking. Cable, meanwhile, travels through, well...cables. Which are owned and operated by the cable companies, and therefore immune from governmental censorship. This is probably just an effort by the GOP to say "Hey! Don't blame us! It's the heathen Democrats who blocked it!"

#2 Bolton Lives!

Sadly, my dear archenemy, John Bolton, passed through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to the general Senate on a 10-8 party line vote. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) was able to convince his fellow Republicans not to endorse Bolton's nomination, as is usually the case. However, it is highly likely, even given the committee's misgivings, that Bolton will pass a Senate confirmation. A sad time, 'tis.