How DeSantis Can Use the Media Frenzy Over Florida's Ridiculous 'Blogger Bill' to His Advantage
Why has a bill will a single sponsor and no support gathered a flood of national attention? Take one guess.
A Florida bill that would require bloggers to register with the state has drawn a flood of media attention in recent days — and bipartisan condemnation.
Filed in the Florida Senate by Jason Brodeur of Seminole County on February 28, the legislation stipulates that bloggers who write about elected state officials and receive compensation will be fined (reportedly up to $2,500) if they fail to “register with the appropriate office.”
“The idea that bloggers criticizing a politician should register with the government is insane,” tweeted former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Charles C.W. Cooke of National Review concurred. “The bill is an unconstitutional, moronic disgrace, and the guy who wrote it, Senator Jason Brodeur of Seminole County, is an embarrassment to the GOP,” wrote Cooke.
Condemnation of the bill is warranted. One needn’t be a member of the Federalist Society or the ACLU to recognize the bill is unconstitutional and an affront to anyone who values the First Amendment, which carves out clear protections for free speech and a free press.
Yet as Cooke also notes, the legislation is not a serious proposal. It currently has the support of a single lawmaker: Brodeur himself.
Nevertheless, the bill generated an onslaught of media attention. It was the lead story on the Drudge Report for days, and has inspired dozens of articles.
Why the bill garnered such a firestorm of national attention is not hard to guess. We are talking Florida, home of Ron DeSantis…