Anonymity goes way beyond Teh Internetz
OK, so some asshat Kaintock wants to ban anonymous speech on the Internet:
That's the difference between a dumbass Kaintock politician and a seemingly-dumbass Louisiana one. This guy freely admits that his bill has no hope of becoming law. Louisiana wingnuts are willing to stand up and pass the most outrageous "Creation Science" legislation they could come up with. The Louisiana legislature never met a restrictive abortion bill they didn't like. Did they say they had no faith in those bills? Of course not, because it's not about the bill, it's about the court challenge. It costs a lot of money to defend the stupidity of the legislature all the way to the Supremes. That means the state puts a lot of money into the pockets of the law firm hired to follow the challenge (the AG's office being too understaffed for this stupidity). If you don't take your stupid legislation seriously, you can't kick the case to your friends in the legal community.
This is also why Louisiana's legislature has limited sessions, because we'd be well and truly screwed if they pulled these stunts year-round.
Kentuckians couldn't post anonymous comments to Web sites anymore under House Bill 775, filed Tuesday by Rep. Tim Couch, R-Hyden.Let's put aside the fat that, if this were to pass the KY legislature and withstand the court challenges, Haywood Jablowme and Mike Hunt would be the most prolific Kaintock commenters on the web. Let's also put aside the fact that high school kids (this guy's primary targets) can be mean and vicious. This sort of legislation is just stupid, and even the author concedes it:
Couch's bill would require anyone who contributes to a Web site to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that Web site. Their full name then would be used whenever they posted a comment.
Couch on Wednesday readily acknowledged that his bill raises First Amendment issues regarding free speech, so he won't be pushing it. But he wanted to call attention to the phenomenon of unkind and often untrue comments about people being posted online by Kentuckians hiding behind the cloak of anonymity.
That's the difference between a dumbass Kaintock politician and a seemingly-dumbass Louisiana one. This guy freely admits that his bill has no hope of becoming law. Louisiana wingnuts are willing to stand up and pass the most outrageous "Creation Science" legislation they could come up with. The Louisiana legislature never met a restrictive abortion bill they didn't like. Did they say they had no faith in those bills? Of course not, because it's not about the bill, it's about the court challenge. It costs a lot of money to defend the stupidity of the legislature all the way to the Supremes. That means the state puts a lot of money into the pockets of the law firm hired to follow the challenge (the AG's office being too understaffed for this stupidity). If you don't take your stupid legislation seriously, you can't kick the case to your friends in the legal community.
This is also why Louisiana's legislature has limited sessions, because we'd be well and truly screwed if they pulled these stunts year-round.
Is it a coincidence that this ass-hat Kentucky politician and the former University of Kentucky quarterback from the (former SLU coach) Hal Mumme era are both named Tim Couch?
Hazy NFL trivia....didn't then-Cleveland Brown Tim Couch throw the final-play-of-the-game Hail Mary pass that was answered with a game-winning touchdown in the Superdome to deliver the first-ever victory by the "second-coming" Cleveland franchise? The pass that famously left Mike Ditka face-down on the Superdome turf?
well, a quick check of Wikipedia shows that Tim Couch the football player has a page there, but no mention of him being in politics, just attempting a NFL comeback.
Looks like two different people, but nice catch!