My Take On The Briley/Woodson Bill

As I do not blog from work, I did follow the Rob Briley story through Carter over at Volunteer Voters although I really couldn’t comment on it.

Here’s where yesterday’s drama started in a good piece from Bill Hobbs. Being that I rarely agree with Hobbs, I must say that when he’s on fire, it’s nuclear.

And then we find this about Jamie Woodson having her hand in the pie. Did she mastermind this?

But I did keep reading. Here is the Nashville City Paper’s take on things.

And then we learn that this was a bill that appeared to be snuck through the backdoor (my take on it). Carter lists a ton of links to other bloggers expressing their shock at the bill.

There was a great deal of outrage, but one of the biggest turnarounds I’ve ever seen by a group of politicos.

Carter says this at the end of a very long day for Briley and Woodson:

Remember that the bill was killed but also remember that this was not, it seems to me, a case of a blogger bringing to light a mistake.

I have one Rep. and one Senator who represent my district. I’m going to be asking about this when I head to the TPA next week. My questions will be simple.

What is the buzz in the General Assembly about bloggers and blogging rights? Are members of the house and senate worried about us? Who is talking about or are we, as bloggers the only one talking about issues like this?  Is there a sense of fear of political bloggers creating a discussion that mainstream media in the state might not be covering? Does the political machine just see bloggers as instruments creating “malice intent?”

Is that how they see bloggers? Being that I work in both journalism and keep this little site on the side for my own amusement, I know that some people in journalism are very leery of the blogging community. Not all of them, but some. I also know that with the power of blogging’s influence during recent elections and political scandals has created a very big voice.

Former candidate Bob Krumm broke it down on his site as well.

Tennessee State Rep. Rob Briley has filed legislation that could, if it becomes law, require bloggers and other website publishers and writers to remove within two days from their website any statement that someone alleges is defamatory – and if they fail to remove the statement within two days that failure will “create a presumption of malice intent.” The contested statement does not actually have to be defamatory for the web writer to be required to remove it or face that legal presumption of guilt.

I want to know what’s being said the the back rooms about this, because in my history, that’s were it starts. Being that I don’t live in Nashville, I don’t have the luxury of having   the ability to pop in the car and banging on my rep’s door to ask “What the hell is going on?”

I want to know the history of this bill’s conception and the conversations that are really happening about it, not canned press releases.

There has to be a buzz. I want to know what that buzz is that would put this stupid piece of legislation out there.