Our friends at the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies–of which the Weekly is a proud member–are reporting that Arizona’s junior senator, Jon Kyl, is up to no good:
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-AZ, has informed colleagues that he may introduce an amendment to the Espionage Act of 1917, to criminalize the communication or publication of any classified information “concerning efforts by the United States to identify, investigate, or prevent terrorist activity” and expand the penalty to 20 years in prison. The amendment, which Kyl has said he plans to introduce tomorrow in a Judiciary Committee markup of an unrelated bill, would give the government tremendous power to silence critics and to limit the debate and discussion on the techniques it elects to use in the “war on terror.” AAN encourages members in states with a Judiciary Committee member to call their senator and urge them to oppose Kyl’s measure. The Sunshine in Government Initiative, an open-government coalition of which AAN is a member, is circulating discussion points (PDF file) regarding the proposal.
This is a bad thing. If he does, in fact, introduce this–and I assure you that we’ll keep you posted–we encourage you all to write him and tell him this idea sucks, and that freedom of the press is important.
This article appears in Feb 22-28, 2007.
I think once we get past Ellen (who can’t dress, a Weekly critic pointed out…like most all lesbians, whatever that’s supposed to mean) sucking up in the aisle she does, we are all better able to deal with Kyl’s latest. And it’s true, “…this idea sucks.” So, I truly second the boegle command and urge you on to write the Kyl and tell him it sucks. yep, yep, yep.
I observed a so-so story on Frontline last night KUAT-TV about changes in the media. Darned if I can figure out how craigs list makes any money.
Link: Here is what Society of Professional Journalists president Christine Tatum says about this.
The SPJ is the largest national organization of journalists with chapters in a decent number of places.