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« Segway Segue | Main | Something For You » March 30, 2005Lawmaker's blog "raises hackles on the Hill"
Naifeh isn't the only politician looking petty in the story. State Rep. Jere Hargrove, D-Cookeville, calls Campfield's blog "scandalous and scurrilous." Right words, wrong target, Rep. Hargrove. Campfield's bill that you and Naifeh killed, HB 0238, would have prohibited the act of aiming a laser pointer or other laser device at law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, or other emergency service personnel "while in the performance of his or her official duties with the intent to place such person in fear of serious bodily injury or death." It's a public safety bill, and worth discussion and a vote. Instead, as The Tennessean reports, "At the prompting of House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, Campfield's bill was scuttled to a committee where it probably will die."
Naifeh and Hargrove are entrenched Democratic politicians who, naturally, don't like the idea of a freshman Republican being able to talk directly to the people of Tennessee and tell them what, as he sees it, is really going on in the legislature. But instead of acting like spoiled children, they should grow up, join the information revolution, and start blogs of their own. Unless they're afraid of the scrutiny and the direct interaction with the public that blogs invite and enable. The Tennessean says Naifeh "declined to comment on the blog yesterday." But while Campfield has received blistering comments from some of his lawmaker colleagues, he has become a darling to many political followers, hungry for a deeper look inside the Statehouse.  Rep. Campfield, R-Knoxville, says he doesn't plan to stop blogging just because some Democrats don't like it. After he was interviewed by The Tennessean yesterday regarding his blog and Naifeh's reaction it, Campfield posted a comment about it on his blog, saying, "Hopefully this will open some eyes of voters to problems legislators face as well as the power of this new media to some legislators."
Let's hope so. And now that The Tennessean has brought this story to the mainstream media from the blogopshere (where Matt White had it first), I'll restate my offer to every Republican legislator (and a few select Democrats like Frank Buck and Ben West): If you want to start blogging and join a group blog authored by legislators, contact me at bill-at-billhobbs.com and I'll set it up and even teach you the basics of blogging. Update: The AP has also done a story, "Republican's blog causes stir at Capitol," so news of Naifeh and Hargrove's petty, childish reaction to Campfield's blog will now spread statewide. Not bad for a story that, quite literally, started in the blogosphere. Update: More wisdom from Rep. Campfield's blog: I encourage other Representatives to blog. Bill Hobbs has even offered to set up this site. I will even go as far as to set up a blog for any representative (republican or democrat) who wants one. In the battle of philosophy and information, I offer all a gun; the bullets are up to them. Those who use fear, punishment, and oppression instead of wisdom, philosophy, and logic show their own inaptitude at leading. They are more dictator than leader and will not be allowed to lead for long in a free and informed society. I try not to follow this style of management. Maybe that is what some of my critics fear most.Rep. Campfield ought to run his posts through a spell-checker before he posts them, but his message is a good one: a free society benefits when freely-elected leaders interact freely with the people. That's what blogs enable, more than any other media in the history of the world. That's why some entrenched politicians fear them. Comments
It occurs to me that folks might not get why xbrl is so important to disclosure. Simply put, extensible business reporting tool is an xml based way of reporting budgets (among other things), to the line item if desired. It's gaining global adoption but adoption lags here in the US -- I don't know why -- does anyone working on Wall Street have any suggestions? Oh and Bill -- since it's an xml based technology it can be programmatically produced and posted to a blog (say by a politician) near real-time. Now there are pdf-to-xml conversion houses out there so if politicians want to publish full budgets in pdf that can be dealt with, too. But if transparency is the goal -- as opposed to rhetorizing about transparency -- I saw vote for xbrl! Here's a faq for folks who want to learn more http://xbrl.edgar-online.com/x/faqs/ Posted by: Ed Dodds at March 30, 2005 6:57 AMThanks to Bill Hobbs for defending a brave legislator whose motives are to communicate with citizens of this great state. Tennessee is light years behind other states across the nation regarding open government. Thanks to folks like Hobbs for shining the light--and the Tennessean as well. The Tennessean has had the courage and will to file open records suits and I commend them. This incident is an excellent example of why a lot of problems can't be touched, tackled, and solved on Capitol Hill. As far as the democratic call that Campfield "breeched legislative decorum", I don't see the point. Perhaps that would be true if Rep. Campfield were writing about a legislator's after hours behavior or antics. Posted by: Terry at March 30, 2005 7:49 AMExcellent report. Money quote... "But instead of acting like spoiled children, they should grow up, join the information revolution, and start blogs of their own." Here, here. Thank you very much Bill Hobbs. Posted by: Doug Kenline at March 30, 2005 11:07 AMI think blogs have an important role in our legislatures and Congress. They are a great tool for elected representatives to communicate with their constituents and even other representatives. Imagine a lengthy, well thought-out written debate over an important issue between two elected representatives on their respective blogs. Wouldn't that be a breath of fresh air? Isn't that infinitely more desirable than the partisan sound-bites shouted at each other between commercial breaks on prime-time cable news? Legislators' blogs could also crack the (in my opinion unconstitutional) committees that can block or even kill good legislation that may be deserving of a vote, one way or the other. How successful could a committee chairman be if he was blocking a hugely popular proposal from a vote if the author's blog attracts a great deal of public attention to the matter? Posted by: VD at March 30, 2005 11:16 AMI will be checking this blog and Representative Campfield's blog regularly now, thanks to Instapundit, Speaker Naifeh and Representative Hargrove-- Posted by: george fillmore at March 30, 2005 11:31 AMI've offered space on my blog to any politician who would like to write. None have taken me up on the offer. It scares them that people can respond to what they wirte. I can see no other reason. Posted by: Mike at March 30, 2005 11:45 AMBlogging issues aside, It's already against the law to point a laser (whether it's attached to a deadly weapon or not) at a law enforcement officer. You think it should be a felony to point a non-lethal laser pen in the direction of a law enforcement officer? Misdemeanor is plenty. Posted by: Scotch at March 30, 2005 11:52 AMIn the process of trying to supress blogging by their fellow legislators, Democrats have revealed their true colors! Kudos to Bill for following up on this! Posted by: Ashish Hanwadikar at March 30, 2005 2:09 PMGreat post, and I love your standing offer. I wish they'd take you up on it. I bet they won't. Posted by: Mr. Roboto at March 30, 2005 2:59 PMRep. Campfield needs to keep up the good work. For what it's worth, I believe that I'm the first elected blogger around: I'm an elected prosecutor in Virginia, and I've been blogging for about seven months now. I haven't had to deal with anything like this yet, but I wouldn't be surprised at some backlash. I truly believe that we need more elected bloggers. It's a great way to communicate, and it's the wave of the future. Posted by: John Behan at March 30, 2005 8:39 PMStarting up last November (www.steveu.com), I thought I might be the first blogging legislator, but -- sorry John Behan -- Ray Cox, Minnesota, (raycox.net) has us beat by a mile (December 2002). It is an interesting line elected lawmakers need to walk in a blog -- opening the process to the public as much as possible, while still remaining effective in that process. I wish I knew how partisan the Tennessee legislature is. If it is super partisan and the minority's participation rights are not being honored, Rep. Campfield might need to whack away a bit. Posted by: Steve Urquhart at March 30, 2005 9:47 PMPost a comment
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The Tennessean reports on a state legislator's new blog that 