The deep state is alive and well in Florida, and psychopathic authoritarianism runs rampant, contrary to the free state of Florida narrative. A Florida state senator introduced a bill that would require bloggers that criticize the governor or attorney general to register with the state and do regular financial reports. State senator Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary) is the authoritarian that wants to fine bloggers that don’t register with the state. This authoritarian is targeting anyone that criticizes the governor, attorney general, or members of the cabinet.
Brodeur’s unconstitutional, Senate Bill 1316: Information Dissemination, would force bloggers that are not obedient to the state to register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics. Bloggers would be required to submit monthly financial reports. According to news channel 8 reporting “blog posts that ‘concern an elected member of the legislature’ or ‘an officer of the executive branch,’ monthly reports must disclose the amount of compensation received for the coverage, rounded to the nearest $10 value.”
On the surface this nutty proposal should be laughed off and we could assume that it will go nowhere. That may be the case, but we should assume nothing after the past three years. The deep state is pervasive throughout Florida as it is any other state. Not that long ago I wrote an article about the Florida Bar’s War on Free Speech. In this bizarre case the Florida bar is going after the license of a former candidate for state attorney in a partisan Republican political primary. Christopher Crowley, the candidate that lost the race for state attorney, is facing a bar complaint, apparently made by supporters of his opponent. This complaint is over political speech during a partisan campaign, not the practice of law. Currently the case is in limbo as Crowley is in active duty military service overseas. Surprisingly, no free speech organizations have come to his legal defense.