Wild Bill... no not that one.

Not really a cab ride as much as a cab dialog.
Read recently:
Folklore of New Mexico
Folklore of the West
Boom (Brokaw)
Reading:
Hogs in the Shadows (Afong)
Independents Day (Dobbs)
A Reporters life (Jennings)
We are all journalists now (Gant)

The point here is that the 'press' is no longer the sole major source of an informed public. (What the 'press' really is today is the discussion of another cab ride).

As a result of that, (think of the outing of the Lewinski caper, and the Appple Computer lawsuit against Josh Wolf) realize that the people are not served by the 'press' today as they were in Jeffersonian days. Then the people could only find out the subjects of public discussion through the 'press' and not through other reliable connections.

So, as William Shakespeare said; "what's past is prologue" "The Tempest" Act II Scene I.
I used to read the paper and watch TV news for the current events and issues of today. Not now, too slow. The paper is the local stories and the weather for today. The TV news doesn't get turned on here, as they are 'selling' not reporting.

So is the need for the first amendment and it's 'shield laws' an archaic thought?
Should it provide immunity that bloggers like yours truly might use for protection from the courts and ever growing hoard of attorneys?

Is this an issue of some importance, or just some wild paranoid tangent of some group of attorneys?

Well folks, it will become a huge issue soon. We are approaching the 'season of rumor and lies' (presidential campaigning). If you do not think this election will be won and lost over the internet, you are hiding under a different rock than I. It will become the fortune of at least one attorney to bring a case against a blogger. Just hide and watch.

Oh yeah, I am amazed at how the few times politics were discussed in the cab, was when politicos were in the cab. The fares generally were more into the moment, living in the present.
Sorry for the typos and run ons and dangling chads, it is the birthday of my bride, and we are off to get her the i phone she 'just can't get along without.'
If you have read this far, the fare is paid.
CABBY