I see the camel's nose

The FTC's proposal made many bloggers anxious. They said the scrutiny would make them nervous about posting even innocent comments.

To placate such fears, Cleland said the FTC will more likely go after an advertiser instead of a blogger for violations. The exception would be a blogger who runs a "substantial" operation that violates FTC rules and already received a warning, he said.

And no doubt that will be the only exception. Because we all know how altruistic, fair and caring government regulators can be, so there's no chance that 4, 5, or 20 years down the road some random thirty something year old blogger will get his door smashed in by an over eager team of FTC SWAT officers for daring to allow an advertiser to grace his blog.

This is definitely getting filed under the "what could possibly go wrong" category. As it stands, our system of government is run by people who just can't stand to see something unregulated; and there is no shortage of Americans who are willing to give it up for some oversight.

What a shame.