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Blogging, Convoy and Being An American Blogging - the next CB radio It was 1973 - OPEC had embargoed oil, prices were skyrocketing - and Congress and the Nixon Administration reacted by enacting a 55-mile per hour national speed limit. It was an attempt to control the American people in something they loved to do - drive fast. The American people would have none of it. The Interstate highway system had been just been completed and Americans intended to drive on it at the speed it was designed for - 70 m.p.h. - if not faster. Local and state police agencies, and various governments, saw the new, lower speed limit as a financial bonanza. Cops patrolled the Interstates looking for speeders to fine. They used technological innovations such as unmarked police cruisers, radar and aircraft of various types in their attempts at regulation. The American people fought back with technology, too. Radar detectors were invented and sold, but the most popular technological weapon against the threat to the American way of life was the Citizen's Band radio. A group of frequencies were set aside for CB radio in 1959 as a way for small businesses and ordinary citizens to get into radio easily. The licensing requirements were minimal, but you did have to let the FCC know who you were and use the FCC designated call letters. But by the mid-70s, with CB radios for sale everywhere, the Americans bought the radios, ignored the licensing requirements altogether, made up names for themselves (called "handles") to use instead call letters, and took to the road with communications capability never seen before. The police have a saying that no car can outrun a police radio - Americans soon learned that no speed trap could be set up before word spread by CB. Ah, breaker one-nine, this here's the Rubber Duck. You got a copy on me, Pigpen? C'mon. Ah, yeah, ten-four, Pigpen, for sure, for sure. By golly, it's clean clear to Flagtown. C'mon. Yeah, that's a big ten-four there, Pigpen. Yeah, we definitely got the front door, good buddy. Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy. America's assault on the 55-mph speed limit was celebrated by 1975 in the song "Convoy" credited to C..W. McCall. It was actually performed by Chip Davis, who later became famous as Mannheim Steamroller. The song told the story of a convoy of truck drivers speeding across the country and avoiding the police through the use of their radios. 'Cause we got a little old convoy rockin' thru the night Despite the best efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, the American people broke the will of the legislatures. By the late 80s, Congress repealed the 55-mph speed limit and states returned the speed limits to their previous highs. Bloggers are facing a similar threat. Blogs are the modern method of making political speech - something Americans also love. Now, the politicians worldwide want to regulate it. In the U.S. the Federal Elections Commission is threatening to regulate blogs by claiming a blog entry on a candidate for office is a campaign contribution. The City of San Francisco, the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement, threatens similar legislation. Now, Captain Ed is posting testimony from a hearing into a Canadian political scandal. There is a publication blackout in Canada, and the Commonwealth is threatening legal action against any web site that even links to Captain's Quarters. Even more than driving, Americans love to argue and debate politics. Will the governments be successful in regulating political speech in this country? I predict no more than they were able to enforce a 55-mph speed limit on I-95. Well, mercy sakes, good buddy, we gonna back on outa here, so keep the bugs off your glass and the bears off your... tail. We'll catch you on the flip-flop. This here's the Rubber Duck on the side. We gone, 'bye, 'bye.
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