It would take a dozen lawyers to figure out what this really means, but new "ethics legislation" in the House and Senate has some people scared that the Reid & Pelosi Reich is going to force political bloggers to register with the government.

Bloggers aren't exactly named in S.1 SEC. 220, but anyone involved in "grassroots lobbying" would be required to sign up with the feds if they a) reach 500 people or more and b) make $25,000 or more in any quarter and c) try to "influence the general public," especially encouraging people to e-mail their senator or whatever.

By that definition, Daily Kos would have to register with Congress and then wear a yellow star or blue hat -- Kos posts routinely ask the site's tens of thousands of daily readers to contact lawmakers about this or that, and during election season a big political site like Kos easily brings in $25,000 a month in BlogAds. Lock him up! Arbeit macht frei!

CONGRESS: POLITICAL BLOGGERS MUST REGISTER OR FACE JAIL [Cryptogon]