Oh noes! That darned government is working to cut off communications between us, the people, and our duly elected officials:

John Culberson Raises the Alarm

Though, reading the actual letter in question, a particular set of phrases leap out at me:

"...current CHA regulations have been interpreted to prohibit Members from posting official content outside of the House.gov domain."

There may be good reasons for this -- archiving of that content being the first to come to my mind (especially in light of certain recent e-mail fiascos), though the gov't's archival skills are far from impeccable (in light of those same fiascos).

Why would a Member want to post outside of House.gov? The letter goes on to say:

"...existing tools available within the House...are not user friendly or efficient..."

No big surprise, I think.

The letter allows that Members can post official content on unofficial sites as long as those postings, and those sites, conform to various (not unreasonable) standards (detailed in the letter... go read it!).

Culberson fears that those sites will need to be formally approved, and that all Member communications will likewise need to be vetted, by a government office that will, in fact, be too slow an inefficient to actually get anything done... effectively muzzling him and his noble comrades. I quote from the thread, in which Culberson defends his position:

"I do not want the federal gov't/House of Representatives certifying your website or the content of my posts."

I don't see in that letter where it says that House of Reps must certify either the website OR his posts, though I suppose that could be implied, reading between the lines. I am not wise enough in the ways of government weasel-speak to know for certain.

Either way, there is an obvious need for communication between US and THEM, so perhaps we can transform into something less divisive; a coherent "WE THE PEOPLE" including, in fact, those members of the populace who happen to reside on capitol hill.

These communications do need to be clear and precise; to avoid deceipt and confusion; and to maintain a decent record of the activities of our government. And, strangely enough, this is precisely what we want to do in the League. The time has come to put some decent tools into place, before it all gets mucked up.

Read more Here, Here , and Here. and compare all this fuss to the actual letter, and make up your own mind.