Here's what the authoritarian future of Republican America looks like

A Repug legislator in Viktor DeSantis's Florida wants bloggers who write about the Governor, or the Attorney General, or the legislature to register with the state, or face fines.  This is obviously meant to chill speech, and will be struck down by the federal courts.  Of course, this is conjoined with an effort to overturn New York Times v. Sullivan, the 1964 Supreme Court case that raised the bar for public figures to prevail in defamation suits.  Sullivan adopted a sensible rule on the facts of its case, and if the rule had stayed limited to political actors, it would still be defensible today, but the concept of "public figure" has expanded wildly, which does make the rule highly vulnerable to attack.  But DeSantis wants to cut to its core, and make it easier for politicians like him to prevail in defamation actions.  And, of course, it will be easier to bring those actions even against bloggers once they are all registered with the state.  (I do not intend to register, if the law passes, and I intend to continue writing about Florida's brand of soft fascism under Viktor DeSantis.)