The Carpetbagger Report and Atrios are wondering why participants in the Pentagon's 9/11 "Freedom Walk" in D.C. have to register to participate.

Big Brother?

Yeah, maybe -- but I think it's the Permanent Campaign.

Recall this from The Washington Post last January:

President Bush plans to reactivate his reelection campaign's network of donors and activists to build pressure on lawmakers to allow workers to invest part of their Social Security taxes in the stock market, according to Republican strategists.

As I noted at the time, the Bush '04 campaign Web site had never stopped being in campaign mode -- it was still taking down names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses months after Election Day. I think that's the point of the Freedom Walk registration as well. I predict everyone who signs up will see an uptick in solicitations from the GOP -- starting just about a year before the '06 midterm elections.

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UPDATE: First link fixed.