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The story of net neutrality as an Obama-led takeover of the Internet has been a key Republican talking point for months, a talking point which has been refuted by internal FCC documents obtained by Motherboard using a Freedom of Information Act request. These findings were made by the independent, nonpartisan FCC Office of Inspector General an Inspector General. However, the findings were not made public prior to Thursday’s vote.
[...] First, some background: The FCC is an independent regulatory agency that is supposed to remain “free from undue influence” by the executive branch—it is not beholden to the White House, only the laws that Congress makes and tells it to regulate. This means the president cannot direct it to implement policies. In November 2014, President Obama released a statement saying that he believed the FCC should create rules protecting net neutrality, but noted that “ultimately this decision is theirs alone.”
[...] Since 2014, Republicans have pointed to net neutrality as an idea primarily promoted by President Obama, and have made it another in a long line of regulations and laws that they have sought to repeal now that Donald Trump is president. Prior to this false narrative, though, net neutrality was a bipartisan issue; the first net neutrality rules were put in place under President George W. Bush, and many Republicans worked on the 2015 rules that were just dismantled.
What happened, then, is that Republicans sold the public a narrative that wasn’t true, then used that narrative to repeal the regulations that protect the internet.
Internal FCC Report Shows Republican Anti-Net Neutrality Narrative Is False
(Score: 3, Troll) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday December 20 2017, @04:20AM (4 children)
I don't see Ford pardoning Nixon as the watershed moment. By then, Nixon was already history, powerless and completely disgraced, and had no further role of any significance to play in politics. The pardon wasn't for Nixon's sake, no. Nor was there anything left to cover up. In the 4 decades since, nothing new about that has come to light, most of the principles are dead now, and I think it safe to say there aren't any further revelations to come.
The watershed was the Southern Strategy in the 1960s. When the Democrats under Kennedy and Johnson dared to flip and confront racism and end Jim Crow, albeit with lots of prodding from MLK and friends, and alienated their racist voters, the Republicans in one of the most shameful "Realpolitik" decisions ever swooped in to court those voters by appealing to their racism, however veiled. Should have left those attitudes to rot. Ever since the Civil War, the Democrats had been the party favored by racists and Confederate sympathizers. It was the Republicans under Lincoln who ended slavery and won the Civil War. And then 100 years after the war, they traded places. The fool Republicans embraced the rot and now are badly infected. I mean, wow, the party of hard nosed realism and practicality, the more scientific and learned party, has really gone astray in throwing science, learning, and fact under the bus.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday December 20 2017, @04:42AM (3 children)
J-Mo posted a long diatribe somewhere in this thread, IIRC, where he gets this shit *completely* ass-backwards, and at considerable length as well. He also admits to being on Gab and reading the Daily Stormer in it.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 20 2017, @06:08AM (2 children)
That was the other political story, but yes it was nice to see him finally out himself. Can't believe it took a whole year of Trump for him to get comfortable enough to stick his head out.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday December 20 2017, @07:18AM (1 child)
It's not like we needed him to explicitly say it though, is it? I could tell from almost the first time he posted here.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 20 2017, @10:20PM
Oh for sure, but some of the moderate conservatives may not have seen it. At least now there is no wondering. Please bookmark his comment, it will be required for future references ;)