Well, One of the Most Recent…
Radio impresario Rush Limbaugh routinely, rightly identifies a consistent feature of the human condition: The inability to recreate the spontaneous excellence of an earlier event.
You’ve likely experienced this. For instance, you awaken on a Saturday – and you and your friends decide to pull together a party for that evening. No time for any real planning – just enough to get the word out as best you can.
The stand-up, impromptu nature of the gathering – actually adds to its allure. Word spreads widely and rapidly – and by the time the evening rolls around, everyone has the sense that its going to be something special.
And it is. It’s an all-time barn-burner. Everyone has a ball. So much so – that everyone decides to have another party two weeks hence.
Which is almost invariably a dud. Nowhere near as entertaining as was its extemporaneous predecessor. Why? Who really knows. It’s just one of those very many human nature things that just is.
The Left is really bad at acknowledging – let alone acquiescing to – human nature. They in fact exist entirely in defiance of it. So it is hardly surprising that their many attempts to recreate spontaneous magic – have all fallen flat. And they never seem to understand why.
To wit: The Left wants much more government involvement in the second-to-second regulation of the Internet. You likely have heard of (part of) it – the awful idea known as Network Neutrality.
Because the less-government-approach to the Web of the last two decades – which led to a global economic-and-freedom-revolution the likes of which we’ve never seen – wasn’t for the Left a success.
Because for the Left, success isn’t success – more government is. No matter how unsuccessful the more-government-results always are.
(See: Obamacare. And the Veterans Administration. And Dodd-Frank. And ….)
The Left’s push for greater Internet regulation – delivered one unplanned, spontaneous success.
In May 2014, Leftist HBO TV host John Oliver unleashed an on-air, utterly ignorant pro-Net Neutrality rant – to great effect. He called on the freaks to flood the Barack Obama Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – the agency then-contemplating the unilateral power grab – with pro-grab Comments.
The Obama FCC reported its website was overwhelmed and caused to crash by the sheer volume. And Oliver’s clip was shared far and wide across the Web. Spontaneous success.
In 2015, the Obama FCC delivered – unilaterally imposing on the Web 1934 landline phone law and Network Neutrality.
Flash forward to now: The Donald Trump Administration is rightly, reasonably undoing that huge government error.
The Left – in trying to stop Trump – has repeatedly tried to recreate the 2014 Oliver success. To no avail.
Oliver himself tried – in May. He unleashed another on-air, utterly ignorant pro-Net Neutrality rant. The FCC website again crashed – and the Left rushed to take credit. It turned out, however, that the site was hacked – the real reason for the collapse. And Oliver’s second clip unquestionably didn’t get anywhere near the Web traction as did the first one.
That dud behind them, the Left planned another Net Neutrality push – last Wednesday’s so-called “Day of Action.”
It was actually weeks of advance action – in preparation for the Day. There was lots and LOTS of legacy media buildup behind this bit of inanity. The Jurassic Press gave them millions and millions of dollars worth of free public relations work.
And lots of multi-billion-dollar Internet corporations like Facebook, Google, Amazon and Netflix – for whom Net Neutrality is a HUGE government-cronyism gift – dumped millions of dollars into the effort. (This on top of tens of millions they’ve so spent in the preceding years.) And placed “Day of Action” ads on their websites – for free. Which is maybe hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars in additional assistance.
Yet despite ALL of that, their Day – was yet another dud.
If You Blinked, You Missed Yesterday’s Net Neutrality Protest
Yesterday Was Net Neutrality Day. Did You Notice?
‘Day of Action’ Protest May Have Flown Under Some Radars
Net Neutrality ‘Day of Action’: Will It Make a Difference?
The Left’s Day did attract some support.
Russians Have Their Say in FCC’s Public Comment Process on Net Neutrality
Which means undoing Net Neutrality – is yet another example of Trump going against his alleged Great Bear overlords.
And the Day dud – is reverse-reverberating on Capitol Hill.
Top Dems Ellison, Perez, Franken Draw Only 138 YouTube Viewers for Live Stream Event: “Three high-profile Democrats, including the Democratic Party’s two highest ranking officials, took part in a YouTube live stream on Tuesday in which they discussed hot-button issues, but the trio only drew 138 total viewers by the end of the event….
“The three party leaders discussed health care before Perez left and the conversation turned to net neutrality. Jessica Gonzalez from the pro-net neutrality group Free Press joined Ellison and Franken for the discussion.”
Monster number. Impressive. Real, really serious grassroots participation.
Reminds us of this huge Net Neutrality success.
Speaking of Congress: It is there, with and by our elected officials, that these sorts of policies are supposed to be proposed and passed. And only then are the unelected bureaucrats and their agencies supposed to implement them.
Having failed so utterly to elicit Congressional support for Net Neutrality – the Left long ago decided to entirely bypass Congress. An authoritarian move that is now losing support – even amongst some of the unnecessary regulatory overreach’s most ardent supporters.
Cracks in Democrat Wall on Net Neutrality?: “Key tech industry leaders are expressing openness to having Congress step in to legislate net neutrality – putting pressure on Democrats who’ve been adamantly opposed to such a move….
“Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg said this week they’re willing to work with lawmakers on the issue, and Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian expressed a similar view.
“That flies in the face of the resistance many Democrats and activists have shown to working with Republicans on enshrining open internet protections into law. Democrats have been focused on stopping the GOP-led FCC from rolling back the current net neutrality rules, and fear their Republican colleagues want to pass weaker standards than what the FCC has already put in place.”
I think Net Neutrality – is completely unnecessary. But having the people we elect make that decision – is completely necessary.
Trump’s FCC should carry on exactly as planned – and undo Obama’s unilateral power grab.
And if you want all or part of it reinstated – Congress should be the body doing the reinstating.
The Left should have all along been launching its duds at the Hill.
It may for them be less effective. But it is far more Constitutional – for all of us.
This first appeared in Red State.