By T.F. Stern,
The FCC lost its court case against Comcast as I mentioned this past week; they lack authority to enforce Net Neutrality according to the appeals court. Guess what, the FCC doesn’t care what the court had to say.
“The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday that it intends to move forward quickly with key recommendations in its national broadband plan — even though a federal appeals court this week undermined the agency’s legal authority to regulate high-speed Internet access.”
That’s the lead line in Joelle Tessler’s AP story explaining how the FCC doesn’t give a hoot what the law says , they’re going to figure out a way to impose their will; nobody tells the FCC what to do. That’s what I’m hearing when an agency of the federal government thumbs it nose at the courts.
Alan Caruba wrote, “This is what happens when children are in charge and some 330 million Americans are about to discover what it is like to live in a third world nation”. He was talking about congress spending like little children , having no concept of what it means to be responsible; but the same concepts apply to the tentacles of each and every bureaucracy so enamored with their own self absorbed sense of unlimited power.
You may recall the Supreme Court ruled against the District of Columbia, validating an individual’s God given right to own and bear arms. Has that stopped the District of Columbia from pursuing a course which limits their citizens from owning firearms?
Not too long ago I posted my thoughts here, 2nd Amendment Coin Flipping Contest , pointing to the fact that court decisions apparently mean nothing.
“In essence U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina has gone along with the D.C. city council’s opinion that anything other than a revolver or bolt action rifle/shotgun are to be considered military/police only type weapons and not protected as a God given right for individuals under the 2nd Amendment. This is the same city council which came up with their own interpretation of the basic right to even own a revolver, rifle or shotgun; they basically outlawed ownership of any such weapon within their “crime free” city.”
We’re supposed to be a nation governed by the rule of law. What kind of message is being sent when time after time those in power ignore the rule of law? Court decisions only matter when they rule in favor of OUR interpretation; just like little children going from one parent to the next until permission is granted.
We are experiencing government corruption and usurpation of powers never intended. Add to that the FCC’s determination to impose Net Neutrality, a socialistic code for government control of companies who’ve invested and built internet services. We hear all about the supposed “right” to the internet with all services being treated equally regardless of the expense created to those providing those services.
What about the inherent God given right highlighted in the Declaration of Independence, the pursuit of happiness. If you’ve done any reading into the history of that wording you’ll find it was originally intended to express “the right to property”; changed to avoid the issue of slavery.
“The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.” John Adams
The right to property includes the reasonable expectation, on the part of the owner, to use that property for his/her benefit, as he/she sees fit; in short, to make a profit based on supply and demand principles in the market place. The rules of the game have been changing for quite some time, a steady push to have socialism replace capitalism “brick by brick”.
If the FCC can force internet providers into shackles, Net Neutrality, limiting their ability to charge customers, recoup expenses and strive for profitability based on free market demand then one more “brick” in our foundation of freedoms will have been taken away.
Net Neutrality is a lie; the FCC lacks the authority to make the internet less expensive for the clamoring masses while at the same time destroying property rights of internet providers. Are we going to fall for yet another lie or are we going to recognize what we are trading, less expensive internet, perhaps; but at the cost of liberty!
The Moral Liberal associate editor, T.F. Stern, is a retired City of Houston police officer, self-employed locksmith, and gifted political and social commentator. His popular and insightful blog, T.F. Sterns Rantings, has been up and at it since January of 2005.
