The Internet Must Die!

Dear Mr. Kettle

While investing in a rather unproductive week of waiting on websites to load and not being entirely certain that they would, I had occasion to reflect upon a quiet problem plaguing our nation, threatening to tear apart the very fabric of reality to leave the American people raw and exposed. The Internet has led to the proliferation of pornography, piracy and propaganda of unprecedented levels. What's more, it's taken control of these vices out of the hands a few who might control and profit from them, placing that control into the hands of virtually everyone. Even more insidious is the fact that the Internet has leveled the playing field in the war of free speech, such that any fool might open his mouth to prove it to the world. Think of the havoc that the unwashed electorate has had on the democratic process, as they're cacophony of voices threatened to drown out well-crafted political messages meant to drive home those points necessary to push the electoral process forward.

Nearly twenty years ago I began referring to the Internet as the Wild, Wild West, rather than the World Wide Web, as an untamed wilderness where only brave, stout hearts should venture. Over the years, my opinion has not wavered even as the veil of civilization has shrouded the rougher plains of its landscape and reduced the perception of threats to seeming vestiges. Still, where there is no rule of law there can be no civilization.

Thankfully, men like Michael Powell, former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, have been brave enough to step forth and attempt to disembowel the threat of Common Carriage and Internet Freedom which might otherwise threaten the delicate structure that is our Republic. When Mr. Powell quietly redefined Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from Telecommunications Service Providers to Information Service Providers, in 2002, he lifted the yoke of Common Carriage from the backs of companies such as Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, and Charter so that they might be better able to tailor our access to the Internet content in a way that they deem most beneficial for their customers. Regrettably, Mr. Powell moved on to greener pastures. Still, in the twelve years following his heroic act, parties on both sides of this bitter war on Freedom of Speech continue rallying. The fate of Internet Freedom lingers with its last ragged breaths as we dream quietly yet fitfully, in our collective sleep, for a quick, silent death.

Not surprisingly, in January of this year, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down attempts to impose Net Neutrality onto the Internet by the Federal Communications Commission, led by newly appointed chairman Tom Wheeler. Soon our streaming video and VoIP services will see a bump in rates as those who own the information highway can finally impose upon those innovative big content providers the fees necessary to arrest innovation and competitions from upstarts who might otherwise bring something revolutionary to the Internet. Mr. Wheeler has vowed to continue "preserving the Internet as an open platform for innovation and expression while providing certainty and predictability in the marketplace is an important responsibility of this agency,..." Mike O’Rielly, the most recently appointed Republican commissioner for the FCC has expressed his concerned that the commission might consider reinstituting pre-2001 regulations ensuring net neutrality. Let us pray that Mr. Wheeler does not do something so foolish as to invoke Title II Authority and reinstate ISPs as telecommunication services, thereby ensuring a level playing field for all participants, regardless of the amount of cash they bring to the table.

Sincerely,

Mr. Pot

"Commitment to the rule of law provides a basic assurance that people can know what to expect whether what they do is popular or unpopular at the time." Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

"If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter." - President George Washington

F.C.C. Seeks a New Path on ‘Net Neutrality’ Rules

While Gravely Ill, The Rumors May Be Exaggerated

Dear Mr. Kettle:

In reading that heart-wrenching obituary on the Republic, I was bit overwhelmed with the litany of symptoms which reportedly plagued our great Nation in its declining years - oh, to have died so young and so full of promise. I must confess to having read it several times, seeking to extrapolate the ten plagues from your list and coming away from the experience exhausted and a bit of nauseated. When reading such an extensive list of symptoms, I'm reminded that the disease from which we suffer is not new. We have been at deaths with this particularly malady before. There just isn't anyone left alive to tell the tale. Still, while it took the promise from a generation, we did survive and became stronger either despite it or because of it.

Popular media called the events which began in the fourth quarter of 2007 The Great Recession, starting a war of perception and propaganda, as each side of the front tried to win the hearts and minds of the America people. Depending on which media outlet one was listening to at any point in time, the depredations of the 1930's would be visited upon Generation X or they would not. The fact is that we have been here before. However, instead of the gold standard we now have a fiat currency; instead soup kitchens (or at least not as many of them) we now have food banks and food stamps; instead 25% unemployment we now have 20% underemployment atop the official 7% unemployment. There was - is - deflation. Ask any homeowner who's weathered these past seven years, successfully or not. The only silver lining in the whole debacle has been the stock market. Interestingly enough, the same was true in the years following 1929.

I was intrigued with your declining to compare Obama to Roosevelt. After all, that is where most go when discussing the disease riddled state of affairs that sound like the death rattles of the nation. Perhaps you were so overwhelmed with grief while drafting the obituary that you merely lost track of that perceived pejorative. Ironically, however, a more apropos comparison would be that of Obama to Hoover. After all, both men inherited their respective debacles from their predecessors, who interestingly enough shared the religion of Trickle-Down Economics. Of course, differences abound between Obama and Hoover. Most notable among them was the nature of those who oppose(d) them. In Hoover's case, he sought the assistance of private industry in remedying the free-fall of the economy, knowing full well that only in this sector of society did the resources exist to affect change in any real, measurable way. Regrettably, history proved once again that private interests are inept at large-scale social reform and welfare. In Obama's case, interference and opposition to attempts at remedying the financial free-fall came not from private industry but rather the United States House of Representatives...wait, never mind.

Of course, out of the 1930's came many of the social and regulatory reforms which you deride as the underlying causes for the nation's ill health and subsequent demise. The under-spoken, subtext of history from this period point to the early cold war years in which the nation sought to avert a second civil war and the uprising of communism within our borders as a result of the unabated social upheaval wrought by the side effects of unchecked capitalism. Ironically, we appear to still be fighting that war. However, the Soviet Union has died from its own combination of excesses and deprivations to be replaced by the People's Republic of China, while spying and the military arms race have been replaced with industrial espionage and currency manipulation.

America is in a sorry state of affairs. I will give you that, sir. We even appear to be repeating many of the same mistakes of the past, much like smacking our collective thumb repeatedly with a hammer in the hope of getting a better result each time. Still, my humble opinion is that we're still sound of heart and lung, with corded limbs ready to work. What we lack is direction and purpose, both individually and collectively. It's left us in a malaise which feeds a social circle of despair, spreading despondency to those who can see no hope and unease to those who can't comprehend what it's happening about them.

Still, I'm not yet ready to pull my black suit from the back of the closet - not even to see if it requires a bit of alteration to accommodate the inevitable evolution of age. Instead, I'm polishing my dance shoes and calling my girl for a night on the town. After all, one of the secrets to longevity is to keep moving.

Sincerely,

Mr. Pot

"Money was all appropriated for the top in hopes that it would trickle down to the needy." - Will Rogers

Democracy: Is It Too Early For An Obituary?

To the illustrious Mr. Pot:

Will 2014 be the year that our Republic begins its slow death? If so, shouldn’t we at least begin to compile a fitting obituary? For example:

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – 2014

The democratic republic commonly known as the United States of America passed away quietly this year. The cause of death was an insidious affliction common to many failing nations. It's officially known as Liberalism. The technical medical term is pecuniam non habere or a “fanatic tendency to spend money that doesn't exist”. Most elected officials of the Democrat persuasion hailed the event as the beginning of a new era. “This is the dawning of a new America,” one pencil necked liberal opined, “Finally, we'll have everything we ever wanted for the poor, the middle class, the labor unions, and the children! Just think of it....unrestricted and government sponsored abortions, permanent unemployment compensation, a Marxist-Leninist textbook in every classroom, single payer healthcare. And we'll never have to worry about paying for one penny of it."  Republicans leaving the Senate chamber for the final time were heard muttering on their way to their country club happy hours something about not having enough votes to stop it.

This once proud country leaves behind many needy dependents and creditors including nearly every nation on the face of the earth.

In lieu of flowers or memorial donations, Democrat officials request all citizens simply sign over their paychecks to the new government. They claim it's a new tradition that everyone will have to get used to anyway.

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As a serious republican form of government, our country is in waters heretofore uncharted. The waters are quite choppy and present a real danger to the ship of state that equals the fate of the Titanic, Lusitania, and the Andrea Doria all rolled into one. Since 2008, we have seen an unprecedented increase in the national debt. As it climbs to $17 trillion and beyond, the debt represents more than a 30% increase during the present administration alone. Any reputable economic scholar will readily concede that irresponsible spending of this magnitude spells doom. Yet this week, both houses of Congress joyfully extended the legal debt ceiling for a full year and now there is serious talk about completely abolishing such a pesky roadblock to unbridled political pork.

There is another troubling signal that forecasts the impending end our Republic. Students of political thought generally agree that the purpose of a Republic is to extend and guarantee rights, especially where the individual citizen is concerned. The past six years have witnessed a startling erosion of civil liberties in our country. While a few outspoken Congressmen have expressed outrage, all the others have simply ignored the excesses of the current Executive Branch except for a few instances of disingenuous public posturing. The IRS has been callously and illegally used to target right leaning political groups. High ranking Administration officials have appeared before Congressional committees and, rather than testify truthfully, hid behind the protective shield of the 5^th Amendment. The Oval Office's chief occupant has illegally and unilaterally modified laws passed by Congress, delayed implementation of them, granted exemptions to the laws for his political cronies, and has simply directed his Attorney General not to enforce sections with which he personally disagrees. Again, this dangerous and unprecedented disregard for the sacred concept of separation of powers and checks and balances portends dissolution of government structure that furthers shakes the foundation of our Republic. And again, deafening silence from Republican leadership.

An American Ambassador and three brave cohorts are brutally murdered during a well-organized (and well financed) attack on our consulate in Benghazi. Our President spins the episode with hastily constructed and literally laughable lies about the circumstances. To date, no plausible explanation has been given and no scoundrels have been apprehended.  Quite the opposite. CNN News was on the “crime” scene days before our own investigative forces arrived. As for the attack itself, “There was simply no time to send help” our president has reiterated numerous times. A simple question: Mr. President, since our intervention forces were only hours away from Benghazi, how could you have possibly known that there wouldn't be enough time for them to arrive. How could you have possibly known that the attack would not spread to other parts of the city and continue for days? And finally, where exactly was our Secretary of State during this sorry incident? Oh well, I guess the answer to that last one is “What possible difference does it make?”

The list continues and is certainly exacerbated by incompetence and what many would describe as corruption. To wit: a half a billion dollar web site that didn't work from day one; a “fast and furious” and half-witted attempt to provide weapons to major drug cartels; billions of dollars to buy helicopters to give to Afghanistan (purchased, by the way, from Russian manufacturers and not from our own US companies); increasing of Congressional salaries while at the same time cutting disabled veterans benefits; an unemployment rate that has exceeded 7% during the entire Obama Administration; an unprecedented expansion of public assistance programs including unemployment compensation and the SNAP program (food stamps). The public assistance programs we have in this country are certainly comparable to the circus demands of the Roman populace at the beginning of Rome's heralded downfall.

There is a startling conclusion to be derived from the current state of the American republic. I contend that a true republican form of democracy and unbridled liberalism cannot successfully co-exist and may in fact be the antithesis of each other. In “Democracy in America”, Alexis de Tocqueville puts it succinctly and eloquently: “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers it can bribe the public with the public's money.” Unfortunately, it's not just the public who is being bribed from the national coffers. Government largesse extends its tempting hand into every aspect of our society. Sadly, more and more segments are grasping this spectral hand and greedily shaking it as the ducats copiously fall to the floor. It's getting harder and harder to turn down the free lunch that liberalism seductively flaunts in our collective faces. As the public assistance rolls continue to double, as our nationals debt multiplies, and as our electorate becomes more apathetic, the liberal legions arrogantly proclaim victory. I guess those of us in the loyal opposition could regroup. We could try to demand new Republican leadership; we could fight the liberal, Marxist ideologies permeating our colleges and universities. We could try to match the exorbitant amounts of money donated by Hollywood types and mega labor unions to liberal causes. And we could hope for more media outlets like Fox News to report “fair and balanced” news. We could do lots of things.... but as our dear Republic lies wheezing on its death bed, the only cogent thought that seems to keep running through my mind is: what possible difference does it make?

Respectfully submitted,

Mr. Kettle