“Barack Obama was crystal clear during the 2008 campaign about his commitment to ensuring equal treatment of all online content over American broadband lines,” Haley Sweetland Edwards reports for TIME Magazine. “‘I will take a backseat to no one in my commitment to network neutrality,’ Obama told a crowd at Google in 2008. ‘Because once providers start to privilege some applications or websites over others then the smaller voices get squeezed out and we all lose'”
“At a 2007 campaign forum, he went so far as to specifically promise that his Federal Communications Commission appointments would defend the principle of a ‘level playing field for whoever has the best idea.’ ‘As president, I am going to make sure that that is the principle that my FCC commissioners are applying as we move forward,’ he said,’ Edwards reports. “But on Thursday, the President made no public statement when three Democrats he appointed to the FCC voted to move forward with a plan to allow broadband carriers to provide an exclusive ‘fast lane’ to commercial companies that pay extra fees to get their content transmitted online. Instead, White House aides released a press release distancing the President from the decision. ‘The FCC is an independent agency, and we will carefully review their proposal,’ Press Secretary Jay Carney wrote to reporters after the vote. ‘We will be watching closely as the process moves forward in hopes that the final rule stays true to the spirit of net neutrality.'”
“In the vote Thursday, the FCC commissioners approved a plan that prohibited broadband providers from blocking or discriminating against content on current lines, but allowed for the addition of faster service options for paying content providers. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who was appointed by Obama last year, has argued that these new ‘fast lanes’ do not violate net neutrality principles,” Edwards reports. “But at the time Obama spoke at Google headquarters in 2008, the sort of ‘fast lane’ proposal put forward by Wheeler had already been dismissed as a dangerous intrusion on open competition that violated net neutrality… On Thursday, the Internet Association, a trade group representing Google and other Silicon Valley giants, restated its belief that the Wheeler plan appears to violate the principles of net neutrality. ‘We are opposed to all discrimination,’ said the group’s CEO Michael Beckerman. Discrimination, he continued, included any regime that allowed prioritizing commercial content for a fee, ‘even if existing speeds are not downgraded for everyone else.'”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
Yes. Of course he did.
Just adding insult to injury on my just-starting-to-heal buyer’s remorse.
Not sure why the left-leaning Time Magazine is all of a sudden holding Oblahblah accountable for something – it’s meaningless now – but it is nice to see it for a change, I guess.
Time Magazine, you racists!
How’s President Failure doing on the “rise of the oceans” and the “healing of the planet,” by the way?
Now, how about the Benghazi debacle, IRS targeting of opposition, Fast and Furious, Crimea, Egypt, Syria, unemployment, the economy, serial vacations, record number of golf rounds, etc., etc., etc.?
President Failure. Bad for America.
Face the fact: I was right all along.
also Obamacare and NSA.
Did you just equate health insurance reform with domestic spying?
I didn’t vote for Obama nation and am no apologist for his Republican-Lite Corporatist tendencies. Hope & Change was a slogan that holds no relationship to reality- kind of like Faux Newz “Fair and Balanced”
You were not right about anything- including the 2012 elections. 5 million more people voted for Democrats for the House of Representatives than Republicans, yet through Gerrymandering we have a Madhouse of wing nuts in control of the US House.
As to the IRS- investigations showed that the IRS investigated any anti-government or tax-protesting groups and that includes those on the political left. I guess Car Thief Darrell Issa didn’t tell you that.
Benghazi was not a scandal and has been investigated to death. The cry among the wing nuts is an attempt to smear and frame Ms Clinton as she outpolls ANY Republican by a huge margin. I don;t like her or trust her, but the Benghazi stuff has been proven to be BS- repeatedly.
For all the Reich Wing whining, Obama has ruled like what used to be called a mainstream Republican- an endangered species these days. Moderate on Social Issues and Republican on Defense and Economics. Obama’s heroes are Lincoln and Reagan for gawd’s sake.
Excellent post!
Thank you, Darwin Evolved, for posting that. As you have noted, the right-wing lives in a Fox inflated bubble and facts never seem to penetrate into it. I have infinitely more respect for you that you took time to debunk Firsty’s claims. They only way they win this argument is by repeating the same lies over and over again, hoping the truth is suppressed or that we just cannot be bothered to answer their BS.
First-Then: I try to read through your stuff. But then you say moronic statements like this:
Not sure why the left-leaning Time Magazine
NO. You got your magazines mixed up. Time is the RIGHT leaning magazine. Newsweek is the LEFT leaning magazine. No credibility dude. NO credibility.
You are joking, I hope.
Welcome to Earth. I hope your journey from the Bizarro World was pleasant! A reminder than hear on Earth, everything is backwards from what you’re used on the Bizarro world, resulting in a common disruption of logical thinking called cognitive dissonance. Do not be alarmed. Careful studying of factual information will be able to correct this distortion of your perceptions. (0_o)
(I think I’ll package up this response. It will come in handy on a daily basis, around here).
As if any of the major news media, which are now concentrated in a handful of publications, are anything but corporatist to the core.
You know you are ignorant and delusional when you start parsing if Time magazine is left leaning or not. Meanwhile thee real power is laughing at you for making it so easy to divert attention from reality.
I don’t give a rat’s about your ‘parsing’ comment. What I pointed out has been blatant, obvious public knowledge for my entire lifetime of 56 years. Where do you ignorami come from? Whose rubbish evaluations of magazines are you reading? They’re total crap.
As for trusting news media sources: NEVER EVER trust just one. Get as wide a range as possible from as many countries you can read as possible. Damned RIGHT, today’s media of all sorts is run by our corporate oligarchy.
I was watching Part I of the new PBS Frontline program covering the recent history of #MyStupidGovernment’s unconstitutional spying on US citizens within the USA. That program DESTROYS all credibility of The New York Times. Dead. Then consider the daily lies and deceit being spewed out by anything Rupert Murdoch runs, which includes The Wallstreet Journal.
Mother Jones is left, The Nation leans left, Time is center right, Newsweek is dead, National Review is way out there somewhere.
There is no liberal bias in the media, but they (media companies) are hyper sensitive to the continued accusation as they are in the business of selling advertising. That is why Rush is in steady decline after Sandra Fluke.
In LA, Rush rates lower than 4 non-profit college radio stations- 22nd in the 2nd largest market in the US. The station- Clear Channel’s former Air America outlet- has lower ratings than when it was airing Air America.
Without going toe to toe with the same level of detail, on holiday today, I will simply write in broad terms.
The overwhelming majority of the media is liberal biased. To say anything else reveals ignorance and a deficit of critical thinking.
On the flip side of that coin. A small minority of the media is conservative biased. But that small minority has the largest circulation/audience numbers in print, cable news and radio.
You mention corporations. Are you referring to the liberal media corporations like CNN, Newsweak, TIME, NYT, MSNBC, USA TODAY, et al that have seen their revenues and audience shrink to historic lows the last ten years, hmmm?
Gee, I wonder why …
Firsty thinks anything that isn’t Fox is Leftwing communist pinko propaganda.
He locks himself into a 1 dimensional political stance and ignores the rest of himself and the world. That’s an act, a show, a play. I have no doubt there’s a real person living in a more real world behind the mask.
Yeah, sure, but is he someone you want to be friends with? I don’t waste any of my time hanging out with people like that. In fact, I actively avoid them.
I like your creativity. Much appreciated.
What an idiot. Amusing that you think the Republicans would be better.
Just how much cash was handed over for the Obama third term?
I was going to balk at the idea. But then I realized that Obama doesn’t give a rat’s about the US Constitution. Therefore…
“If you like your interwebz, you can keep your interwebz.”
Obama said so. Honest.
Do not be deceived by Obama.
Obama is a corporatist- plain and simple.
Haaavaaad Club and University of Chicago connections, lots of Wall Street money, heavily establishment appointments and insiders everywhere you look.
The FCC is a joke and is stuffed full of former or future lobbyists or lawyers from the Cable & TelCos or their trade associations. A former Republican FCC member voted to sign off on the Comcast purchase of NBC/Universal and then left the FCC to work for Comcast. The current Chair is a fox in the henhouse- having come from the industry he is supposed to regulate. Is that cozy enough for you?
Obama, like those before him, is taking care of those who took care of him. He is a politician, an opportunist and a slime ball. I did not vote for him or the Republican nominee in the last two elections as I refuse to choose between two flavors of Republican in the general election. He is exactly what I feared he was and is: a DINO.
I agree that Obama is a corporatist, but all national politicians are. And they have to be because the only way to win national elections is to beg for campaign donations from the wealthiest 1%, which are the corporations. Let’s get money out of politics and bring Democracy back.
Obama murdered Net Neutrality the day he nominated Mr. Thomas Wheeler, puppet pawn of the media oligarchy.
[Expletives Deleted]
Now how can that be? You read the President’s statement that the FCC is an independent agency. Blame them!
Not the Big O hard at work for the American people walking golf courses and gabbing on comedy shows.
/s
The sad truth is all presidents are given almost no wiggle room when it comes to policy and governing. The permanent government (NSA, CIA, Pentagon, etc.) are the ones who tell the president what he can and cannot do.
Sorry, but not an excuse. Off the the pokey this [expletive deleted] must go as a traitor to the US Constitution AND International criminal, not dissimilar from the previous President…
“The sad truth is all presidents are given almost no wiggle room when it comes to policy and governing.”
Disagree. THIS president has had a free ride in policy and governing that only other presidents, both D’s and R’s, could only dream of! Significant news stories printed on “page 17”, News Editors determining significant stories not worth covering, heck, how many soldiers have died in Afghanistan? You don’t know because the constant score card the lame stream media impersonating journalists gleefully announced during Bush has all but ceased under Obama! The lame street media chose Obama and they have to prop this failure up and drag him across the finish line less the media lose their credibility, which unfortunately, that ship has sailed!
Don’t believe me, go ask one of the last of a dying breed, Sharyl Attkisson!
Arnold is right.
You challenge the status quo you end up like Kennedy.
The disparity between what Pres. Obama knows and what his supporters THINK he knows is astounding (and if he ever rallies for IQ equality, God Help us….).
Most excellent point!
The clueless cannot think for themselves. They get sound bites from the media/administration and memorize the talking points.
Repetition, repetition, repetition. But don’t dare think about the message with an objective mind using critical thinking.
Face the cameras and in convincing best feel your pain tones, deliver the platitudes because only the words matter.
When challenged or caught, always blame others. Dubya, Congress and those evil Republicans top the list. Along with Tea party, Christians, gun owners, meat eaters and more.
When policy promises are exposed as failure, distance yourself.
But above all else, never admit you could not get it done or lied.
The world we live in …
Omg a politician lied!
When you start to say things like that and start to not care about things like that….then….that’s the end of “democracy”.
lol US doesn’t have “democracy” no matter who is in power, people end up with the same outcome… getting screwed over. Each winner is just backed by lobbyists.
I’m sick of Obama too, but honestly, no one who gets elected president gets even halfway through fulfilling all their campaign promises. “Backing away from campaign promises” is just another way of saying he got elected.
Don’t expect any politician to just do the right thing or stay true to their word. Politicians will only do the right thing when they are coerced by the people into doing them. There must be enough pressure on them over every issue that matters that yielding to the people’s demands becomes that politician’s most expedient option. Obama’s no exception – no better or worse than any politician when in these matters.
In a certain way, I can deal with “Backing away from campaign promises.”
What I can’t deal with or accept are outright lies and I won’t bother boring everyone by listing all that I know here.
What is worst though is the total disrespect for the Constitution as evidenced by his and his atty general’s open defiance of living by its clearly stated words.
I am reminded of a quote from Dick Cheney “the things we said to get elected aren’t necessarily reflected in our action in office”. Obama doesn’t seem to be doing any better.
What’s bizarre are the Limbaugh lite clowns here who somehow think Republicans are better. I’m actually embarrassed for them and their ignorance. Ugh. Really just awful people.
Good answer!
Is that you, Jay Carney…?
So you’re saying all people here expressing views other than Liberal Lite are AWFUL PEOPLE.
Pity.
What a laugh, goodness the entire world know the only promise you can depend on totally from a President is a promise to go to war. Heck even when they don’t promise you a war during the campaign they will come up with something.
If it isn’t some country it will be some nebulous war on errors cause that’s the only thing that the Terrorist United Hates knows how to do. That and take the massively huge karma tsunami that is coming their way.
I’m glad you(‘re) left.
He’s Left because he is criticizing war mongering? Well then, I guess you have confirmed that right-wing people love war.
Only thing confirmed is your inability to grasp what is right before your eyes (the Terrorist United Hates) and desire to see only what you preconceive (a form of prejudice).
Well played!
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
– Theodore Roosevelt – Kansas City Star (7 May 1918)
The inspiration for the loveable Teddy Bear.
Hugs. 🙂