Net Neutrality: The Sum of All Irrational Fears

Would the right’s lunatic fringe hate Net Neutrality so much, if they actually knew what it was? One can only wonder.

'They will control you' -- Glenn Beck on his radio show:

We’re not going to lose this country we are losing this country. I don’t think people understand how close we are today. Today the FCC is going to turn the Internet into a public utility, which means they have the power to control and regulate every bit of it.

They just were told by a court that they cannot have Net Neutrality. They said: “Fine we can’t do it that way. We will make it a public utility.” This will control every aspect of the Internet. And if you don’t think that people who praise Chavez and his revolution as an important democratic revolution will control every aspect of this Internet.

Mark my words. Listen to this carefully. It’s not going to happen today. It’s not going to happen in the next couple of weeks. It may not even happen in the next year. But it will happen. They’ve opened the door and your rights to speak out, put things out on the Internet, to express yourselves on a blog, to be able to make a political video … gone!

With this administration and, you know what, any progressive – even Republican – administration – they will limit your speech on the Internet and control it.If you think we could lose our rights, if you think we could lose our country, you’re mistaken. We are losing our country.

'A Neo-Marxist vision' -- Neil Stevens at RedState.com:

Part of Google’s drive has been in funding Free Press, a radical fringe group dedicated to the nationalization of all mass media in America.

Their neo-Marxist vision is to have people’s state commissars dictating all the news you read in the newspaper, watch on television, and see on the Internet. Obviously, they’ve been pushing hard for deem-and-pass “reclassification” of the Internet under FCC total control.

A 'Nucllear Option' -- Phil Kerpen of Americans for Prosperity on Fox News:

With today’s announcement the FCC shows it is more interested in satisfying a left-wing political constituency than continuing sound policy...

Free Press put out a statement yesterday just minutes after the story leaked that the FCC would pursue reclassification. Remarkably, they openly stated that even the nuclear option of total regulatory control under a utility-type model is not enough for them, saying: “This is extremely welcome news. We reserve judgment, however, on whether the FCC has gone far enough.”

'Another Obama Takeover' -- House Republican Leader John Boehner on Twitter, twice:

“Obama FCC scheme would reclassify internet as a phone system in order to expand gov't power.”

“FCC plan to regulate internet will stifle innovation, kill jobs. Another gov't takeover by President Obama.”