Reprinted from Smirking Chimp
When it comes to net neutrality, conservatives are absolutely clueless.
Earlier this week, President Obama came out in favor of net neutrality, thus regulating the internet like a public utility.
But just hours after he made his comments, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told a bunch of internet company executives that he won't cave to pressure from the White House, and that the FCC is an "independent agency" that can make its own decisions.
That was music to the ears of corporate-owned lawmakers and conservative commentators, who are making net neutrality out to be this terrible thing that kills competition in the marketplace and that censors what Americans can and can't see on the web.
As usual, the corporate right is doing a whole lot of fear-mongering, but not much else, because when it comes to net neutrality, conservatives are just plain wrong.
Take Fox News' Stuart Varney and Andrew Napolitano for example.
On a recent episode of Varney and Co., Napolitano said that President Obama, "wants to take the choice of buyer and sellers out of the market."
Varney chipped in and said that President Obama is seeking, "to regulate the internet," which prompted Napolitano to say that the entire idea of net neutrality "is Orwellian."
Varney and Napolitano are both either deeply misguided or simply liars.
The whole idea behind net neutrality is a free and open internet. It's the notion that we should all have equal access to the internet, and shouldn't be forced to pay more for certain types of content.
It's the idea that internet giants like Comcast and AT&T shouldn't be able to charge us more if want to watch a movie on Netflix or a viral video on YouTube. They can charge more or less to us based on usage and speed, but not based on the content of what we're watching or reading.
What's Orwellian is a future without net neutrality, where giant corporations have the power to dictate what you and I can and can't see on the internet.
Conservative talk show host Bryan Fischer also has no idea what net neutrality really is.
On his radio show Monday, Fischer voiced his support for Sen. Ted Cruz, who earlier in the day had tweeted out that net neutrality is "Obamacare for the internet."
Fischer then went on to falsely claim that net neutrality keeps internet service providers from offering faster internet speeds to Americans.
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