Net Neutrality's Death: By Supreme Court

So, Haiti is all over the news. It is, in fact, a horrible, horrible tragedy.

But you should totally be already aware of the most recent Supreme Court decision about political contributions. It's right on the front page of ... no, wait... click on "politics" of your favorite news site... now ... scroll down... further. Okay, now ... hmm... hit "archive" now search for "Supreme Court". Okay, there you go, like I said, right on the front page ... err... ridiculously buried.

WTF?

Why isn't this the front page story on every news outlet?

Okay, let me recap for you, in the case you missed it. The recent Supreme Court decision, 5-4, was that companies can now donate as much money as they want to political advertisements. Don't worry, personal donations are still capped at ... something like 2 and a half grand, right?

Pinch me. Please!

Imagine this nightmare: Exxon decided to drop a tiny fraction of its advertising budget, say, 100 million dollars, (and remember, business expenses are write-offs!) on buying a few senators to reverse environmental regulations, or to say, pass the ANWR Alaskan oil drilling bill that so narrowly was defeated a few years ago.

Worse, I've read analysis saying it doesn't even bar foreign companies. China's not in a recession. Imagine China, whose government - remember, they're communist - can just funnel billions into a US subsidiary that it controls, to pass ... does it matter? Trade deals that are detrimental to the US? Ignoring their interest in the genocide of Sudan? Forcing all businesses to bow to its censorship of the Internet? Removing military defense of Taiwan? Etc?

Net Neutrality's Death, Incoming

Now, why am I writing this in my Internet / social media technology focused blog? Simple. Net Neutrality. There's a lot of telecomms who want to see Net Neutrality be Neutered. (Like that pun?) They have lots and lots of money, because, well, it's difficult to live in a digital age such as ours without having a cell phone and an Internet connection. (And I hear a lot of you enjoy your DVR cable TV, too, right?) Obama's election cost nearly a billion dollars in donations, and thankfully, it was grass-roots, shattering records for the *number* of people who donated. Imagine those 2 million people's donations matched by ... one corporation who will earn lots of money watching Net Neutrality die.

Now imagine that there are multiple corporations with that spending power.]

Now remember, Net Neutrality is just one of any number of issues. Starting to get the picture?

For Sale: Any Politician (Or their political demise)

Buy your own president. Or, a few senators who sit on the wrong side of the aisle on the bills you need. It's easy! They won't play ball? No problem. Find someone who will, support them, and smear the incumbent! Rinse, wash, repeat. (And by rinse, clearly I mean "rinse your hands of the fact that this practice is wholly unethical and anti-democratic.)

Sure, it won't work for everyone, but when the Congress is divided so closely, you only need a few! And then there's earmarks! You know how easy it is for one senator to sneak a few dozen million in earmarks for their pet projects, right?

FUCK. THAT.

Readers know that I generally don't use swear words in my posts. Well now, I really mean it.

Go to this link:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Find your senator. Write them a note. Total time: 5 minutes. That's all I ask.

Oh, and now would be an excellent time to switch careers to smear marketer.