Anonymous asked: Mike what do you know of or think about this new executive order that was quietly passed a couple of weeks ago: ASSIGNMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMUNICATIONS FUNCTIONS?

It basically gives the government the right to take over the internet or kill it whenever it wants—-AN EMERGENCY! OH, NOES!—-If you try to read it, it’s pretty unclear, like all modern government and legal documents. They are written this way so that they are difficult to understand and an entire industry of interpreters can be created (lawyers, newspeople, etc.).

It starts off talking about how important it is for the government to maintain its ability to communicate at all times, then goes on to talk about how it will take this ability away from the people in an—-AN EMERGENCY! OH, NOES!

The internet is becoming more and more problematic for authoritarianism/fascism/corporatism, which is our current social and government set-up. Most recently, the case of Savannah Dietrich can be pointed to as successful public activism on the internet. She was sexually assaulted, went to court, and her attackers were given a slap on the wrist in a plea deal (they were minors). Savannah was ordered to not speak of the case again, but she said “Fuck that” and did it anyway. She tweeted their names, hopefully ruining their lives (cross your fingers!) The lawyers for her attackers then pressed for contempt and Savannah, a victim of sexual assault, was looking at 180 days in jail for exercising her right to free speech. God bless America. The public rose up in her defense, at lightning speed, fascilitated by the internet. The lawyers for her attackers then withdrew their demands for a contempt charge, admitting that it was the very public outrage that caused them to change their minds.

While this a wonderful story and great for Savannah, it wasn’t that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. But it does show you the power of millions of people instantly communicating. The will of the people changed the behavior of the government, and we can’t have that, not on a massive scale. The internet makes it seem like the whole world is right there in the same room.

This is very dangerous for the government, whose sole purpose is to maintain the status quo and increase its own power. That is its nature, and that is why the internet has been killed locally during some protests. It is much easier to beat people and spray chemicals on them when the whole world isn’t watching.

This executive order gives the government the power to shut off or take over the internet, should lots and lots of people get really, really mad about something. In short, it is to prevent revolution or rebellion of any grand scale.

Now, some are politicizing it, which is bullshit. Right-wingers are calling Obama a dictator. Left-wingers are apologizing, saying it’s just for—-AN EMERGENCY! OH, NOES!”

They’re both full of shit. Romney or Bush or any president would do the same thing, except maybe Ron Paul, but Ron Paul is full of shit, too. While I agree with him for the most part on foreign policy and war, domestically he simply wants to transfer federal authority to the states. People think that’s “libertarianism”. But, as the Who said, MEET THE NEW BOSS. SAME AS THE OLD BOSS. Plus, Paul ain’t even pro-choice—and people think he’s libertarian. Hello?

For libertarianism to be something more than just a masturbatory fantasy for the 18-40 year old white male demographic, liberty has to given to be the people and power has to be taken away from the states, both federal and local.

So, too sum up, this executive order is simply the government taking the initial step in a possible revolution or rebellion. Or, if you want to be paranoid about it, the government is planning to do something in the future which will cause revolution or rebellion and this is a preventative measure.

Whatever you believe, it is, without question, the government saying that “We, The People” should not be in control of our own means of communication.