A Neutral Net Will Save The Watchdogs

Something is starkly wrong when diametrically opposed ideologues join hands in public to protest something else. That something wrong, in a nutshell: the government and communications companies working in concert to erode the freedoms that made our country great.

When we were kids, we were sold on an ideal, and it was that ideal that made us love where we lived. The American Dream is living up to its name as we grow up to understand those ideals are washing away in the name of corporate governance, just like Santa Claus.

And the one, essential person sworn to uphold the document that freed us from tyranny and set in place safeguards for watchdogs, along with his administration, are actively chipping away at those cornerstones, while showing loyalty to money, not to the people.

How many times did Verizon turn over our phone records to the Justice Department? At least t's marketers, apparently, unless you opt out.

And AT&T? Who knows how much information was unconstitutionally handed over from the little room set aside for the NSA at corporate HQ?

While they cry immunity, and while Congress mulls legislation keeping them immune from lawsuits set in motion by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and ACLU, they also make free-market arguments to further develop a broadband and wireless market that is very much not free.

Competition is blocked at every turn because they don't want competition in the wireless or broadband space, and are willing to sell you out to keep competition out of it.

Worse, so is your government. The
This disturbed even the Christian Coalition, who co-authored an
But, unfortunately, that's not all. The House of Representatives passed legislation yesterday that would protect bloggers, much the way the mainstream press is protected (well, sort of – didn't work for a certain New York Times reporter I can think of) from having to reveal their sources.

President Bush
What he means by that: the security of the government and corporations to do whatever they please, constitutionally questionable or not. Freedom of the press was set up to protect whistleblowers, and if the President was familiar with the document he swore to uphold, he would know that.

Bloggers and freedom of the press have never been more important than they are in this time of conglomerate-owned media, which feeds us the latest Paris Hilton exploit rather than information that could affect company objectives. Without bloggers, the New Media, and proper protection there will be no whistleblowers left.

And that's exactly what the corporate government wants.