Guest op-eds do not always reflect the opinions of the author. RedState.com.)
Jonah Goldberg, a once-relevant journalist who was alive in 2009, accurately mapped the current direction of the Left. His book “Liberal Fascism” details fascism’s direct lineage — from 1930s Europe all the way down to what’s happening here and now. My only quibble is a long-held hobby horse: There is NOTHING “liberal” about the Left. It is with the Left that we deal.
The Zeitgeist long ago inaccurately-but-successfully ascribed fascism to the Right. Here’s the 1983 edition of the American Heritage Dictionary doing exactly that:
“A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.”
Except all of the world’s fascists have been Leftists. Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler were both Socialists before they became Fascists. They changed armbands — not ideologies.
This is Leftist fascism in a different form. There’s no “belligerent nationalism” here. They loathe this country — and are actively ensuring its destruction. You might call it hyperanti-nationalism. America Last.
But the American Left’s got “the merging of state and business leadership” down to an art form. DC has been making fun of the “revolving door” between various government agencies and industries that they oversee for decades. Spend some time in DC performing government favors for business, and then turn your attention to lucrative jobs with those businesses. It’s really awful musical chairs — with only the Yoko Ono oeuvre being played.
Even as I write this, there are many high-profile DC cases of the Big Government-Big Business merger. What follow is but two….
The Department of Transportation (DoT)’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently serving as the heavy mob for Big Airline. Big Airline is spreading disinformation — that Fifth Generation (5G) wireless deployment near airports will interfere with airplane technology. And the FAA is dutifully amplifying Big Airline’s stink — and is impeding further 5G deployment.
The FAA is ignoring the fact that the very same government of which it is a part — during the Donald Trump years — proved beyond any doubt that 5G doesn’t interfere with airplane tech. In no small part because the physical properties of spectrum are the same everywhere — and more than thirty countries are already safely using the exact same bands of spectrum Big Government and Big Airline are claiming are a problem here.
This cavalcade is a reality. Big Airline demands Big Government obstruct — and Big Government dutifully obstructs.
Revolving door?:
“The airline industry…is poised to get $60 billion from the bailout fund….Notable executive United Airlines general counsel Robert Rivkin donated $2,800 and hosted a fundraiser for the campaign. Rivkin, no stranger to the revolving door, served as general counsel to the Department of Transportation under Obama before taking an executive job at Delta Airlines….Caroline Kennedy, former ambassador to Japan under Obama,…sits on the board of Boeing….”
Need another DC example? It’s possible.
Look at the Federal Communications Commission. This commission oversees broadcasting in the United States. A fully populated FCC is made up of five voting Commissioners — one of whom also serves as Chairman. Three are of the President’s Party – two of the other. The FCC is currently constituted at 2-2 — awaiting the tie-breaking confirmation of President Joe Biden’s exceedingly awful nominee Gigi Sohn.
Sohn isn’t just a hardcore Leftist — she is a DC revolving door hardcore Leftist. Sohn worked previously at the FCC under the Barack Obama Administration. During which she engaged in some…questionable behavior.
Sohn publicly advised — via Twitter and the attending hashtag — Title II-Net Neutrality government-power-grab-proponents how best to file Comments during the FCC’s Comment Period. During which Sohn and her FCC colleagues are allegedly being neutral — as they listen to what the public says about what the FCC is considering doing. The FCC then imposed Title II as well as Net Neutrality.
Oh: And Sohn called Fox News “state-sponsored propaganda.” (Not Biden’s state, I would imagine.) And then there’s this — because of course:
Biden’s FCC Commissioner Nominee Gigi Sohn Wants To Nuke Right-Leaning Broadcasters From Air
Sohn revolving-doored to the private sector after Trump’s victory.
Gigi Sohn Joins Locast’s Three Member Board
And then this.
Following a Court ruling, Locast Free TV Services with 3 Million Users is Shut Down
Ah, yes! Sohn has a horrible record in Intellectual Property (IP). Locast was stealing Big Broadcast’s content and streaming it themselves. Which ain’t particularly legal.
And then this.
Locast Fined $32 Million; It Will Never Happen Again
Big Broadcast in DC is represented by the National Association of Broadcasters. Their immediate response to Sohn’s nomination was this….
NAB Raises Red Flag Over Gigi Sohn’s Locast Directorship:
“Broadcast trade group doesn‘t outright oppose FCC nominee, but seeks ethics clarification.”
The NAB got their “ethics clarification” — DC-style.
Biden’s FCC Pick Gigi Sohn Cut Sweetheart Deal With Broadcasters One Day After Nomination:
“Locast entered into a settlement agreement with broadcasters requiring the service to pay $32 million in damages.
“Biden nominated Sohn to an empty commissioner position at the FCC, which is tasked with regulating the broadcast industry, in late October; however, one day after she was nominated, Sohn signed a confidential agreement with broadcasters cutting the amount of damages Locast would pay to around $700,000….”
That’s right! NAB allowed Sohn’s company’s fine to be reduced by nearly 98%. And this was the result.
Sohn Says she Will Resign from Broadcast Copyright and Retrans Issues
“Nominee says voluntary recusal will be in effect for the first three years of her term.”
Sohn’s recusal applies to the vast majority of what the FCC does. It’s like she’s saying “I’ll take the job — I just won’t be able to do the job.”
The NAB will be fine with her being out of work for 3 years because she is only able to focus on things that are important. As her Locast-revolving-door theft-Locast show, she is terrible on matters that affect them.
Gigi Sohn, Often At Odds With Media & Telecom Giants
After three years, what? A Republican President may very well be in the White House — which would relegate a Commissioner Sohn to FCC minority status. This would limit the amount of damage she could do.
What if a Democrat wins in 2024 the presidential election? Sohn has 31300,000.000 reasons to be more nice to Big Broadcast than any time before.
The following happened.
Sohn Recuse Agreement Scores NAB Approval
DC’s fascist, toxic combination of Big Government and Big Business is an ever-growing supply of macabre comedy.
Because DC’s fascist, toxic combination of Big Government and Big Business is in ever-growing supply.
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