Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is an anonymous comment about Trump’s Department of Education rolling back anti-book-ban guidance:
Remember, kids. If a government is trying this hard to ban books, you should damn well be interested in finding out what those books actually say!
In second place, it’s That One Guy with a comment about Elon Musk bringing his talent for destruction to the US government:
A socially agreed upon lie
Unfortunately and horrifyingly Elon and the MAGAt higher-ups have learned the dirty little secret that’s been holding the government and to an extent society together all this time: A huge percentage of the ‘checks’ on abuse of the system are ultimately nothing more than pinky-promises between the legal system and those with power that they won’t actually use that power, and that in exchange for the courts only handing out wrist-slaps the powerful won’t get too out of line.
Thanks to decades of cases and especially the last few years Elon and the MAGAts have figured out that the laws aren’t actually binding if you have enough power because the system is completely unwilling to hold the powerful to account if they aren’t willing to play along, and this time… they’re not.
For editor’s choice on the insightful side, we’ve got two more anonymous comments. First, it’s one about Ted Cruz blocking the FCC’s plan to bring mobile wi-fi to school kids:
As someone who actually deals with the E-Rate program, it’s pretty frustrating listening to Cruz lie.
If you want to make your argument that the funds are better used elsewhere, or that you think the FCC overstepped it’s authority in adding the hotspot program, fair enough. I personally don’t agree, but it’s a valid opinion to hold.
What I don’t want to listen to is this “what we really care about is child safety” nonsense. For starters, CIPA compliance is required for the program. Meaning all these hotspots are filtered. As such, there’s a much lower chance of children viewing anything obscene on these than there is any other random internet connection.
The idea this is somehow a big issue of bypassing parental control is nonsense. For starters, if they have internet at home, they’re almost certainly not using the significantly slower hotspot internet instead of their own. I’m quite confident most parent’s ability to monitor their child’s web access at home is WORSE than the CIPA requirements placed on the hotspots. In addition, if you don’t want your child using the hotspot at home, then, you know, be a parent and prevent it. What they seem to be saying is “disadvantaged children are better off with no internet whatsoever than risk being allowed to see a boob.”
But the absolute laugher, is his random concern that these will censor conservative viewpoints. Like, does Ted Cruz think conservative viewpoints aren’t represented on the internet? Does he think CIPA filters redirect all Fox News traffic to MSNBC? The constant paranoia of the right that everyone is silencing the loudest group of people I’ve ever seen is utterly bizarre to me.
Next, it’s one about the DOJ shutting down its civil rights division, and about the current chaos in general:
It’s a reflection of Trump’s most pervasive and obvious personality trait: cowardice. He is one of the most pathetically weak people in public life, unable to handle the slightest adversity or mildest criticism or minor sacrifice.
He’s doing his selfish best to reshape the government of the entire country for his personal benefit. This isn’t about ideology — Trump is far too stupid to even spell ideology or to grasp the concept — it’s about his fragile ego and his willingness to sacrifice a 250-year-old nation of 340 million people to ensure that the frightened little boy inside him is protected…from everyone and everything.
Over on the funny side, our first place winner is JMT with a reply to a comment about the Trump Presidential Library:
It’ll be the world’s biggest collection of picture books.
In second place, it’s an anonymous comment about the copyright drama surrounding an M. Night Shyamalan production:
This is an M. Night Shyamalan story. Are we SURE there isn’t a twist?
For editor’s choice on the funny side, we start out with an anonymous comment about Mark Zuckerberg caving to Trump:
“I know what I’m doing” says the guy that spent $60B in the metaverse.
Finally, it’s Cat_Daddy with a suggestion for Techdirt’s post taxonomy:
Petition: Make a new category for all news about Brandon Carr and the Trump FCC as “Carr Crash.”
That’s all for this week, folks!