All Things Michael Miles

[Editor's Note: I love the word douche. It's like the new fuck. I'm happy that Megyn Kelly has given me an opportunity to use it. Although, if I watched Fox News more often I might have even more opportunities.]

Check out this stunning display of disingenuous reporting on Fox News. There are a couple of things to consider here:

• Megyn Kelly is a lawyer;
• Megyn Kelly is paid a lot of money to work for Fox News;
• Megyn Kelly has an entire production staff at her disposal, for the purpose of providing her with accurate research.

So it’s kind of astonishing to see the discussion on Net Neutrality which aired Tuesday, May 11th, on her show America Live, between Josh Silver, the president of freepress.net, and Jim Harper, a fellow at the Cato Institute. Kelly displays a bias to the story from the moment the piece opens, whether she is calling Net Neutrality a government-takeover of the internet, or claiming that the Obama administration will have their hands in too many aspects of everyone’s business. Let’s remember, this show airs at 1:00p.m. ET, right in the middle of Fox News’ “fair and balanced” news reporting. It was just last fall when Michael Clemente, senior vice-president for news, made the distinction between Fox’s news programming and their shock-jock personalities like Hannity and Beck.

Please note how Harper is allowed to drone on and on, while Kelly interrupts Silver, telling him that her audience doesn’t understand the very clear talking point he asserted. When Harper’s statements are challenged, he falls back to idiotic Libertarian claims of big government that have no bearing on the subject, and Kelly gives him a pass.

Since Kelly is admittedly too stupid to understand that Net Neutrality is about preventing content discrimination on the internet, let me paint Harper’s suggestion in terms even she can understand:

If the internet were our highway system, then Harper wants all the roads to be owned by the trucking companies. As you traveled from one road to another, you would be subject to different rules by a different authority. Randomly, without warning, the rules could change and you might be prevented from driving on the road. You might not be allowed to go to certain locations, unless they were owned by the trucking company. Trucks could run you off the road, and you couldn’t do anything about it.

Now, does that sound like any way to enjoy a family vacation?

Cato must be in trouble, because Harper really gives them a bad name. He might want to go back to school and read a little Adam Smith or Frederick Hayek – both godfathers of libertarian economics – who discuss the necessity of fair playing fields and low barriers to entry for any free marketplace. Railing against ‘Big Government’ in this case is insulting, for the alternative is monopoly. Libertarians like Harper have a real PR problem: explaining how to live in a lawless, third-world society controlled by corporations that exist solely for the pursuit of greater profit, while providing services and protections to the public. I’m still listening…

As for Kelly, I can only thank her for allowing me to write this piece and highlight her bias and stupidity. And reinforce my decision not to watch Fox News Channel.