by
PAUL
J.
RICHARDS/AFP/Getty
Images)
There’s
simply
no
limit
of
problems
in
telecom
and
media
that
competent
FCC
regulators could be
taking
aim
at. Broadband
price
gouging
by
monopolies,
widespread telecom
privacy
and
security
failures,
the
obvious
harm
of unchecked
media
consolidation all
come
quickly
to
mind.
Instead
of
tackling
any
of
this,
new
Trump
FCC
boss
Brendan
Carr
has
spent
the
lion’s
share
of
his
first
months
in
office
engaged
in
erratic
authoritarian
zealotry,
whether
it’s
abusing
FCC
authority
to harass
journalists
who
refuse
to
kiss
Donald
Trump’s
ass,
or
“investigating”
Verizon,
Comcast,
and
Disney for
not
being
racist
enough.
Now
Carr
is
again
taking
aim
at
Comcast,
simply
because
journalists
at
MSNBC
and
NBC
gave
King
Donald
a
sad.
Over
at
the
right
wing
propaganda
website
known
as
X,
Carr
whined
about
Comcast
over
MSNBC
and
NBC’s
coverage
of
Abrego
Garcia,
a
Maryland
dad
the
government “accidentally”
kidnapped,
sent
to
a
foreign
gulag,
and
now
refuses
to
return
to
the
U.S.
You’ll
notice
Carr
isn’t
actually
launching
any
sort
of
actual
“investigation”
into
Comcast
here
because
the
accusation
is
baseless
bullshit.
There
is
no
evidence
that
Garcia
was
a
gang
member.
Garcia’s
only
arrest
was
in
2019
for “loitering”
in
a
Home
Depot
parking
lot.
Carr
is
of
course
mad
because
NBC
and
MSNBC
told
people
the
truth:
that
the
government
fucked
up,
appear
to
have
falsely
and
lazily
identified
a
man
as
a
gang
member
and
dangerous
career
criminal,
then
“accidentally”
shipped
him
off
to
a
foreign
work
gulag.
Even
if
Garcia was a
gang
member,
Brendan
Carr
is
behaving
like
a
foolish
clown.
The
rule
he’s
trying
to
leverage
here,
the
FCC’s
“distortion
rule,”
is
a
very
rarely
enforced
rule
that
says
news
outlets
can’t
suppress
important
journalism
or
take
cash
bribes
to
modify
journalism.
It
clearly
doesn’t
apply
if
NBC
and
MSNBC
were
just
explaining
the
situation
accurately.
And
it doesn’t
apply
to
cable
news.
Carr,
of
course,
knows
this,
he’s
just
hoping
that
a
shitty
U.S.
press
system
will
help
him
pretend
he’s
launching
a
“serious
investigation,”
so
the
accusations
get
repeated
across
the
media
and
other
news
outlets
think
twice before
criticizing
Donald
Trump.
It
doesn’t
matter
if
NBC
(or
anybody
else)
is
guilty,
the
press
will
dutifully
parrot
the
accusation
far
and
wide, implying
guilt.
Because
U.S.
consolidated
corporate
journalism
is
generally
very
shitty
and
concerned
about
losing
access
or
costly
fake
investigations,
it’s
an
effective
tactic.
If
you
search through
the
news
wires,
most
of
the
reporting
on
this
story
parrot
Carr’s
claims
without
pointing
out
he
doesn’t
have
much
of
a
leg
to
stand
on.
Or
that
the
rule
in
question
doesn’t
apply
to
cable.
Or
that
Carr’s
primary
goal
is
very
clearly
to
bully
media
companies
and
suppress
journalism,
a
curious
choice
for
a
party
that
spent
the
last
few
years
babbling
endlessly
about their
love
of
free
speech.
Again
there
will
never
be
a
case
against
Comcast
here
because
this
is
thin
bullshit
and
Carr
has
absolutely
no
leg
to
stand
on.
The
whole
point
of
the
tweet
was
to
get
the
press
to
parrot
the
false
claims
to
a
broader
audience
and
to
soften
their
criticism
of
the
Trump
administration.
Most
were
happy
to
oblige.
FCC
Boss
Brendan
Carr
Whines
About
Accurate
Comcast/NBC
Reporting
That
Made
Donald
Trump
Sad
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