There are three Republicans on the five person FCC. The chairman is Ajit Pai, who you might know as a Verizon lawyer hellbent on rolling back any and all meaningful net neutrality and social equality steps taken under the Obama administration. Pai’s brand of Republican fascism is from the Paul Ryan school of pretending that their “boyish” looks will cover up how corrupt and economically bankrupt their ideas and policies are. Michael O’Rielly however, comes from the more Mitch McConnellian school of old-school Republicans. You just say stupid shit and don’t even try to pretend you aren’t full of it. After unpopular fascist Donald Trump attacked NBC on social media, wondering aloud whether or not their license should be revoked, the Republican members of the FCC were conspicuously silent. So silent that everyone began wondering if they were really going to allow a transparent attempt to silence the press in our country—by the president of the United States—to go unchecked. Never fear, they basically are.
But Republican Commissioner Michael O'Rielly has now said that "politics" should not interfere with FCC decision-making, and that the agency should remain independent. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai today also said that licenses can't be revoked because of news coverage.
Still, O'Rielly defended Trump's attacks on the media, saying the president has been treated poorly by journalists.
Huh. As Arstechnica points out—you heard Mr. O’Rielly right.
"I think that the president is rightfully venting his experiences and disappointment with how the coverage has been occurring regarding his administration. I've been surprised how vitriolic that the coverage has been," O'Rielly said. "I think that President Clinton got better coverage during the middle of impeachment than President Trump is getting these days."
If Michael O’Rielly was 20 years old I may forgive him for just having been born during the Clinton impeachment fiasco. But according to his bio he was a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman Tom Bliley* from 1994 to 1995. So, either Michael O’Rielly is a liar or he’s intellectually unfit to hold a rubber ball, let alone an important government position.
*Bliley’s name might ring a bell as he was an author of one of the country’s greatest failures—the Gramm-Leach-Bliley bill, that President Bill Clinton signed, doing away once and for all with Glass-Steagall.