Good news. The head of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, understands that we have a First Amendment and how it works. That was kind of in question, because he was keeping his head down and refusing to answer questions after the short-fingered vulgarian fascist in the White House attacked the free press, threatening to "challenge their License." He was threatening NBC in particular. Which doesn't have a license. Because networks don't. Individual stations do. But Pai kind of cleared that up, too, when he was finally forced to respond Tuesday, speaking at a telecom law conference.
"I believe in the First Amendment," Pai said at a telecom law event in Washington, without mentioning Trump by name. "The FCC under my leadership will stand for the First Amendment, and under the law the FCC does not have the authority to revoke a license of a broadcast station based on content of a particular newscast."
Pai was looking more and more pathetic as his silence on the issue, particularly when his current and former fellow FCC members like current member Jessica Rosenworcel and former chair Tom Wheeler were calling him out.
Democrats have refused to let the issue die in recent days, with FCC Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel warning in a weekend television appearance that “history won't be kind to silence" on Trump's threats to the First Amendment. […]
"He is making himself complicit in the coercion that the president was engaging in," former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, a Democrat, said in a weekend interview on CNN, calling Pai's failure to address the issue "shocking."
Better late than never?