Hey Folks,

JonB had a great diary at TurnMaineBlue the other day about how keeping the internet free and fair will continue to be a boon for democracy, and I wanted to follow-up in that.

Last year, I sponsored a bill that became the first-in-the-nation resolution regarding Net Neutrality.  It ordered the Maine Public Advocate to prepare a report monitoring state and federal level initiatives to protect what has been a driving principle since the creation of the internet: that all content should be treated fairly and equally, regardless of source, destination, or who owns the lines through which the content passes.

Last month, the Public Advocate Office released its report, "Resolve, Regarding Full, Fair and Nondiscriminatory Access to the Internet".

Someone mentioned on a blog that she was having a difficult time finding accurate information on the web doing a search for Hillary Clinton's legislative achievements. She tried a few different searches and all of them turned up results that were neither what she was looking for or accurate information. Instead she was directed to pages of "opinions" of her legislative achievements and all of them slanted against her. This practice is called Goggle bombing and it is an affront to our democracy.

The Goggle Bombing of information is a practice designed to keep unbiased information away from people and to replace it with specifically biased information. You might say that it is the Faux News of Search Engines. It is undemocratic, actually closer to fascism than anything else. It dumbs down the electorate and suppresses the ability to make rational informed choices. That it is embraced by so-called progressives is perhaps the most frightening aspect of it. Ironically some of these same so-called progressives claim to support Net Neutrality.

This practice must cease immediately. There are consequences to stepping over lines. And one thing you don't do is screw with our Democracy. Because we will screw back, longer and harder. And you won't like it.

Cross-posted on One Million Strong

The editors of TechPresident, a blog dedicated to the intersection of politics and technology and to which I am an occasional contributor, took the time to grade each candidate's technology proposals. 

Here are the grades:

Barack Obama A-

John Edwards A-

Joe Biden B 

Hillary Clinton B- 

Chris Dodd C

Bill Richardson C-

Dennis Kucinich D 

The rationale behind each grade is available here.  Details below, and I'll focus on TechPresident's critiques of the Obama campaign... 

I'm down in Mountain View at the Google world headquarters for the coming dialogue with Barack Obama. According to media reports, Obama will lay out his tech agenda, which includes the creation of a chief technology officer position to ensure that the federal government is conducted in an open manner, and a commitment to net neutrality. The event should be starting momentarily and I'll be liveblogging with thoughts throughout.

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Obama next takes questions from the audience. The first questioner notes that Bill Clinton was the only Democrat in the post-war era to win two elections and asks Obama what he would learn from Clinton. Obama says that he believes int he importance of the moment, that Clinton understood the moment in the early 1990s, worked as a different kind of Democrat, which was a powerful message for that time. The moment today, Obama says, requires an honesty with the American people, and not necessarily doing things the way they've been done before.

Democrats lose when they are not strong about what they stand for. Democrats lose when they don't know what they stand for and get defensive when they get hit rather then going back on the offensive. In effect, Obama says "bring it on" to Giuliani and Romney about the culture of fear, saying that we don't need to redefine torture-like tactics to make them legal, that we don't need to double the size of Guantanamo.

On a question regarding the deficit, Obama says that the first step is ending the Iraq War. Obama also talks about honest accounting, not hiding debts. But the biggest problem Obama sees in terms of the federal budget is healthcare spending, Medicare and Medicaid. Technology, he says, could help with the costs. So, too, could investing in prevention.

The next question comes on the "perceived weakness" surrounding the issue of experience. Obama talks about the fact that the people who founded Google didn't have a whole lot of experience running Fortune 500 companies, which elicits more than a few laughs. Obama then says that judgment and character are paramount, but also that his experience can be put up against that of any of the other candidates. Obama points to achievements within the Illinois state Senate. Obama also speaks about standing up for what he believed in even when it wasn't necessarily popular, such as when he spoke out against the impending Iraq War even when George W. Bush was at 65 percent in the polls. Obama also speaks of finding the right talent to achieve the goals of his administration.

The final question comes on fighting special interests -- how to get insiders to fix a system they benefit from. Obama says that people need to use shame, pointing to his successful work with Russ Feingold on the toughest lobbying reform since Watergate. Transparency is important in the process, he says, because the more the American people know the more government will be held accountable. On healthcare, Obama says the lesson from the Clinton healthcare plan is that the plan shouldn't be created behind closed doors, that he would bring everyone to the table but that that table would be in the open (on C-SPAN, on the net). "And if they put up 'Harry and Louise' ads", Obama would go on YouTube and talk back. Obama also says that decisions should be made on facts and reason.

Prior updates below the fold...

HR 1955 passed with 404 votes in the House. Sponsored by Jane Harmon aand co sponsored by Chris Carney and a host of others the bill is entitled Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.

Here is a link to read the bill:  http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext .xpd?bill=h110-1955

I am most troubled by this section of the bill:
(3) The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens.

Will this section endanger Net Neutrality

Welcome to your Saturday night Edwards Evening News. Tonight we focus on 10 reasons why Edwards is the most progressive candidate, and why the other Democratic candidates can't touch this.

Welcome to the Saturday night Edwards Evening News Roundup.  Tonight, our major focus is on the education plan that John Edwards released yesterday.  I think it's a great plan that will put our public education system back on track after years of neglect.  I'll highlight some of that plan tonight.

Beneath the fold, we'll delve into the following stories:

• Teach Your Children Well: The Edwards Education Plan


• Campaign Manager David Bonior on Hardball


• Breaking News: Bush May Have Misused the DOJ AGAIN


• Celebrating OneWebDay with the Edwards Campaign

AT&T's webcast of Pearl Jam's Lollapalooza performance edited out Vedder's anti-George Bush lyrics. The edited and un-edited versions of "Daughter" from the Lollapalooza webcast: