Of course the post showed ignorance of how government works. To ignore that Powell was a GOP pick for the FCC is either ignorant or disingenuous. Blocking the choice of the opposition party Senate Commerce Committee chairman to the FCC is essentially a declaration of political warfare. It would have meant with a Senate controlled by Republicans that every single one of Clinton's appointees would have been blocked. Especially since the Dems had a majority on the FCC, such a move to block a GOP nominee who could not control policy would have been an insanely stupid thing to do.
The fact is that Powell's views only mattered once Bush won election and got to appoint the swing vote, giving Powell a third and deciding vote to enact policy.
-- Nathan Newman
--- Nathan Newman <nathanne at nathannewman.org> wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "R" <rhisiart at charter.net>
> -on a day like today, when the FCC has made US media
> about as monopolistic
> as
> -anything can get, it's good to take a long look at
> who appointed Chairman
> -Powell to the FCC board in the first place. we
> all know who made him
> -chairman, but let's take a long look at who put the
> incompetent, uncaring
> -powell on the board where shrub could easily
> promote him.
> -Mr. Powell, a Republican, was nominated by
> President William J. Clinton on
> -July 31, 1997, and confirmed by the United States
> Senate on October 28,
> -1997.
>
> I really just wish people would learn elementary
> information about how
> government operates before they post ignorant
> attacks like this.
>
> Like many independent commissions, the FCC requires
> that there be a balance
> between Democrats and Republicans on the commission.
> (Note that today's
> deregulation decision was opposed by the two
> Democratic appointees). Powell
> was appointed to fill one of the GOP slots,
> recommended by John McCain who
> headed the Senate Commerce Committee. Presidents
> usually defer to the
> opposition party on who they want in such slots, and
> Powell had no
> particular ideological record at that point to pick
> a war over in turning
> down McCain's pick.
>
> This is why I just can't take the anti-Dem arguments
> seriously at this
> point. They are so intermixed with complete false
> information about how
> government actually functions.
>
> -- Nathan Newman
>
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