Kakistocracy: You Asked for It

FCC Chair Ajit Pai Unmasked Psychopath?
Many have accused FCC Chairman Ajit Pai of being a telecom shill between his background as a former Verizon lawyer and his determination to ignore all public input (not to mention complaints about comment bots) as he kills net neutrality. And apparently, his attempts at joking about it are only reinforcing those views. Gizmodo has obtained video of Pai trying to roast himself at the Federal Communications Bar Association’s annual event, including a pre-recorded skit where an actual Verizon executive (senior VP Kathy Grillo) talks about wanting to “brainwash and groom a Verizon puppet” to become the FCC chairman, with Pai responding that it sounds like an “awesome” idea.
Aside from the jokes falling flat, there are all kinds of problems with the routine. To start, FCC officials shouldn’t be joking about being shills. Whether or not they have industry backgrounds (like former Chairman Tom Wheeler), they’re supposed to take corruption allegations seriously instead of turning them into comedy sketches. The humor fails in part because there’s a painful degree of truth to it — it wouldn’t have come up if Pai weren’t pursuing the exact deregulation policies that major telecoms want. And crucially, telecom executives shouldn’t ever be involved. If anything, Grillo’s inclusion in the skit supports accusations that Pai is on the take, since he’s clearly cozy enough with Verizon to recruit one of its VPs for a gag.
For that matter, why would a Verizon executive agree to appear in a skit that makes light of corruption, especially knowing that the video might become public and damage the company’s reputation?
Excerpt from “FCC Chairman Ajit Pai ‘jokes’ about being a Verizon shill” by Joe Fingas, December 9, 2017
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nowve666 10:15 on December 15, 2017 Permalink |
What an arrogant little pup! But that’s life under Trump. You probably think Ajit is acting like a typical psychopath. To which, I would reply not all bad behavior is indicative of psychopathy. This whole regime is like an alternate “reality,” a dystopian nightmare (or is that a double negative). Thank gods, we still have recourse to legal challenges. That can delay implementation long enough for a new government. Jones’ election in Alabama is a sign the tables are turning. And that arrogant pup, Moore, refusing to concede has got to be for the purpose of letting McConnell delay seating Jones so he can push through that dreadful tax bill before he is seated. I read that a sizeable group of Trump supporters are evangelicals who think Trump was chosen by “God” to bring about Armageddon. So the worse Trump does, the happier they are. They want the world to end. If that isn’t psychotic, it’s pretty damned close. Which is an excellent opportunity for me to point out that people who aren’t psychopaths can do things politically that are as bad if not worse than what a psychopath could do. Instead of testing politicians for psychopathy, maybe we should be testing voters for insanity. (I say this tongue-in-cheek as I know what an impossibly bad idea it would be to test voters. I haven’t forgotten the literacy tests under Jim Crow. I wish I could really think of a way to protect ourselves from crazy voters but, as someone said, “Democracy is a bad form of government but all the others are so much worse.”)
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GeneticPsychosMom (Tina) 10:22 on December 15, 2017 Permalink |
Anyone can be antisocial and corrupt. It is not necessarily the antisocial political moves that raise my suspicion of psychopathy. It is Ajit Pai’s gloating and glee over his foul actions that appear to be psychopathic.
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James 13:26 on December 19, 2017 Permalink |
You’re probably right there. Non-psychopathic politicians tend to be embarrassed by their own destructive actions. Makes you question what embarrassment / guilt is for when it doesn’t prevent moral shittery.
Happy Christmas to you both and / or happy hanukkah to Fran.
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GeneticPsychosMom (Tina) 10:41 on December 20, 2017 Permalink |
Happy holidays to you!
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James 17:31 on December 20, 2017 Permalink |
Thanks. I was going to say “you too”, but that would be too much 😛
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TypicalCritter 11:01 on December 27, 2017 Permalink |
I agree.
Non-psychopathic politicians often see a world that’s heavily colored by their own ideology, then add the fact that people who are good at lying, are also often even better at believing the lies they tell themselves. Behavioral brakes like embarrassment / guilt can be useful to have, but they are even more useful if people take the time to reflect over their own actions sometimes.
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GeneticPsychosMom (Tina) 17:54 on December 27, 2017 Permalink |
I think that the atmosphere of the political parties makes it into a gang or mafia type of expected loyalty situation. Nobody wants to be outcast, because they will be minimized and their voice will not be heard. The worst people then gain control of the best people in groups like that.
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