Is there anything that can be done here? Pai and his little buddy O'Rielly have an easy majority on the FCC here, and I doubt they'll listen to any comments. Short of like, the Trump government being dismantled before then, how do you get rid of such a transparently corrupt head of a federal agency?
Let them do their thing until people are so mad that they go after them. At the end of the day, if politicians aren't scared of armed mobs, we don't have real democracy anymore. Because a real militia capable of overthrowing DC in 2017 is laughable, I'm not sure how we keep the power of politicians in check anymore.
They do whatever they want, and the people have little recourse. Call and complain all you want, they'll still do whatever they want for the next three and a half years. Start a riot and you'll get zip-tied up into jail, blasted with a water cannon, get on watchlists and have trouble flying + re-entering the country, and they'll still do whatever they want.
> if politicians aren't scared of armed mobs, we don't have real democracy anymore
I've never accepted that idiotic premise. If your ultimate trump card is armed mobs ousting a 'regime' if it occurs, you're just inviting your ruling class to start acquiescing to draconian measures in the name of 'national security' for their own safety.
You already see this with "freedom spaces" or whatever the hell you americans call them. If the 'right to petition' is a basic right, you'll just start seeing courts "define" and restrict when and how you can petition in the name of public safety - because when is a court ever going to rule that a potentially violent mob is the correct solution to a problem?
"Real democracy" is a laughable term to use while you're shrugging your shoulders and looking around to see who has the biggest rocks. If 'might makes right' is your only remaining fallback, you might need to stop lying to yourself about your 'democracy' first.
> Call and complain all you want, they'll still do whatever they want for the next three and a half years.
One and a half years. There are congressional elections every other year. There are local elections every single year. Don't forget this! Vote every year!
Voting in the midterms is equally as important! If we can regain some balance in either the house or the senate we can block, or at least slow these terrible bills down
None of those ideas solve the problem of campaign financing being legalized bribery, the problem of politicians lying and flip-flopping to gain votes, or the problem of wealth, power, and the establishment deciding who can't win by manipulating the press.
The only system I know of that avoids these problems is to hold randomized lotteries for government positions and skip the election process entirely.
Simples steps, clearly communicable steps, and one step at a time.
Start by Reducing the impact of money on elections. Politicians themselves will thank you.
The ability to flog oneself on the airwaves, to call and reach out to people and keep targeting newer and newer potential voters. These abilities force politicians into a monetary arms race.
The easiest thing here is funding, and curtailing it.
The issues are creative ways to get on the air without resorting to using money.
It does not directly address those, but it does allow people to vote for a candidate that they may think has little chance. Their vote is not "wasted" when it falls back to the next-best candidate, and gives a third party more potential to be taken seriously.
The changes are not mutually exclusive, either. Let's reform voting and reduce influence by money in elections.
You can work to promote the issue and elect people supportive of it in the next Congressional and Presidential elections in 2018 and 2020. With enough promotion of the issue, you might get Congress to do something now in principle, but that seems unlikely; this isn't a matter of a corrupt individual at the FCC, it's the clear and long-standing policy of the party that now has a majority in Congress and control of the Presidency, and also, largely a consequence of holding the Presidency, a majority on the FCC.
If the FCC were dismantled, the knock on effects would be worse than the disease. No radio frequency regulation (bye bye wifi and cell phones, let alone amateur radio). No enforcement of TV content. Prepare for all the "fucks" and breasts your prime time show can fit in. Say good bye mandatory landline coverage (and the emergency capabilities thereof) for rural America (about 98% of the country, land wise).
This is, for better or worse, a very minor aspect of what the FCC provides.
