Last year, we documented the many times losers harassed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and his family because he had the nerve to unravel net neutrality. THE HORROR.
Even though it’s over and done with, Pai and his family still face harassment, including racist remarks. Weird, considering that side is supposedly tolerant.
Noah Rothman has penned two opinion pieces on this debacle in the past week. Rothman noted that HBO host John Oliver became the first mainstream media person to organize a campaign against the FCC, called “Go FCC yourself,” over net neutrality:
Those comments were peppered with claims that Pai was a pedophile, a “dirty, sneaky Indian” who should self-deport and reminders that anonymous online hordes maintain the “power to murder Ajit Pai and his family.” Oliver was eventually compelled to release a video urging his followers to dial back the racism and death threats.This episode would prove to be just the beginning of Pai’s ordeal. By May of last year, Pai’s tormentors began a campaign to ensure that the FCC chairman could enjoy no peace — not even in his own home.
In November, “activists” posted signs outside of his house with his children’s names.
His children are 5 and 3. Pai told The Wall Street Journal last May that harassers “come up to our front windows and take photographs of the inside of the house.” They also sent pizzas to his house every 30 minutes.
Like I said, they didn’t stop after the net neutrality vote. Kemberlee blogged in December how “activists” started a Facebook event to protest on Pai’s front lawn on New Year’s Eve.
Last week, Pai had to cancel his appearance at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, which takes place in Las Vegas, due to death threats. The Washington Post reported that FCC spokesman Brian Hart would not comment on any “security measures or concerns,” but did post a report from Digital Music Review:
According to a pair of sources on Capitol Hill, Pai’s security detail is now ‘untenable’ with ‘multiple, unsubstantiated death threats’ linked specifically to the Vegas itinerary. One source indicated that such threats are ‘routine for presidents and vice presidents’ but highly unusual for heads of government agencies like the FCC.“There’s not the budget for staffing [CES] from threats of that level,” the second source relayed, noting that Pai’s security detail is ill-equipped to protect against snipers, attackers, bombs, gas attacks, vehicular blockades, and other assassination attempts. The Consumer Electronics Show is one of the largest conferences in the world, with hundreds of thousands crowding the city.“Basically if these threats are credible, you need armored vehicles — and I mean plural — not to mention area sweeps, aerial support, and Secret Service directly manning the commissioner at all times,” one of the sources relayed.
WaPo wrote that the FCC chairman usually “participates in a keynote session at what is widely considered to be the world’s biggest technology conference of the year.” The conference allows companies to display new gadgets while also hosting “policy panels that frequently involve high-level lawmakers and regulators.”
Pai has attended the conference the last five years.
You’d think the tolerant left would celebrate the diversity of Pai’s appointment. He is the first Indian to serve as the chairman and was raised by two immigrant parents. Who is targeting him? From National Review:
The son of immigrants, he has an impressive résumé in business and government, yet he is being targeted by the mostly white and male digerati class. No writer seems willing to touch the racial angle, but one can easily conjure visions of a story about computer-addicted white men in dark basements coming after a high-achieving Asian American. Pai is a successful, visible member of a successful and increasingly visible community within the American ethnic patchwork, one whose rise has come in the face of racial discrimination — and in some cases provoked even more.
Unfortunately the media remains silent even though they went all up in arms when then-CEO of Reddit Ellen Pao faced similar harassment in 2015. They don’t care about Pai because he’s on the wrong side. Harassment and threats are wrong. Even though I don’t agree with Ashley Judd’s politics, I defended her when she spoke up about Harvey Weinstein. I cannot stand Ronan Farrow’s politics, but I prop him up because of his hard work to expose Weinstein and others who have harassed/assaulted women in Hollywood. I’m a Catholic, but I still talk and expose the atrocities the Rohingya Muslims face in Myanmar.
Plus, have you ever seen Pai speak? He is one of the nicest and warmest guys I’ve ever seen. Not confrontational or stiff, but very approachable. I’m sure if you have disagreements with him, he’d love to speak with you about the subject and engage in a friendly debate.
Not only that, but even though he is Republican, he has shown independence. Rothman pointed out that he went “so far as to scold President Trump for suggesting that his regulatory organ should yank the licenses of broadcasters with which the president disagreed.” In other words, Pai loves freedom for everyone, even if you express opinions and thoughts that differ from his.
Leave. Pai. Alone.
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