Tea Party Nation sent out a pretty strong statement this morning about the Egyptian protests and what Tea Party activists should learn from the Egyptian government's reaction:
Imagine this. An unpopular leader and an angry population taking to the streets with mass protests. Egypt 2011? No, America, 2009.
As riots grow in Egypt and debate rages whether Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak can remain in power, those of us in this movement need to be paying close attention to what is going on in Egypt.
There is the political aspect of this. The drive for freedom, the rise of the Muslim brotherhood and other Islamists trying to take power and the response of an authoritarian regime.
The lesson we in the Tea Party movement need to be paying attention to is Egypt and the Internet.
In response to the crisis, the Egyptian government has cut off almost all Internet access to the country and has disrupted cell phone service. They understand, if the opposition cannot communicate, they cannot be effective.
As someone who was here at the beginning of this movement, I can tell you how important the Internet was in getting this movement going and now in keeping it going. At some point, someone is going to write the history of this movement, but I can tell you at the beginning, people who shared the same anger connected through social media such as Facebook. The message about rallies got out through email and twitter.
Currently the Senate is considering an Internet “kill switch” bill. (S.3480). This bill would allow the President to shut down significant parts of the Internet in the event of a “National emergency.” The most recent incarnation of this bill takes jurisdiction away from the courts to review any actions under this bill.
In short, this bill, if passed, would give Obama the authority to declare an emergency, shut Americans access to the internet down and there would be nothing we could do about it.
Is anyone else as alarmed about this as I am?
Obama is not a dictator, but he would be if he could. Socialists do not like competition, particularly the competition of ideas. Look at the efforts they have made over the years to shut down talk radio. Look at Obama. He cannot stand people criticizing him. To call him thin skinned would be an understatement.
As conditions in America continue to go from bad to worse and the possibility of new, large demonstrations against the regime loom, do you think Obama would not hesitate to pull the Internet kill switch?
The Internet has revolutionized freedom. In the days preceding America’s declaration of independence, messages took weeks to get from one group to another. Today, thanks to cell phones and the Internet, ideas can go out to people immediately. Information can go to people instantly and the regime cannot hide what it is doing. The Internet has revolutionized democracy.
That is why Obama and his band of socialists hate Internet freedom and want to kill it. This time, with this bill, we need to “kill the bill.”
