Obama’s Egypt criticism has stench of hypocrisy

Recently President Obama criticized the Egyptian government when they temporarily shut down the Internet. Yet the administration has been lobbying for a new Internet control bill, including a kill switch, which would allow the president to shut down the Internet whenever he decides there is an “emergency,” just like Hosni Mubarak did. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) has pushed this bill, citing the fact that China has something similar. Doesn’t he know that the Chinese are far worse violators of human rights than the Egyptians? I’m sure he does.

It is well known that the elites in our country have always distrusted the Internet since they could not control the information coming from it, the way they could from a small number of outlets like ABC, NBC and CBS, even adding CNN and Fox in more recent years. In fact, Sen. Jay Rockerfeller (D-W.Va.) is on record saying we would be better off without the Internet.

Although Lieberman, Rockerfeller, Obama and the rest of the power structure in our country might be more secure in their power without the Internet, or with the Internet completely under their control, we the people are more secure in our rights with the Internet free from government control. It is the 21st-century version of the First Amendment Freedom of the Press. We must have the right to know what our government is doing. We must let Congress know we are strongly opposed to an Internet kill switch. Do not allow us to slide into tyranny.

Sea Cliff, N.Y.

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