02/22/23 Hey, I have an idea. Let’s turn Tucker Carlson loose with an editing machine.

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What is more outrageous? Kevin McCarthy giving Tucker Carlson—TUCKER CARLSON—personal access to all of the Jan. 6 Capitol security footage? Or McCarthy then justifying it by saying that Carlson’s handling of the video will be more objective and less “political” than was that produced by the Jan. 6 Select Committee?

I have some questions. Why is McCarthy empowered to make this decision? Why does he have control over this material in the first place? And if he does, wouldn’t the fair decision be to release it to anyone who seeks it?

Media outlets should, and will, cry foul under the Freedom of Information Act.

So Tucker Carlson is going to have mountains of video and an editing machine? Yeah, that seems like a good, fair and objective idea.

Armed with Carlson’s distorted and sanitized work of “art,” The Cult will go right back to claiming that Jan. 6 was just a new episode of The Dukes of Hazzard that got a little rowdy.

I was genuinely unamused Tuesday when the forewoman of the Fulton County, Georgia special grand jury—Emily Kohrs—jumped on tv and flippantly “teased” that the grand jury has recommended multiple indictments. The interview was improper in every way and amounted to nothing but gleeful self-promotion. Beyond that, it will be used by defense attorneys to damage the cases against anyone who IS indicted. Not cool.

The White House said that President Biden’s Tuesday speech in Warsaw was not a “rebuttal” to Putin’s dark and dour address in Moscow. Of course it was. And it was a brilliant one. The contrast the president made between the ascendance of democracy and the decline of autocracy could not have been more effective. The Russian war on Ukraine is a year old. And Joe Biden has foxed Vladimir Putin’s jock at every turn, without exception. You want to “put America first”? There is nothing more in America’s best interests than supporting democracies around the globe.

It’s comforting, I guess, to learn that the nine SCOTUS justices are as confused, confounded, frustrated, ambivalent and relatively ignorant about internet regulation as I am. The issue in the case before the court is the future of Section 230, a key provision of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. Section 230 protects the operators of website and social media platforms from legal liability for the content posted on those platforms by third parties. Congress passed the law 27 years ago to support and promote the emerging internet.

Here’s the “nut graf” of Section 230.

“No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”

The current case concerns a lawsuit brought by the family of Nohemi Gonzalez, an American student who was killed by ISIS terrorists in a 2015 attack on a Paris bistro. The family sued under the Antiterrorism Act of 1990. The suit claims that videos posted on YouTube prior to the Paris massacre promoted terrorist videos and thus contributed to the death of Ms. Gonzalez. It further alleges that algorithms created by Google, which owns YouTube, disproportionately funneled these videos to terrorists and would-be terrorists.

Google’s position essentially is simply, “We’re completely protected by Section 230.”

Does your head hurt yet? You’re not alone. On Tuesday, neither the nine justices nor the lawyers arguing the respective sides of the case seemed to have a clue.

Among the courtroom quotes during oral argument:

“So I guess I’m thoroughly confused.” –Justice Samuel Alito

“I mean, we’re a court. You know, these are not like the nine greatest experts on the internet.” –Justice Elena Kagan

“It’s hard to do this in the abstract.”  –Plaintiff attorney Eric Schnapper

Yep. There’s the rub.

Actually, the issue may have been best framed by Justice Clarence Thomas, who asked how platforms can distinguish between algorithms that “present cooking videos to people who are interested in cooking and ISIS videos to people interested in ISIS.”

So what is SCOTUS likely to do? As little as possible, including perhaps punting and sending the case back to a lower court. None of the justices appears eager to make any sweeping decision regarding the foundation of Section 230.

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Paul's Bio

I clearly have the attention span of your median fruit fly.Look! Airplane!

Sorry. I’m back.

It’s both a curse and a blessing. I’ve never bought this stuff about, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” But I do think that a wide range of life experiences helps us grow as people, and helps us better relate to other people. I’ve been fortunate. And I am beyond grateful.

I show up on time. I go like hell. I’m a good listener. I hold myself accountable. I own my mistakes. And I have a natural and an insatiable curiosity. I’m never afraid to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t. But then I try to find out.

The flip side is I’m a lousy ballroom dancer and my clothes sometimes fit me funny.

Stuff matters to me. I care. But while I take that stuff seriously, I try hard to never take myself seriously. As a result, I have sometimes been told, “Paul, it’s hard to tell when you’re serious and when you’re just having some fun. Which is it? Serious or fun?”

My answer is “yes.” But I think that is a legitimate criticism. I promise I’m going to work on that.

This has been the quickest and strangest half-century I’ve ever experienced. During that period, I’ve been afforded amazing opportunities in news and sports journalism across all platforms. I have taught wonderful students at the high school and collegiate level. Always, I learned more from them than they did from me. I’ve been a high school administrator. I spent ten seasons as a high school varsity football coach. I’ve been an advertising executive. I’ve hosted nationally syndicated television entertainment shows. In maybe the biggest honor I ever received, I was selected by NASA to be “Chet The Astronaut” for the “Land The Shuttle” simulator at Space Center Houston. (All I can say there, is “Do as I say, not as I do.” I put that thing in the Everglades more often than not.) Most recently, I just wrapped up a decade as a television news director, during which time our teams distinguished themselves in holding the powerful accountable, achieving both critical and ratings success.

What does all that mean? It means I am profoundly grateful. It also means I’m ready for “next.” So here we are. Radically Rational. It’s an idea I woke up with in 2017. I scribbled “Radically Rational” on a piece of notebook paper and used a magnet to stick it on our refrigerator. I saw it every day, and it just would not leave me alone.

I am second in charge at Radically Rational, LLC. My wife, Jo (also known as BB), is the president. Clearly, I have failed in my attempt to sleep my way to the top of this organization.

I hope you will learn that I’m loyal as a Labrador. But I will admit that this doggie can bite every now and then. My promise to you? I will show up on time. I will go like hell. I will listen to you earnestly and attentively. I will hold myself accountable. I will never be the least bit hesitant to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t.

But then I’ll try to find out. Let’s do it.