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Republican Staffer Khanna Axed Over Copyright Memo
Bob9113 writes "Ars Technica reports that Derek Khanna is getting axed over his memo detailing the conflict between laissez-faire-oriented free market ideals and the regulatory monopoly that is copyright. 'The Republican Study Committee, a caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives, has told staffer Derek Khanna that he will be out of a job when Congress re-convenes in January. The incoming chairman of the RSC, Steve Scalise (R-LA) was approached by several Republican members of Congress who were upset about a memo Khanna wrote advocating reform of copyright law. They asked that Khanna not be retained, and Scalise agreed to their request.'"
Who in the adult world is surprised when a low level employee is canned for upstagin and blindsiding the higher up leadership??
This is not the least bit surprising and shocking. Anybody who does this in an other venue would have gotten the boot, and rightfully so.
You shouldn't be - after all, this is the same political organization that had a report banned from the LoC, because the facts contained within did not mesh with their party philosophy.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
If you're not echoing the echo chamber's talking points, you're not allowed to talk to other Republicans.
That's it in a nutshell. And so we have Romney condemning 47% of the population because some idiot in the WSJ did the calculations, found 50% of the country weren't paying one type of tax, ignored the fact that most of these people weren't paying it because their employers were too cheap to pay them a decent wage, and called them "Lucky Duckies". And he, and others, refused to hear the counter arguments, and he ended up making a fool of himself.
Indeed, we have the entire Republican party convinced that the way to win an election in a recession is to say "Yeah, we know you're feeling really insecure at the moment, so we're going to take your safety net away. Because anyone receiving UI is a moocher."
We have Rove and others absolutely convinced they were going to win the election, because they refused to read the polls.
There's been a lot of discussion after the 6th about the Republicans and why they lost. Sure, they lost because of their policies (well, duh.) But the question remains: how did the Republicans end up with such an absurd ticket, and how did they drag along 47% (interesting co-incidence) of the country to vote for them anyway?
Answer: because they built an echo chamber. If it didn't fit the interests of those funding the Republicans, it wasn't said. People who said the Republicans might be going in the wrong direction were purged. Fox News, the WSJ, and some blogs and radio stations were pretty much seen by Republicans as the only media to read, and because those outlets insisted that anything that wasn't them was "liberal biased" they didn't see the truth, they didn't see what was going on out there, they totally missed the boat.
This firing suggests they still haven't "gotten it", no matter what was said after November 6th.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
There are at least two important points we can take away from this:
1. The republican party lies about having free market ideals.
2. The current IP regime is NOT an example of free market economics, even though it is widely touted as so.
You younger Slashdotters may not believe this, but at one time we had conservatives (and Republicans) with principles.
There are still; we're just not Republicans (or, more accurately, Republicans are no longer conservative).
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
He had to know this would cost him his job.
He could not have expected anything else.
He's 24 and probably still believes that United States politics offer an open and free forum where you can put forth ideas no matter what side you're on and the change that follows can be a good thing if the logic behind it is sound. Surely the worst that could happen is that your party would have to explain again logically why your brief was incorrect and unsound?
Boy it sure was hard typing that with a straight face.
My work here is dung.
Backup copy. (And because the document was created by a Congressional employee, it's not copyrightable. So there.)
Here's the proposal:
This is a good proposal. Start circulating it around. For only a very small number of copyrighted items is there revenue beyond 12 years, and that's covered.
You might want to wipe the foam from your mouth and actually read about the history of civil rights and see who's consistently been on the side of those who want to work hard and be a member of society
Yup - they were usually called "liberals" and "progressives", same as they are today. It just so happens that Republicans were a liberal/progressive party since pretty much forever (already during the Civil War), until they were turned around at the end of the Civil Rights era.
Dear Derek Khanna,
You have made more friends than enemies. You may have been canned today, but you could easily replace your boss. RUN FOR OFFICE!
Sincerely,
Someone who actually votes.
Teddy Roosevelt was a conservative? You're joking, right? Did you hear that from Rush Limbaugh or Fox News? You do know that the Bull Moose Party that he founded was a progressive party, right? Teddy Roosevelt is well known as being a leader in the progressive movement of the early 20th century. To call him a conservative is an absolute joke.
I don't really think this is a contradiction. I think the reality of the party line is more "Corporations are people .. the only people." Less government, less taxes, less regulation, more rights. These apply to real people: corporations, not you or me.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
Dear Mr Kline,
I'm deeply disappointed in my GOP caucus at the dismissal of Derek Khanna for his writing of a paper discussing copyright reform.
(ref http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/12/staffer-axed-by-republican-group-over-retracted-copyright-reform-memo/)
I sincerely hope you weren't "one of the congressmen" Rep Scalise was approached by to remove Mr Khanna.
Copyright reform is a desperately-needed, serious issue. "Shooting the messenger" signals that the GOP is NOT the party interested in fixing the situation. To less charitable eyes, it might even seem that these Representatives are just doing the bidding of their lobbyists from the MPAA and RIAA donors. The *only* silver lining here is that the Democrats are even MORE obviously in the pocket of media producers.
I invite you and your peers to review the Copyright Clause of the US Constitution: (art I, sec 8, clause 8) "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
Note, copyright is to PROMOTE THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE - not to promote the ongoing rent-seeking by the umpteenth-descendant of an artist. Further, the clause specifically says "LIMITED TIMES" - constantly revising copyrights out to longer and longer durations is complying with neither the letter nor the intent of the US Constitution.
So, I ask MY PARTY representatives in Congress - what's your point here?
I would love to get a serious, considered response to this email, or would cheerfully like a chance to talk to you on the subject.
-Styopa
He is one of us - look at his linkedin profile
http://www.linkedin.com/in/derekkhanna
Unless, we stand up for him, no one else will ever dare write about copyright reform in the future.
This needs to be something like fight against SOPA.