About Section 230

An important case was argued yesterday before the U.S. Supreme Court. It involved Section 230, which protects Internet platforms from liability for third-party posts. All but one of the Justices, liberals and conservatives alike, expressed skepticism about the request that the Supreme Court rewrite the law to allow for liability in some cases.

Kudos to those Justices for their skepticism. In our overly-litigious society, we often rely excessively on the court system to make new laws and redress all grievances. It is NOT the function of the courts to do so.

The Justices clearly understood that it is up to Congress to study this issue and come up with new rules which will strike the proper balance between free speech and liability for harm done. The Justices seemed to understand that doing away with Section 230 entirely would kill the Internet as we know it.

Morning Joe's Worst Interview Ever

This morning there was an awful, horribly awkward interview with Christopher Miller, author of "Soldier Secretary". Miller was Secretary of Defense during the last two motnhs of the Trump regime, and questions centered around his inaction in protecting the Capitol during the January 6th insurrection.

The five questioners bent over backwards to be respectful to their interviewee, but in the process they failed to zero in on the issues. Joe did his usual long lead-in to his questions, and as a result the issues got lost in the weeds. It made me nostalgic for the good old days of Lawrence Spivak, Tim Russert, and David Brinkley, newsmen who consistently got to the heart of whatever matter was under discussion.

The questioners were outdone in their confused, mealy-mouthed approach by the muddled "answers" provided by the guest. This guy had no credibility whsatsoever, both because of his awkward mannerisms and his inexplicable defense of then-President Trump. He insists that he could not put military troops in the capitol because it would have looked like a coup. He made spurious sparation of powers arguments for why any troops would have been there to protect the protesters and NOT to protect the Capitol!

Ken Jennings vs. Mayim Bialik

After initially supporting Mayim Bialik for the next host of Jeopardy!, I have come to undertand that Ken Jennings would make a much better host. He is much smoother and more knowledgeble about trivia than Bialik is. And, he has an uncanny knack for connecting with the contestants.

The only specific blunder I can point to with Bialik is when she ruled against a contestant who gave an answer of "auto racing". Since the answer was "drag racing", she obviously should have responded by asking for a more specific response.

And now comes the current champion, Jake DeArruda, who has an expert's view of the issue, in contrast to my more casual observations. In preferring Jennings to Bialik, Jake states that “It’s obvious to close watchers that she mispronounces words, blows through punctuation, and is genuinely inconsistent in her pacing. Ken, meanwhile, has been in trivia for most of his life, so he knows the proper words to emphasize and generally seems consistent with his pacing. This is important for buzzer timing purposes.”

Jake says that all of the week's contestants were happy when it was announced that Ken would be hosting that week. There seems to be a general consensus that he is much more suitable for the hostsing job. Keep up the great work, Ken!