United Liberty

If you’re like me, you hoped that you wouldn’t be hearing anything more from allegedly corrupt former Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) after he decided in 2010 not to seek a sixth Senate term. Unfortunately those hopes were dashed when the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) decided it just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hire somebody who allegedly knows exactly what it takes to buy a senator. The MPAA selected Dodd as its new head lobbyist chairman and CEO last year. Now Dodd is taking aim at Wikipedia, Google, and other websites involved in today’s protest against the SOPA/PIPA internet censorship legislation pending in Congress:

It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.

Did you get that? The man whom the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) once called one of the most corrupt members of Congress thinks the websites that are protesting SOPA/PIPA today are abusing their power. Speaking for the motion picture industry, he accuses these websites of “skewing the facts … in order to further their corporate interests.” I wonder what Dodd thinks his angle is here? Trust me, I know abuse of power? That Dodd is serving as the commander-in-chief of the Hollywood forces seeking to censor the internet illustrates how important today’s protest really is. We’re fighting an uphill battle and need all the media attention and popular support we can muster. You can bet it’s no accident that less than a year after the MPAA hired a former five-term senator as its chief executive we’re seeing this heavyhanded anti-piracy legislation that the MPAA so desperately wants.

Having allegedly sold himself and the Senate Banking Committee to Countrywide, Dodd is now shilling for the MPAA. We shouldn’t be surprised. And his pals in Congress are more than willing to flush the First Amendment down the toilet for Dodd and his Hollywood cronies. We shouldn’t be surprised by that either. But we should be angry. We should be angry enough, in fact, to kick every single congressman or senator who supports SOPA/PIPA out of office. We shouldn’t feel too bad about firing them. The Motion Picture Association of America will probably be hiring.