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Comment by KenoFischer | Hacker News Reader

> Is there a sympathetic view of Ajit Pai that anyone could offer?

I met commissioner Pai in person last year (he was meeting with groups of founders in the Boston area). IIRC, the primary point of discussion was wireless spectrum policy and ensuring access to broadband internet for the greatest number of people, so I have little insight to offer into his thinking on other issues. However, in my impression he seemed to be a thoroughly decent and knowledgable person who cared deeply about the work that he is doing. I think it is important to separate the policy issues from the person.

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> I think it is important to separate the policy issues from the person.

This is only true if you consider policy to be separate from humanity. The advocacy of anti-poor policies (he's in favor of preventing caps on the price of inmate calls in prisons, he and O'Rielly submarined the Lifeline internet program designed to help the poor connect to the internet) speaks to him as a human being as much as anything else. The notion that policy and politics are somehow separate from the measure of a human being is dangerous because it provides all sorts of cover for nasty, anti-social behavior just because it seems like he loves his wife and his dog. (This can also be called the Mike Pence strategy.)

The premise of your post implies that Pai and those who subscribe to his policy stances are somehow malicious in nature. But what you're missing is that they could simply be idiots.

Just like someone who believes in fantastical theories, like the Earth is flat. We obviously know the theory he believes in is irrational, but he could very well be a good person. He just happens to be a moron.

I'm not missing it, though it is something to consider along the way for sure. One must collaborate rather closely with people who have active track records of trying to, pardon the phrasing, fuck people over in order to do what Pai et al. do.

I have a limited reserve of good faith these days. "He might just be a moron!" isn't really worth expending it.

I believe Checkers the Dog was a brave trailblazer in this category

Thanks for relating that. I'm glad to hear that you found him worthy of respect. I may have a biased perspective of him because he has been in the opposition, and maybe he has not been covered fairly, but every time I have read a quote from him I've found it to be less than convincing.

I hope that he will put forward good policies and that he will give convincing reasons for passing them. I will keep your impression in mind as I follow his leadership of the FCC.

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