Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Re: U.S. top court rules for NextWave on licenses

From: "arclight_arclight <[email-masked]>" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 02 Feb 2003 17:56:24 -0000

--- In [email-masked], "Todd Ellis" <ellistr@b...> wrote:

(snip)
> 
> Like the Nextwave situation, perhaps the Commission needs to sit 
back and
> spend more time and money on spectrum and regulatory planning.  
Instead of
> putting out fires, responding to big business bluster, and jumping 
to
> Congressional pressures on independent issues, the Commission needs 
to stand
> up and take a leadership role that it USED to enjoy, rather than 
telling
> Congress how much it raked in from the last auction.  

Todd: What you are really saying is that you wished that government 
officials debated real issues using real facts and never let 
political calculation or emotionalism get in the way of that.  That's 
generally what engineers want because that's the way engineers 
think.  I certainly want that, and I am sure that everyone else here 
does as well.  What I know, though, is that the process of government 
doesn't work that way.  The process of government here in the US of A 
involves emotions, negotiations, manipulation, and all kinds of 
things that don't have anything to do with logic or reason (I didn't 
mention corruption, but that's there too).  Sometimes to me it seems 
that it involves EVERYTHING BUT logic and reason.  That's not true, 
of course, but it sometimes seems that way.  

This is further complicated by the fact that our population now 
appears to be incapable of distinguishing between facts and emotional 
appeals, and unaware of the need to distinguish between them.  This 
error is used repeatedly by those of various interests who know well 
how to manipulate emotions in order to get what they want.  This is 
most certainly NOT done by "everyone" involved in government; we have 
several folks on this list who I am quite certain DO NOT do this.  
However, several groups DO do this in order to maintain or expand 
influence.  Mainstream media (TV) are masters at this; various 
interest groups are masters at this; elected and appointed officials 
learn how to do it at least reasonably well or they do not survive.  
Against this kind of pressure it's very hard for facts to win out.  

>When the FCC made a
> decision in the Old Days, no one questioned it (much), because they 
had done
> their homework and knew the issues better than the petitioners 
making the
> requests for changes or modifications.  

Again, I am cynical, but I don't think that matters much any more, 
because when decisions are made with a significant emotional 
component, there's very little way to prepare using facts.  The FCC's 
recent conduct just reflects what folks in and around Washy DC 
consider to be important nowadays.  Once the folks there come back to 
their senses and realize that emotions aren't much of a way to run a 
government (or a life) then we will probably see some return to 
reason and logic being used to determine decisions.

Just my thoughts, of course.

Dave Maples

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