Of SOPA, Political Appointments and Hyperbole

Look, I understand that SOPA was not a popular idea, and even as an advocate for online enforcement of copyright I thought the bill was overly broad and otherwise problematic, but there comes a point where the anti-SOPA rhetoric goes a little over the top, and I think the activist group Demand Progress may have reached that point.

Apparently, in addition to Susan Rice and John Kerry, another name that has been floated as a potential nominee to fill the soon-to-be-vacated-office of Secretary of State is that of Howard Berman, formerly a member of the House of Representatives who represented the San Fernando Valley.

Due to Berman’s support for SOPA, Demand Progress is staunchly opposed to his nomination, to say the least. In fact, DP asserts that “there couldn’t be a worse pick for Secretary of State than Berman,” in light of his SOPA-backing ways.

Really? There couldn’t be a worse choice?

That choice of words strikes me as just a bit hyperbolic, because I can think of several choices that would be MUCH worse from the perspective of a liberal activist group like DP — Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, David Duke and Lyndon LaRouche come to mind, for instance. Sure, there’s no way any of them would ever be nominated for Secretary of State by anyone, much less by President Obama, but they are technically available.

I suspect it’s a moot point, because I don’t expect that Berman will actually receive a nomination nod from Obama, but the tone of DP’s resistance to the idea underscores how extreme the rhetoric continues to be where opposition to SOPA (and anything remotely like it) is concerned. It’s not enough that the bill was defeated, not enough that Berman lost his reelection bid, he must now be a public service pariah, too, evidently.