hi, maria. >> caller: good morning, c-span. >> caller: i have a couple of questions for your guests. first question is i want to speak to her statement that barack obama is a bully. he said, you are either with us or against it on national tv to all in the country. question. why were republicans in the house with powers, people who did not vote -- the republicans, in that have power in the house for 40 years? there's a reason. because of the -- [ inaudible ] there's a reason why the republicans have not been in power because when he gives them too much power, they're doing the same thing. >> okay. is there a question? >> maybe you can reflect on her comments and give her some

feedback, give us some feedback. what about wall street reform? and then also president obama versus president bush and the message they give, not just politically, but a message to the country, to other nations. she says president bush was a bully. >> well, i don't mind when my president's a bully to thugs in other countries that are attacking us. and that wish us ill and wish us dead. that doesn't bother me at all. in fact, i feel pretty honored to have someone stand up for us like that. and obama has not been terrible in terms of his foreign policy. he's not been great, but he hasn't been terrible. he's had some positive moments, and i commend him on that. the "new york times" story yesterday that came out on his kill list i think reflected the fact that he's increasingly comfortable going after terrorists targets. that makes me proud.

that makes me happy. i can be bipartisan and congratulate him for killing a lot of al qaeda operatives. i like that. but the bullying, of course, that i was talking about with president obama was domestically to his friends, to his perceived enemies and anyone who would slight him or question his authority, or question his wisdom. here in the united states, journal i679s, for example, and he has a history of this. i mean, this administration employed the espionage act to silence journalists and whistle-blowers no less than six times in three years. which is unprecedented. so i think comparing president bush's posturing to the terrorism world and president obama's bullying to his friends and family here at home i think is a little incongruous. >> and a story about cory

booker's communications direct leaving the job. what do you think about this? >> i heard about this. i heard it was amicable and i don't really know the facts here, and if this was in response to the "meet the press" moment, but cory booker is a friend admittedly, and someone i admire a whole lot and as a new yorker, often wish he were my mayor coming to my rescue with every pothole and traffic incident. >> burning buildings, things like that. >> yeah. he's a pretty impressive guy, and i find him to belong very fair and honest and admirable. so i don't know what happened internally in his office and whether that was a response to his honesty, regarding the obama campaign, but you know, i hate to speculate, and have to assume

that booker knows what he's doing. >> you're complementing right now a democratic mayor a surrogate tore president obama. how would you develop your political philosophy and your voice over the years? a lot of the column i689s we read in the paper are older than you are. so how have you come to develop the voice that you have? >> you know, i got to tell you, this was sort of an accident. i wasn't particularly political as a kid. i got to college and realized is did disagreed with everyone around me and was surprised by that, to learn that students, professor, the administration we just didn't see eye to eye on a whole lot. even then, though, i wasn't spurned into political action. it was the '90s there there was nothing going on. but when the i did move to manhattan and a year later 9/11 happened, i became very politically aware, and decided i needed to be an activist of some kind, and the only thing i know how to do is write. so that was the activism i took

on. i tried to enlist as, you know, my parents simply would not have it. so i decide i'd would write a book about being conservative. what that meant. and the stereotypes that i think as you point out belong to an older generation of republicans, and as a young conservative, how do i navigate a liberal universe like manhattan? and once that happened, you know, things sort of snowbalmed, and i started writing about all kinds of political issues and feel really great natural i wandered into this career and they let me stick around. it's been a lot of fun. >> citrus heights, california. randy joins us, republican line. >> caller: good morning, ladies. thank you for c-span. i have a hypothetical question for s.e. this morning. i'm wondering what you think would be -- whan we would be

talking about if the current proceed was a republican incumbent and the economy was like it is, and if he has, you know, scant manies like solyndra and a lot of his campaign donors ended up giving millions and then going bankrupt, and if he had a scandal like wrn personnel died, you know, due to the administration trying to you know, attain a political goal, and it's just -- it be amazing me, frankly that we're even having this discussion that this guy can be re-elected, because to be me, he's just been a disaster, and it's amazing to me just how many people -- the extent to which the press is willing to give this guy a pass, and -- anyway. thank you for c-span.

>> now, i completely hear you, and i think anyone who says there is not a double standard is either lying or naive. again, i'll bring up yesterday's "new york times" piece, the kill list. if president bush, if revelations that president bush had a kill list and was if we're to believe this "new york times" piece, sort of with legalese fudging the numbers of civilian casualties and side-stepping the messy detention issue by simply not taking anyone alive, i think you'd be hearing from president bush's impeachment. now, some of this actually doesn't bother me. it doesn't bother me that our president is going after targeted al qaeda members. that actually makes me really happy. but the other stuff, the lack of transparency, the dishonesty that i think is rampant in this administration i think should really bother people, and i think it does. you are not alone in feeling as though this president is kind of getting off easy. and that's because the media

certainly does have a double standard. i wrote about this in mip last book to some extent is because they made an investment in president obama in 2008. a lot of them. i'm certainly generalizing here, but a lot of the liberal media made a wholesale investment in obama's election. they helped him, they supported him, they asked no tough questions. they covered for him. and so they want to see a return on their investment. they want to see this pan out. and it's a much -- as much about making them look good and sort of vindicating the hard work that they did in 2008 as it is about, you know, liberals liking his policies. i think most people woman agrul the economy is not where it should be. unemployment is not wrpt

tournament should be. energy plan flauped to say the least and a lot of disappointment in the hope and change promised in terms of transparency and honesty. so i think you're right. there is a double standard. there's a lot to criticize here, and i guess it remains to be seen over the next few months whether sort of the microscope, the spotlight on the president's election will bring most of that to bear. >> avery joins us now from lawton, oklahoma, on our independent line. hi, avery. >> caller: hi. how are you guys? >> we're good. >> hi. >> caller: s.e., you are very, very gorgeous. i have to make a complement. i've watched you plenty of times on "now" with alex walker and i follow you quite often. >> thank you. >> caller: i want to talk about the politics area as well as you actually breaking and starting your own political vup as far as how republicans perceived to

independents or democrats. you're not the ones that are always critical on obama on certain issues either when they know they're wrong about being critical. whip you being in a new generation and myself in a new generation and being into politics and political nerds, we end up to really direct the country and you're doing a really good job as far as not staying with the pundits and saying that he's wrong whenever you know damn well he's right and every little detail shows he's making a good decision on certain policies and stuff like that, but you and i are in other words. sitting right here in my living room. >> that's okay. i -- ip appreciate that. thanks. i appreciate that, and if we lost the call thanks for calming in. calling in. i think it is important and maybe it is a generational thing. i think it is important in this business when you have a

platform to treat it really carefully, and so that means you have to question your own sometimes. and sort of question your own sacred cows. and i try to do that, but i think the tea party deserves have credit here as well. the tea party, if you ask any tea party leader where this all started, they'd say, when bush started bailing out banks. that is inherently rebellious in questioning, and questioning authority. i think that's a good thing. and if more of us start doing that and being honest, i said, for example, a number of times that this attack on president obama for rising gas prices is intellectually dishonest. the plaed nothing to doing with gas prices. we need to be really honest in this business and even though i'm an opinion writer and even though vie a position, and even though i have a political leaning, i still really try to

be as honest as i can, and i don't always succeed, but i promise i'll do my best. >> and s.e. cupp, when you talk about having your own opinions and our caller complementing you from oklahoma liked how you could be independent-minded about certain things. you're a supporter of gay rights, written a lot about the president's take on gay rights and gay marriage. president obama, gay rights here o'you ask? evolution leaves much to be desired and many questions unanswered. reflect for us on how you think the president's stance sand whether or not you think it's meaningful to the gay community? >> right. well, there's sort of an unmitigated joy over the president's slow drip evolution on gay rights. really bothered me. because i have a lot of friends in the gay community. i'm active in the gay community. as you say, i've been vocal in my support for gay rights, and fight, as i've understand stood it, has not been to win one

man's approval, and that's essentially what we got with the latest news of obama's well-timed political evolution on gay rights. the fight has been to win rights. and there was no policy change in obama's statement that he is now comfortable with gay marriage, nor was there a promise of poems chanlicy chang. this was one man, albeit leader of the free world, but one man saying, i now accept you. to me, that -- that isn't cause for celebration. i understand the symbolism of it and i am not a gay americans sow yo know how that would feel inside to have that kind of moment occur in your lifetime. i'm shump it's singular but i'm also a fighter and i don't feel like it's time to pop the champagne just yet. >> sophia, democratic caller in the branch.

>> caller: i'm on the air? >> you are on the air. >> caller: yes. i'm calling i don't like the idea of mitt romney getting into office. i think he's trying to strike back, because they said -- leaving this "wall street journal" segment now for live coverage and discussion about international proposals to transfer control of the internet over to the u.n. just getting underway. live coverage on c-span3. >> okay. that was very nice. i appreciate the cooperation. i'm randy may, president of the free state foundation, and i want to welcome all of you ton today's event. most of you know, the state foundation is a free market oriented think tank specializes primarily in commune kangss iran n kags, internet and high tech issues. i'm always pleased to see so many old friends at our events. today i'm pleased to see so many

new friends and new faces. i confess, we've got at large turnout. there must be several of you who, quite a few of you, that didn't even sign up, but we welcome you, too. we're glad you're here. and i especially want to extend a warm welcome to our c-span audience today. and i thank c-span-fo for covin this event. we appreciate it. today's program is titled "the multi-stakeholder privatized internet governance model: can it survive threats from the u.n.?" now, i understand that the potential threats to the internet that we're going to be discussing today are going to arise if at all in the international telecommune kankcs union or itu, but the itu

operates under the u.n. auspices and it's one of the u.n.'s specialized treaty organizations. that's why sometimes today we may be referring to the itu or the u.n., which is apparent body of the itu. now, more specifically the issues we're going to be discussing today will likely arise in the context of a particular itu sponsored conference called "wicked" 2012. champion will take place this december in dubai. no, i didn't say wicked as in wicked witch. but wicked as in w-i-c-t, which stands for the world conference on international communications. so there have been concerns expressed and the commissioner

mcdowell was one of the early concerns that some countries might trite to yew the wict conference to amend the telecommune kangss regulations in ways that fundamentally alter the current multi-stakeholder bottoms up privatized internet governance model that many of us would say has worked really well. the concern is that a new regime would be adopted that would confer more intergovernmental control over aspects of the internet and the with that it functions today. i'm not going to say anymore about the particulars of the potential changes, because i don't want to steal any thunder from the distinguished group of panelists we have here today. only this, apart from the economic and social benefits that we're all familiar with,

that the internet has given rise to, the internet has ban wonderful medium for facilitating free speech which gochlts have kept their hands off the net. so aside from the technical standards or whatever else that might effect the internet that will be discussed at the wict conference, i don't think any of us want to see movement towards intergovernmental control and new rules that would give the governments more control over the content of the speech. that's wipe many of you have heard me say this before. i often opt for the first amendment lounge, where we're sitting here today, because a lot of what we do at the foundation is intended to promote free speech. so i particularly requested and had to bump off someone from the first amendment lounge to be

here today. now i'm going to introduce our speakers. and hopefully all of you got bios or most of the bios and i'm going to, number one, i'm going to introduce them in the order that they are going to speak. so you guys pay attention. and i'm just going to give you the short version of their bioand a couple sentences about each. if we did the long version, we would be here, woe take too much time on that. and while i'm thinking of it, i want to remind you, we've got a special twitter hashtag for those of of you that are fwe treaters in the audience. -of-tweeders in the audience. the hash tag, there are fliers on the table, -- ssfnet

governance. last time we did a conference, we found out we were quickly trending now. so maybe we'll be able to trend now on twitter for this conference. okay. now i'm going to introduce our speakers, and also while i'm thinking about it, we're going to have time for q&a. after we get through with their initial presentations. as their speaking, you can think of questions that you might have. and i'm going to give the panelists an opportunity if they have questions for their fellow panelists to ask those as well. okay. now, first off we're going to hear from robert mcdowell. rob, as most of you know, maybe everyone in this room may know, that robert mcdowell is a commissioner at the fcc. he was first appointed to his fcc seat by president bush,

george w. bush in 2006. and reappointed to the commission in 2009 becoming the first republican to be appointed to an independent agency by president barack obama. now, prior to becoming an fcc commissioner, commissioner mcdowell served as senior vice president for the competitive telecommune kangss association. we had responsibilities involving efficacy values regarding white house and agencies. as i said, i'm not going to tell you where all these guys went to school and always of that, but you know, as commissioner mcdowell knows i will mark an exception for him, because we are now new graduates. i'm going to do that and not

even mention that dick beaird, who i will introduce next has a ph.d. when-of-which he holds from colorado, but that's it. now, richard c. beaird is senior deputy, united states coordinator for international communications and international policy at the department of state. be in that position dick manages the state department's active tips across a broad range of international telecommune caucuses and policy issues including those arising in the international telecommunications union. the itu as well as other international organizations. one thing i just want to say about dick, and it's true of all the speakers we have that serve in government, serve the public and a lot of the times we don't

appreciate the -- the sacrifices they make in the job, but someone like dick to do his job and to do what he does, he's on the road more days each year than any of us would want to even think about, or myself, and we appreciate that, dick. okay. next, is jacquelynn ruff. jacqui is vice president for regulatory affair, at verizon. in that capacity jacqui leads the group responsible foreadvocations and guidance and she directs verizon's activities and international forums including venues such as the itu, the oecd, apec and the --

excuse me. the internet governance conference. so welcome, jacqui. next up is my friend gigi sohn. gigi is president of public knowledge. she's also co-founder of public knowledge, which sb a nonprofit organization that addresses the public stake in the convergence of communications policy at intellectual property law prior to join iing valdy, public knowledge gigi was with the ford foundation and prior to the ford foundation, gigi served as executive director of the plead access project. welcome, gigi. and then last but of course, not least, as we say, and in this case that's certainly true, we have richard s.whitt. rick is director and managing

counsel for public policy at google. and he is responsible for overseeing all of google's strategic thinking in the d.c. office with a focus on, get this -- listen carefully. privacy, cyber security, intellectual property, internet governance, competition, free expression, international trade, and telecom and media policy. lick, why don't you just 4ri69 the things you are not responsible for over there at google? so rick is obviously has important responsibilities's in the area that we're going to be talking about today as well as others. now, i might say about rick that when i was practicing law, i hired rick right out of law school for his first job as a

lawyer. i think in was 1988. wasn't it, rick? or -- 1988? >> wict was actually first looked at. >> i knew there was a connection there someplace. now, of course, as you can tell from i rescitation of responsibilities, he's far surpassed his terms of hire of what he's done but i think i had a sense of what might be to come when i hired rick for that first job. so with that, as you can see we've got a very distinguished panel that's knowledgeable on this subject and we're going to jump in now. i've asked commissioner mcdowell and dick beaird or the lead speaker, i've asked them to speak for about six or eight minutes each and then we're going to go down the row for the commenters who are going to

initially speak just about four minutes and then have an opportunity to mix it up and ask questions. mr. mcdowell? >> thank you very much, randy, and this room is packed. you probably can't see at all all c-span, but it's standing room only. this is a testament to everything the free state foundation has been able to d l building itself up and good work. it's so crowded i notice the c-span technician, his operation center is actually in the bar over there, and so i think that was a good placement on his part. so -- with that, thank you for also highlighting this very important issue. i think we could all agree that mobile internet connectivity is improving the human condition more rapidly and more fundamentally than any other

technology, distracted technology in history. in the united states, a lightly regulated and competitive wireless market spark add sustained cycle of investment, innovation and job growth, not to mention lower prices and increased functionality for consumers. sophisticated devices and complex mobile politiciaapplica however, are taxes our nation's spectrum capacity. recognizing the need to satisfy this demand in february congress passed legislation that some estimate could place up to an additional 80 megahertz of tv spectrum into american consumers' hands. i think might be a little less in reality, but let's aim high. the good news is that america's future is bright when it comes to placing the power of new communications technologies into the hands of consumers. america has always, always, led the world when it comes to wireless innovation and if we choose the correct policies we

will further strengthen america's global leadership. as my colleagues at the sec and i implement the new ledge slax and tackle challenges associated whey will be the most complicated spectrum auctions in history, i intend to ensure that our nation's auction rules are minimal and future proof allowing for flexible uses in the years to come as technologies and markets change. and getting it right means implementing the new spectrum law with humility and regulatory restraint. and this brings me to the matter we are here to discuss today. this theme, hue minuty and regulatory restraint. holds true for internet governance. as we head towards the world conference and international telecommunications this coming december i urge regulators around the world to avoid the temptation to tamper with the internet.