Victory!

In an age when the President of the United States baldly admits, in black and white, that he absolutely paid $130K in hush money to a porn star to keep their affair secret just before the election, you might think that the power of shame to move politicians towards doing the right thing was well and truly behind us. And you'd be forgiven for thinking that, by almost everybody.

Shame, however, turns out to be not so much dead as undead, and it can still move around and bite you in the ass occasionally. It's rare, true, but it still can happen, and it happened today. From Gizmodo:

In a monumental decision that will resonate through election season, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted 52-47 to reinstate the net neutrality protections the Federal Communications Commission decided to repeal last December.

For months, procedural red tape has delayed the full implementation of the FCC’s decision to drop Title II protections that prevent internet service providers from blocking or throttling online content. Last week, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai confirmed that the repeal of the 2015 Open Internet Order would go into effect on June 11. But Democrats put forth a resolution to use its power under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to review new regulations by federal agencies through an expedited legislative process.

Under the CRA, only a simple majority is needed to pass legislation. With Republican Senator John McCain currently hospitalized and all Democrats on board, only a single Republican needed to vote in favor of restoring net neutrality rules. However, Senators Susan Collins, John Kennedy, and Lisa Murkowski all broke from their GOP colleagues and ensured that the resolution passed.

Yes, the telecom stooge's attempt to blow up net neutrality for the benefit of the giant telecom corporations that he clearly represents has actually failed. Huzzah!