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President Obama has nominated an Internet industry backer of Net Neutrality to be the next Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman. (From CNET 3/3/09 - Hat Tip to From the Left)

President Obama on Tuesday nominated Julius Genachowski as the nation's top telecommunications regulator, picking a campaign advisor who has divided his career between Washington, D.C., political jobs and working as an Internet executive.

Genachowski had been mentioned as a likely candidate for the Federal Communications Commission post, in part because he participated in the Obama campaign's Internet efforts and previously worked as chief counsel to Democratic FCC Chairman Reed Hundt.

"He will bring to the job diverse and unparalleled experience in communications and technology, with two decades of accomplishment in the private sector and public service," Obama said in a statement.

Genachowski is likely to continue the Democratic push for more Net neutrality regulations, which are opposed by some conservatives and telecommunications providers. He was a top Obama technology advisor and aided in crafting a technology platform that supported Net neutrality rules.

This is good news from an administration whose overall performance has been all over the map so far. It doesn't make up for President Obama's Clintonian discrimination against queers in Cabinet level appointments. It certainly won't absolve him from potential war crimes prosecution if he really does carry out his threat to drag out the war of aggression against Iraq until 2011. But, it is good news.

One word of caution on Genachowski. He works in the Internet industry. His industry is experiencing consolidation; companies in his industry will go bankrupt as in other industries; and many potential employers after his government service will be the same people who will be lobbying him against Net Neutrality. This is no time to declare victory. People who want a free Internet will have to keep fighting.

Note on the Budget: As usual, corporate media coverage of the Obama budget is mostly on the politics, not the policy. The actual policies embedded in that budget appear to be just as all over the map as everything else this administration has done so far. It invites further study, and selective activism to try to improve it in Congress. Liberals and progressives need to be very careful not to reflexively support or oppose this administration. At this time, it's a matter of putting pressure on the White House and Congress to improve.