How Ambassador Phil Verveer Undermines His Boss and Her Boss on Network Neutrality

[Commentary] Want to know why the Obama Administration can't seem to get its "messaging" together? Consider the recent case of The Hon. Phil Verveer, who managed to echo a set of Republican attack bullets at an event at the Media Institute, a think tank funded by big media conglomerates to lobby for a Citizens United view of the First Amendment.

In the question and answer session, Verveer managed stray from the original topic of his speech and drop some casual remarks that undermined not just Secretary Clinton's Internet freedom agenda, but President Obama's domestic broadband agenda generally. To make matters worse, Verveer's comments came one day after the crowning achievement of the Obama Administration on broadband to date: the release of the a National Broadband Plan spelling out how we can leverage modern technology to create jobs, make government more efficient, and improve the quality of life for all Americans.

How did a man as experienced and professional as Verveer manage to get so off message at precisely the wrong time? Apparently through carelessness.