I wish this debate had more commentators with the temperament of Mr. Navarrow Wright. The attacks entertained by Mr. James Rucker, executive director of Color of Change.org on the motives and integrity of certain civil rights groups has been disturbing and partially responsible for the blow back that Mr. Rucker has been receiving. Instead, the focus should have been on the feasibility and effectiveness of net neutrality as policy.

Hopefully we can still salvage a little civility. The continued needs of the minority community on the issue of the digital divide will require that we all work together in the very near future.

In December 1944, General Anthony Clement McAuliffe was in command of the U.S. Army’s 101^st Airborne Division. He and his troops were surrounded by Germans in Bastogne, Belgium. The Germans demanded that General McAuliffe surrender his troops. In response, General McAuliffe uttered one of the most famous quotes in American history: “Nuts.”

I couldn’t help but think of this response as I read James Rucker’s piece in The Huffington Post. I respectfully acknowledge Mr. Rucker’s passion on net neutrality, but at this juncture one must question why he and his fellow advocates insist on taking the low road in the face of certain political and economic realities.

We are now facing a national unemployment rate of 9.8%. The unemployment rate among black Americans has climbed to 16% in November from 15.7% in October. The technology sector is gaining because any productivity increases of note are partially attributable to the use of technology. The tech sector is one of the few areas of the economy that needs an influx of human resources.

Yet, instead of using their finite resources to promote employment and production in an area they claim to know well, the net neutrality posse focuses on responding to nonexistent personal attacks and worse yet making personal attacks.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has grudgingly begun to see the light of the middle road. As the light dims on the 111^th Congress, Mr. Genachowski knows he needs to get to the end of the tunnel before the 112^th Congress turns off the lights.

I think it’s time that the advocates for an open Internet salvage some type of victory by joining Mr. Genachowski in the spirit of compromise. If not, your credibility will meet its own Pearl Harbor.

On the contrary, Mr. Rucker. Congressman Rush has directly addressed the issue of the FCC’s inappropriate attempts to circumvent both Congress and the courts in reclassifying Internet broadband access services as telephone service. The FCC cannot draft and implement rules that have no basis in statute. The U.S. Court of Appeals-DC Circuit has made that clear. If anyone is avoiding the issue, it is the Federal Communications Commission.

Given that the Republicans now control the House of Representatives and have increased their level of influence in the Senate, it is now more imperative that the FCC abandon its go it alone approach to net neutrality. Will the FCC recognize its proper place in our constitutional scheme or does it prefer its credibility neutralized?

Mr. Honig rightly points out Representative Rush’s street cred when it comes to advocating for issues in the minority community. Mr. Rush has not dismissed the fundamental idea of an open network. No one who understands the Internet as well as he does would.

What Mr. Honig appropriately describes is Mr. Rush’s commitment to optimizing minority inclusion at the table of opportunities the Internet presents us both as consumers and entrepreneurs. Mr. Rucker and his fellow advocates have yet to tout any consumer or entrepreneurial benefits from the overly burdensome net neutrality regulations that they press for. All Color of Change leaves us with are personal attacks and a serious lack nof civility.

Amalia Deloney, a policy director for the Center for Media Justice, made a few comments recently at the Netroots conference regarding arguments made by opponents of net neutrality.

“Primarily what they hear are messages around job loss. Everyone knows that we’re in a severe economic crisis and have been for awhile. It’s really on all of us to use the power of the Netroots to communicate at the grassroots level.” “We need to get more clear on what our message is.”

The “they” Ms. Deloney is referring to is the American public; citizens caught between the crossfire of this open network debate. The very American public that faces 9.5% unemployment. The very American public, who according to Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke, faces a economic recovery that is “unusually uncertain.“

When facing the severe economic crisis you describe, Ms. Deloney, it is the practice of our nation to try to grow ourselves out of it. One way of growing ourselves out of a severe economic crisis is to deploy infrastructure. We build bridges, roads, and highways. We expand air routes, airports, and waterways. We deploy utilities and telecommunications facilities.

The private sector, as the primary economic driver and job creator in our country, is relied on to do this. It takes money, time, and other resources to make these capital expenditures work. Some of the money comes from internal funds generated by revenues. The fewer the expenses incurred in generating revenue, the greater the amount of profit that can be reinvested into hiring workers, improving plant, researching and developing better services that can hopefully be provided at lower costs.

We call this growth and innovation. This is the type of activity necessary for ensuring that the digital divide in facilities and services is closed. Yet, Ms. Deloney and Color of Change’s James Rucker brush this off as just another “primary argument.” On the contrary, in the end, it’s the only legitimate argument.

It’s time for Color of Change, the Center for Media Justice, and other net neutrality proponents to stop hiding behind the skirt of civil rights while insulting the very organizations with a strong history of giving sweat and at times blood for the cause of civil rights. Maintaining civil rights means ensuring that a strong economic foundation is in place. Net neutrality has not been shown to create jobs much less reduce consumer prices. As a basis for ensuring the civil and economic rights of Americans, net neutrality is a bankrupt philosophy.