The bully spoke on the phone with Erdoğan, and they give conflicting reports of what the bully said.

Which one is the truth — if either of them? We can't tell, since we can't trust either the bully or Erdoğan about the question.

It may not matter anyway. The range of possible deals they might make that would actually be carried out is rather limited, since Erdoğan can't trust the bully's word any more than you or I can. And his own word can't be trusted much either.

How can we protect free speech from rampant harassment speech that has an effect comparable to censorship?

Don't fall for AT&T's inadequate "Internet Bill of Rights", designed to permanently deny the rights that are now endangered.

True network neutrality would mean that the ISPs may not take note in any way of what a user's network traffic consists of, except pursuant to a search warrant.

A proposed campaign to eliminate car crashes due to alcohol threatens to be repressive and impractical.

I don't have any data, but I would guess that most of the time when people drive dangerously drunk, it is not due to the precise details of the current laws, but rather due to people who don't make any attempt to follow them. Thus, changes such as setting a lower legal limit will not work unless they terrify people. Besides which, you'd need to carry your own breath tester to follow such a law carefully.

Some of the proposals are harmless and might be useful. For instance, to regulate marketing of alcohol more carefully — if that will help, by all means do it. Preventing sales to people who are drunk is legitimate, but it is easier said than done.

A simple game can test for the mental and physical acuity necessary to drive safely. Putting one in the car would make it possible to detect when the driver is too impaired to drive safely, regardless of the cause. When your reflexes are marginal, the law could say you can drive to a place where you can safely rest for a while, but only with your emergency blinkers on — or whatever rules would promote safety for that shorter trip.

For the press to cover the bully clearly in a way that supports the truth, it should not take his bizarre denials and excuses seriously. They are meant to distract, so don't be distracted by them.