Keep in mind two immutable—albeit cynical—rules whenever you mull over some proposed government action. First, the public always is most vulnerable whenever there's bipartisan agreement because there's little organized resistance to the proposal. Second, the likely result will be nearly the opposite of whatever it is the government promises.

Those two points are of particular importance as Republicans and Democrats move forward with plans to "fix" a key regulation that governs the internet. I could offer a couple of other rules, too: Be wary when the government targets something that affects your everyday life, and be extra, extra wary when emotion is motivating our lawmakers. But you get the idea.

Plans to gut Section 230, which passed as a part of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, are abominations that should raise the hackles of free-speech-loving Americans. That section in federal law includes the following: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."