Thanks to recent events in Egypt, I think it’s now clear why the American government desperately needs an Internet “kill switch” available.
Up until now, if the President wanted to be thrown out of office, he really had to work for it. There was no way he could clearly indicate that he was totally unfit for any kind of power without having to actually do some kind of damage. The Internet kill switch could be a way for the President to clearly indicate his total unsuitability for any kind of government office, allowing a clean and efficient transfer of power.
Some people might argue that the harm of shutting down the Internet would be catastrophic. Yes, yes it would. But that’s okay, because we don’t need to actually allow the President to shut off the Internet. We can just give him a shiny red button that says “Internet kill switch”, and if you press it it sends email to all the major networks saying the President wants to resign but is too cowardly to, and it’s time to throw him out.
This would be a nice way to streamline a core part of the democratic process, and I hope to see it implemented soon.