Show him the money.

Dubya sets a new (and dubious) record for raising midterm campaign cash. “There’s some senators up there who would rather listen to special interests in Washington, D.C., than listen to the voice of the people,” Bush told Republicans in Little Rock. “There are senators who would rather give us a rule book this thick about how we have to behave, and what we must do to protect the homeland than to trust any administration for protecting America.” THAT‘s his speel? I’ve heard better, more plausible stuff on late-night infomercials. I guess if you’re a GOP bigshot and you’ve already thrown lots of money Dubya’s way, all you can really do at this point is protect your investment.

Broadband and Narrow Minds


John Judis blames Michael Powell’s deregulatory fixation for telecom’s collapse. “Powell has proven a disaster…Like Harvey Pitt, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Powell would be ripe for replacement–if his feckless, ideological approach didn’t so perfectly reflect the president he serves.” To be fair, telecom was starting to look a bit peaked before Powell was Chairman (although that’s also partly because Powell was something of an obstructionist on the commission before his ascent.) And, while I’m sure it’s risen lately, demand for broadband services was egregiously low back in 2000. Like campaign finance reform, it’s one of those things you’d expect people to be all over, but for some reason it just isn’t reflected in the numbers. Without a true “killer app” for broadband (Napster/Kazaa comes close, but it’s not it), low demand will continue to be one of the reasons why the big boys aren’t building out. That all being said, I agree with the fundamentals of Judis’s piece.

FISA fights back.

The secret court overseeing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) rebuff Ashcroft’s plea for increased wiretap powers, and declares the FBI has misled the court over 75 times. Never thought I’d be on the side of a secret court, but there you go. It must be getting really ugly over at Justice if somebody’s leaking this bad boy.