Suspicions that the RIAA tried to work their personal agenda into the ‘anti-terrorism’ bill seem well-founded. Apparently, the Recording Industry Association of America tried to sneak in an amendment that would allow them to hack into personal computers and delete unauthorized MP3 files.

What the hell does that have to do with anti-terrorism? Nothing. Nada. A scaled-back version of the same legislation is still part of the current bill. What other criminally negligent agendas might be hidden inside that (mammoth) document?

This makes me cynical about the whole thing, which (nationally) is not, I think, what the government is hoping for in response to this bill. Convince people that the whole effort is an excuse for corporate bailouts and power-grabs, and the government will lose popular support for the war.

This is not about oil or other petty concerns (as some have opined in national magazines), it is about a war declared against us by others, punctuated with mass murder: it has public support for obvious and laudable reasons. Lawmakers: G’head and Trivialize it — pull it down to the level of the typical, day-to-day infighting in D.C. — see what happens.