Confidence Men - Why the myth of Republican competence persists, despite all the evidence to the contrary
'Getting people to follow you by force of personality, persuasion, and will is the essence of leadership. In fact, some of the qualities that make the president so great at scamming the policy process proved to be his greatest strengths in the first phases of the war. Bush was supremely confident and appropriately indifferent to complexities that might have distracted a more thoughtful, but less resolute, individual. But mostly, what the Bushies call "leadership" is just a confidence game. And over time, that kind of leadership will get its butt kicked by reality every time'
( Joshua Micah Marshall via Washington Monthly )
AND
Hollywood's Private War For Social Control
'If you control the means to disseminate content, you can subsequently control the public. If you can't afford - or are not willing - to play by the "established" means of control, you are typically left to fend for yourself in local venues and audiences. Thanks to the Information Age, this is not the case anymore. This harsh reality terrifies the entertainment industry that will stop at nothing - no matter how ill-conceived - to keep its reign despite a failing business model and changing economic and customer environment. The copyright debate isn't only about profit, it's also about who controls information, and ultimately, people and
society' ( Richard Forno via Infowarrior )
See also this letter (PDF) from 19 congress critters to John Ashcroft from last month
http://www.hullocentral.demon.co.uk/site/anfin.htm