We should ban the printing press, too.

"In France, France, citizens pay half as much as do residents of the U.S. for broadband that is twice as fast, said subcommittee chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn."

What exactly warrants the incredulous italics? Were you under the impression that France is a third-world country with sub-par communication infrastructure? Or do you believe that people in France always pay twice as much for stuff that's half as good? Or what? That's really weird.

The France comment was partly a joke, playing off the antipathy directed at France because of their position on the Iraq invasion, but also a more obscure reference to their old online system Minitel, which used to be trashed by free marketers in the U.S. as an example of the kind of slow, outmoded service that state-mandated technology delivered...

I guess I might have assumed too much background knowledge...

In South Korea. By the time we here in Redneckistan get that they'll have timetravel everywhere else.

You can put broadband anywhere , but will people be able to afford it . And then we have a computer industry that has embraced planned technological obsolesence. Right now I pay $55 a month for broadband . Factor in a new setup every two years , to keep up with needed technology and that's over $100 a month for both. Throw in the cell phones , the land lines , and cable TV and you are talking over $250 a month easy. I don't even own a Blackberry,or an Ipod.

That's a tough nut for people lined up at the food bank.

He's a Republican. In order to be a member of the party, one of the basic beliefs that you have to embrace is that France is filled with surrender-monkeys who will give up if something looks difficult.

Oops...apparently I got confused. Not a republican. I guess the joke explanation makes more sense then.

[...] interspersed with griping from representatives of the telecommunications industry who oppose, on principle, any government interference in their business.

Except when said government asks the telecommunications industry to help spy on their customers. Then it's A-OK. See how fast principle goes by the board! Bastards.

And what Marcy Kaptur said neatly captures the essence of the patronizing authoritarian:

Now, that doesn't mean that I don't want good communication systems out there for homeland security and the defense of the nation. But if what I'm doing is bringing smut to more households in America, you know what? I really don't want to do it.

Translation: She's all for state-of-the-art communications so that our government can keep tabs on us (all for our own good, you see), but not for the unwashed masses; We just can't handle it!

"... our youth are being degraded. The electronic systems we're putting in place are helping to do that. And until we curb that, I am more reluctant than any of my colleagues to move forward."

This is reminiscent of nothing so much as superstitious Russian peasants fearful of electrification of their homes (when they took the time, between stints of abject terror and hatred of foreigners) because they thought it was going to afflict them with evil spirits. Presumably there were once purse-lipped, weasel-faced tribal auxiliary sub-chieftains, too, who came down on paleolithic cave art because it could be used to draw voluptuous goddess pictures.

So here's an idea — let's start enforcing anticompetitive telecom policies again, provide incentives for ambitious telecoms to expand laterally instead of vertically if they want to increase marketshare, and give all the terrified serfs the option of opting out on a county by county basis if they want. You don't want any broadband, you don't get any broadband. You just don't get to make everyone else go along with your crazy talk.

Competition, innovation, and self-determination. Aren't those the quintessential American virtues? Who are these yahoos who claim to represent "the real America?" Democrats, throw the knuckle-draggers out into the wilderness of their ignorance, where they seem to wish to reside, and start sending some real homo sapiens to Washington.

Thanks for the condescension, but I have all the background knowledge I need about France, what with being French and all ... And before someone says something about background knowledge of the US, let me add that I've been living in Washington DC for 20 years. So, yes, I did get the joke. I just find it irritating when people mindlessly recycle right-wing tropes as jokes. So my original post was kind of tongue in cheek.

I guess I might have been too subtle.

I really don't know, it seems there could be a case made either way: more of the sane people will be able to see the real situation BUT maybe the nuts are being more open now BECAUESE they are in a stronger position and can afford to be.

Shame is the operative word. Won't anyone stand up to these companies and regulate them? They've illegally spied on us, overcharged us, gave us the worst service possible, monopolized public infrastructure, stifled economic growth, and still very few politicians will stand up to them. The telecom industry has Washington by the throat. The lack of competition, rip-off pricing schemes, and poor speeds for broadbrand (and cable and cell phone technology) in the US are simply a disgrace. I pay $45 for speeds that someone in Japan or S. Korea wouldn't pay $5 for. The worst part about this is the way the telecom industry inhibits innovation and stifles economic growth. We aren't three years into the new AT&T behemoth and we already need to break it up again.

I lived in Italy in 2001 and 2002, and I had cheaper and faster broadband there--seven years ago! Not to mention a real free market when it came to my cell phone plans. If Americans only new how much they're being ripped off they would be outraged.

Let's not get too condescending about those superstitious Russian peasants. After all, it's the twenty-first century, and so many good, progressive, oh-so-educated Salonistas still believe that nuclear plants are full of evil spirits. This is why we belch all that carbon dioxide and have far more "American interests" in the Middle East than is good for us.

Meanwhile, those French - the French get eighty percent of their electricity from nuclear. With that level of dedication to technology, getting decent broadband is Pas de Problème.