Wednesday's vote caught Internet companies by surprise: the Democratic leadership rushed the SAFE Act to the floor under a procedure that's supposed to be reserved for noncontroversial legislation. It was introduced October 10, but has never received even one hearing or committee vote. In addition, the legislation approved this week has changed substantially since the earlier version and was not available for public review.

Yay, Democrats! Standing up for our right to privacy!

So what does this act mean, anyway? If I have an unsecured wi-fi connection in my house (I don't, but it would appear that a dozen of my neighbors do), I have to make sure that nobody jumps on it and starts downloading anything "obscene"? Good lord, what a stupid, stupid bill.

The Personal Telco folks are all going to jail!

Without a hearing or Committee vote? Sure it's not called Measure 49?

Pretty sure. With Measure 49 there was an election.

And you lost.

Not to worry. The supreme court, when it gets this, will . . . oh, wait. Never mind.

How does this impact MetroFi? Is the city of Portland about to have a giant headache? I'm in Corvallis, and the city and university are proposing a joint venture to bring wifi to (most of the) town. I'm worried about how this would impact the venture. I know I'd really like my local elected officials to start having to filter and sniff my internet for me.

Pretty sure. With Measure 49 there was an election.

And you lost.

Everyone lost. (Except developers on the crony list.)

Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas) held a press conference on Capitol Hill with John Walsh, the host of America's Most Wanted

That explains a lot. Because, you know, there wouldn't be as many criminals if it were not for the Internets.

Bet AlGore wishes he'd never helped invent the darn thing.

Everyone lost.

Not the environment. Not sensibility in land use. Not our children and grandchildren.

Face it, Jon and John: 60% / 40% is a pretty clear mandate. And it exceeded M37's vote margin by 1 point.