In today’s installment of The David Lawrence Show, we talk about spam and John Perry Barlow’s recent run-in with the TSA’s bomb sniffing dogs, which apparently like the smell of magic mushrooms too. Only 25¢ for a whole hour of news and entertainment, for PayPal and BitPass users! And no, I don’t get a cut.

In this month’s column for eSecurityPlanet.com, I take a look at the first anniversary of the passage of the CAN-SPAM Act, and why I think it has been a big success for spammers.

Yesterday on the cable network Bravo, they re-ran an episode of The West Wing entitled “Gone Quiet.” In it, the President’s campaign director Bruno Gianelli (played by Ron Silver) argues that the campaign should begin running ads in key states to counteract an opposition leaflet campaign that brands President Bartlet as “Super Liberal.”
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Tonight I was on The David Lawrence Show talking about a new court decision in Maryland, invalidating a state spam law on Commerce Clause grounds. As usual, users of PayPal can sign up for BitPass and listen to the whole hour for only 25¢. What a bargain!

The moderate wing of the Democratic party, embodied by the Democratic Leadership Council, has begun trying to make sense of the 2004 elections. Some of the analysis is pretty laughable, but some is insightful.
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At an Annenberg Public Policy Center forum, strategists said pro-Democrat groups “shattered spending records with extensively market-tested ads attacking” President Bush, “but they missed their mark because they lacked a coherent theme.”

Republican strategists said right-leaning groups “hammered on a consistent message — one that depicted the president as a strong leader and attacked” John Kerry as an “unsteady leader who was too liberal to protect the nation.” Media Fund President Erik Smith said Media Fund audience-tested 250 different ads before deciding what to run.

Even so, he conceded that the ads run by pro-Bush groups had the advantage…. Democratic groups didn’t have that clear or consistent message.

(Cox/Daytona Beach News-Journal, Dec. 7).

I’m going to be taking a little pre-Holiday hiatus from writing for Liberal Nation while I get some work-related things in order before year’s end. I’ll toss in some news tidbits as I can, but will rejoin the fray just prior to Christmas.