John Harwood and Gerald Seib's new book "Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles in Backroom Power" is accurately subtitled. This is not about profiles in courage, but profiles of powerbrokers -- inside and outside government, of both parties, and in various kinds of jobs. Welcome, John and Jerry, to the FDL Book Salon!

99 Poems about Ted Stevens! 63 on Tuesday, 36 on Wednesday. And although Ted hasn't been surfacing in the news today like he was earlier in the week, the sun doesn't set in the North this time of the year, until very late. Ted did call me though. It was a robo-call. I was really hoping that he'd call, or that somebody from his staff would call back, accepting my offer inviting somebody in his Alaska office to help judge this contest over the weekend. But, no, just another damn GOP robo-call. Here's my favorite part of Ted's call: Hi! This is Senator Ted Stevens. Sorry to miss you today. I've called to invite you to a town hall meeting - BY TELEPHONE! I'm reaching out to you with this new technology....

Edward R. Murrow was born 100 years ago today, in a log cabin with no electricity or running water, in Polecat Creek, North Carolina. When he spoke to his peers in 1958, he was definitely not preaching to the choir. Fast forward another 50 years, and they still ring true.

The Senate Commerce Committee is holding a hearing on Tuesday to look at the future of the Internet, and a big part of that equation is net neutrality. Obviously -- and I know you don’t need to hear it from me -- we need to keep up the pressure on this issue. The uncertainty isn’t helpful, and we have to set the rules of the road and protect the innovative world of a free and open Internet.

So, the week Donna Edwards trounces Al Wynn, the House decides to flip off the administration on the "Protect America Act" FISA bill with telecom immunity. Donna campaigned a lot on this issue, and Wynn was in the pocket of the telecoms. Coincidence, or not?

[Left, that's crime boss Randall L. Stephenson, CEO of AT&T] Monday I shared a train ride with Jane. She was headed to New York to make an appearance on a panel at NYU, and I was headed to Philly on business. We talked and worked, though Jane was hampered by the failure of her Verizon mobile wireless service to connect her online.

A little message mangle...courtesy of Katie Couric and friends.  As ccmask said this morning, "MSM on a Sunday is like a big ole recycling plant that doesn’t bother crunching the cans that come in."  Sadly, it is true far too often, isn't it?  So, here's a little fact-filled, analysis-rich, commentary-laden pushback against the vapidity that is Sunday talk.  -- From the Department of Honesty Is The Best Policy:  The Bangor Daily News has

The indefatigable Howie Klein tells you why you should care about Net Neutrality: Institutional investors aren't usually left-wing radicals, especially not the types who invest in traditional, vanilla companies like AT&T. But AT&T's shareholders are "alarmed" by the Pearl Jam controversy and some of the company's biggest investors are asking for more information on management practices.

Well, this is an interesting snippet in RollCall: ...At the same time, the FBI and the Department of the Interior are investigating a series of earmarks pushed through Congress over the past several years by Stevens for an Alaska nonprofit tied to Trevor McCabe, a former Stevens aide and a business partner of his son, Ben, sources familiar with the investigation said. According to the sources, the investigation is focused on how millions

Matt Stoller has done tremendous work on net neutrality and educated many about its importance. He's continuing that work at Open Left this week with a visit by Dick Durbin, who is using reader input to try and craft a national broadband strategy. It's an interesting experiment because it cuts the lobbyists out of the mix and takes the debate straight to the public.