Bitch, Meet Slap

Good news from the Washington front:

While it can't yet be said the story has a happy ending, it does have a happy middle. Yesterday the Senate Commerce Committee voted against attempts by the Federal Communications Commission to let Big Media grow much, much bigger.

The committee, under Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), voted to overturn changes in media ownership rules that had been championed by FCC Chairman Michael Powell, the best friend a media fat cat ever had. The keystone of Powell's plan would have raised the limit on how many broadcast stations one corporation could own -- from coverage of 35 percent of U.S. households, the current limit, to a new and dangerous 45 percent maximum. -- Tom Shales, June 20

As Shales points out, this is a battle won, not the war. The statue of Rupert Murdoch in front of Re'epublican Party headquarters has not yet been covered with the American flag and toppled. The suitcases of Clear Channel money and caches of Rupert's satellite porn remain safe in Uday Powell's palaces. But this shows the war can be won.