You know, sometimes you spend months on end at the desert only to arrive at an oasis. Then it starts raining. Hard.

Tomorrow, on April 26, the House Committee working on media issues (the Commerce and Energy Committee) will mark up its proposed addenda to the Telecommunications Act. Many people felt that it would be a cakewalk to get corporate favors written into the bill and passed under people's noses. But in the past 48 hours, that has changed dramatically (or so it would appear).

Exhibit A: The Save the Internet coalition launched officially last night, with CMA as a charter member organization. This has been getting some press coverage and much wider outreach, thus putting COPE Act supporters on the defensive.

Exhibit B: Bobby Rush, who has faced criticism for his support of the controversial COPE Act, did have some money involved. We knew of at least $7,500 of campaign contributions from telecom companies like AT&T. But today, the Chicago Sun-Times reports in a front-page story that the number is actually more like one million dollars.

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