I don't think conservatives are attacking J.B. Van RINO for any other reason than he still hasn't filed a brief in support of overturning the D.C. gun ban, saying he needs authorization from the legislature and the governor to do so yet he's practically the only AG opposing this.

He can chase after the Sirius/XM merger, but has he fixed the backlog in the state crime lab yet? He reminds me more of Peg Lautenschlager every day.

By the way, on the D.C. gun ban, the irony is that the Bush administration is supporting the ban while Vice President Cheney has filed a brief in support of overturning it.

Nick, the Sirius/XM merger has nothing to do with "public airwaves." They exist, like newspapers, as private entities which are outside the lion's share of regulation.

The details of the merger that I've seen make it look like a dog's breakfast of "buy one channel, get two forced" menu plans. There will be more available channels. It will probably cost you more in the long run. C'est la guerre.

I don't see both of them lasting two years if they don't merge so it may be a moot point.

Hey Peter, don't believe everything you read on the internets. In fact the amicus brief has been filed and accepted. You can read it here http://www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/briefs/pdfs/07-08/07-290_RespondentAmCuWImotion.pdf

Do your homework on the backlog too. The backlog is already shrinking due to increased efficiencies despite the fact that the new analysts aren't fully trained and online yet. It wreaks of ignorance when you expect Van Hollen to simply wave a magic wand and *poof* the backlog is gone!

I just don't get the whole debate about competition everyone wants to have. What competition are we taling about? Satellite radio is only 5% of the entire radio market. Terrestrial radio vs. satellite radio...they are the same essentially. They are both competing for the same audience. Both have to work hard to convince listeners to tune in and either pay to do so, or convince businesses to pay to put their ads on the air.

The merger needs to get done. Doing so will allow the two companies to focus on the radio technology and the programming desires of the listening public, rather than spendings hundreds of millions they don't have and may never recoup bringing on board exclusive radio personalities in an effort to win over consumers to their radio product.

Keep these two companies separate and eventually one is going to eat up the other anyway, so what do we solve? It'll be like the fight between Beta and VHS or HD DVD and Blu-Ray. Having two separate entities in this space I just don't see working out, and Van Hollen has it dead wrong.

Sorry, but J.B. Van RINO is a major disappointment. A first class empty suit. Destined to get pounded by Diamond Jim in 2010. I won't vote for Doyle, but I won't vote for the empty suit, either.