"The fact is nobody considered ISPs government regulated utilities before these regulations. "

Yes, of course it is.

I just embrace it. "Yup, Obama's gonna institute white slavery, and there's NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT."

Well, yeah, they'll always find a way. But, y'know, without Net Neutrality, Netflix and Hulu and folks would just been passing the stick onto us, anyway.

Yeah, but Obamacare really is a massive intrusion on a poorly-regulated market that consumers in that market will feel real effects from.*

"We all wish that were true. But it isn't."

I do understand your concern, but that analysis simply doesn't accurately account for the reality of the situation. There's no "handing over control" involved; the government already has the authority to regulate ISPs like Comcast, Time Warner, etc., it's just a question of what those regulations will look like. In…

As well you should be!

If by "true" you mean "false", then sure.

My copy of the book is still perfectly fine. You can borrow it, if it helps.

I think his bio from a few years ago had a line like, "He only ever played 'Cary Grant', but what a role that was!"

Yup, that's his charm. He's smooth, but not trying to be. He's not in control of the situation, but he's perfectly comfortable to let it wash over him.

Man, I couldn't disagree more. Leo's best at being the guy struggling to maintain control, and he chooses roles accordingly. Smith is best at being goofy but ultimately charming, and chooses applicable roles with…less success.

Two things:

We had municipal elections last night, so the ticker was constant. But somehow, the Breaking News one was more obnoxious.

It's funny, because Mike Pence would hate the shit out of a real life Leslie Knope.

Let's be clear though- that first season was only 6 episodes, and the consensus usually is that only 5 of them were truly crummy. There's actually plenty of shows with weak-ass first five episodes.

He was pretty clearly the most extraneous character once the show really got cooking, and once he left, I think he got mouthy about the show a little?

I agree with you, though. Peak Office still struggled to locate the fastball on Michael and Dwight. Peak P&R had all of the main cast pretty perfectly set, give or take Tom (who is far less essential to a P&R episode than Michael ever was to The Office).

I intend to buy the Complete Series box set when it comes out, and proudly place it next to The Wire, Friday Night Lights, West Wing, etc…