A Torrent Czar? Seriously?

While everybody was too busy this week freaking out about the failure of two branches of the Federal government to do so much as stick a finger in the dike of the American economy and forgetting about the impending doom of the internal combustion engine to notice, the US Senate quietly passed legislation (.pdf, wordy, work in progress) creating a cabinet position equal in stature (and, knowing how these things go, effectiveness) to the Drug Czar.

...because the best way to deter campaigns of law enforcement impersonation and lawsuits against the dead is to take over the job and legitimize it, right?

I'm not going to spend too much time on this.  I'm not the world's biggest fan of IP theft, but seriously, guys.  I think this week might not be the best time to waste slathering your affections across the MPAA and RIAA's unmentionables.  The arena you're trying to regulate here is far more adaptive than a solution as simplistic as the creation of a Torrent Czar warrants, and bandying this legislation about as an afterthought during what you yourselves are calling the worst thing since the Great Depression demonstrates a lack of perspective about the importance of both issues*.

I do find it interesting that the usual gang of less-governmental-influence-at-any-cost advocates, perhaps already cowed by the unprecedented level of government intervention interference** that's taken place over the last couple of weeks, are thus far more or less silent about the prospect of yet another ineffectual Czar of the Week.

(Hat tip: Threat Level)

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* Yes, I know it was introduced two months ago.  That doesn't make finishing it off today less questionable.  If this is the best idea they can come up with, the issue needs more time and attention.

** You know what?  You pick.