darryl issa is an idiot

Rusty Hodge, the GM of SomaFM, has been posting updates from Washington, where he is attempting to help congress understand why we should all save internet radio.

His latest dispatch shows just how idiotic our congresscritters are:

[California Republican Darryl] Issa spoke a lot about HD radio, and the threat it makes to sale of CDs. He is under the impression that the 64kb or lower compressed digital audio sounds as good as CD. HD does not stand for High Definition. It stands for "Hybrid Digital". Unlike HDTV, which improved the signal quality delivered to consumers, HD radio is not a marked improvement. Signal to noise ratios are improved, but there are audible compression artifacts in the audio.

Issa also talked about a flood of HD radio recording devices that automatically split tracks coming out soon. (I think he's extremely wrong on this, there is so little uptake on HD hardware, there are only 2 or 3 HD radios on the market right now, and they're selling very poorly. I've heard a statistic several times that say an American is more likely to be run over by a bus than they are to listen to HD radio in the last year.)

I would like to know why complete idiots like Issa, who clearly have such problems understanding technology, are given the responsibility of crafting legislation that affects technology, and those of us who use it.

Ted Stevens should get his staff to send Issa an Internet and let him know what an ignorant jackass he is.

UPDATE: Rusty has some further thoughts about this - Defending Issa (and other politicians).

Comments

[tjp]

I have not found an HD radio that I like. They are expensive, don't fit in the vehicle without modifications. I wish they sold units like the they do for the satellite radio.
===========================
Number of Operations Iraq Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties
as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 4051

[tesla89]

We have a real problem in this country when it comes to non-technical people sitting in judgment of technical problems. But what's the alternative? Its proper that elected officials have to make some of these calls, but how do we make sure that those calls are based on some level of understanding? The same problem exists in the patent field and in the courtroom. People with absolutely no education in the field are called upon to make precedent setting decisions.

Of course, much could be said of the typical corporate environment in which so many of us toil.

[tesla89]

Oh, and a pretty powerful analogy could be drawn when it comes to letting congress determine war policy.

Enduring Freedom casualties
as confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 4051

non-volunteer Americans (including women, children, the elderly) killed in traffic accidents since 2005: 86,152. Get some perspective.

[Soo]

The problem is that Issa probably has seniority (which means he's old) and so therefore he gets to head this committee.

Plus, he's probably getting all his information from lobbyists who support RIAA and their ilk.

[Severian]

I recently started spending a lot of time listening to Pandora and tuning my preferences to get the kind of music I'm interested in. I bookmark all the best songs I hear and download them from Yahoo and iTunes, then I burn them to MP3 CD and listen to them in my car. I don't think I'm interested in any kind of radio in the car when I can control exactly what I hear by which mp3 cd i'm listening to. I don't have to hear the same tune for weeks on end or skip through (or listen to) songs I don't like. I don't have to worry about poor reception or sound quality, internet radio is only for finding the music you like. Use your mp3 player or mp3 CD player to listen.

[AmandaB]

Well you know, fitting dump trucks through a series of tubes is a tough job, Wil. And fitting all our music into those dump trucks will be quite an undertaking. Thank bob our elected Representatives are up to the challenge.

Issa (elected in 2001, non-senior, relatively young and former car thief) is indeed a moron, along with so many of our SoCal reps. Don't even get me started on Rohrabacher. And I'm still trying to figure out why Calvert (Inland *cough* Empire) represents me in coastal San Clemente.

Methinks Mr. Issa may have friends in the RIAA?

[Icelander]

Welcome to the world, Wil. People with no technical expertise are put in charge of technical things all the time, even in the corporate world.

Why? Because the folks who have the technical expertise are having too much fun to be bothered with being promoted to management or running for a thankless public office.

[James Orr]

"Methinks Mr. Issa may have friends in the RIAA?"

The RIAA contributed $1,000 to his 2005-2006 campaign, which is about 0.1% of his total funds.

He probably just doesn't know what he's talking about.

[Jdack]

"I would like to know why complete idiots like Issa, who clearly have such problems understanding technology, are given the responsibility of crafting legislation that affects technology, and those of us who use it."

Exactly. It boggles the mind.

[Damien]

Someone marked it as punishment. "You know the least about this thing? You're in charge of it. Have fun being hated, and looking like an idiot."

*Sigh*

There is very little to be done to force congress to take care of these things, except to hit them in the paycheck. If they don't do a good enough job, knowing about the things they're supposed to know, stop voting for them.

Put out ads, newspaper articles, television spots, anything, to raise public awareness of the actual truth of the issue (even if it's the base truth of "This person doesn't know what s/he's talking about, here's why:"). Use all media, new and old.

And/Or get elected, yourself.

[Gary Kephart]

Ted Stevens is an idiot and is being investigated. don't count on him.

You want change? You want people in Congress who have a clue? You have to make it happen. Help your local candidates. Now. We have candidates here in Southern Cal running against the incumbents in 2008. Ron Shepston vs Gary Miller, Bill Hedrick vs Ken Calvert, Steve Young vs John Campbell. Want more info? Want to help? Contact me at gary_kephart@pobox.com

[MrPeach]

Wil, are you sure he wasn't talking about Satellite? That is "HD" radio (for small values of "HD").

[MrPeach]

Remember these people are easily confused.