Speaking of Joe Conason,

he sounds just a bit skeptical of the regulation haters who are still pushing their con game in spite of last week's blackout. Conason especially focuses on the antics of First Energy.

"And last week that same thoughtful citizen, plunged abruptly into darkness, had time to contemplate the fact that deregulation exacerbates the corporate tendency to neglect unprofitable yet utterly essential infrastructure--including power transmission lines and facilities. If the citizen were of a certain age, he or she might dimly remember how our nation's economy grew for decades with regulated utilities (and some were even owned by the public--like Los Angeles power plants that continued to supply electricity even during blackouts).

"The restoration of power meant the return of the mass media, with the voices of politicians and experts insisting that deregulation is and always will be the best policy--no matter what happened in California, Houston and everywhere between Detroit and Manhattan. They utter that sizable falsehood with the assurance of a con man who knows his rules."