 So, I don't know what's going on, maybe this is a mirage, perhaps it's a glitch in the simulation that we're all living in, but I actually have some good news as it relates to something that happened in Washington, D.C., which is extremely rare, and I'm not just talking about the good news as it pertains to the title, because that exchange between Amy Klobuchar and Dianne Feinstein, which we will get to, was certainly entertaining. But I have good news as it relates to policy, because a bipartisan group of senators voted to rein in Big Tech, at least to a limited extent, but voted to rein in Big Tech, nonetheless. So, as Jake Johnson of Common Dreams explains, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved antitrust legislation targeting corporate behemoths such as Google, Apple, and Amazon, a move that anti-monopoly campaigners hailed as a positive step toward reining in Big Tech. Formally known as the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, the bipartisan legislation cleared the judiciary panel by an overwhelming vote of 16-6 despite fierce lobbying by Google and Apple, whose chief executives personally reached out to lawmakers to express their opposition to the bill. If passed into law, the measure, sponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley, would prohibit major tech platforms from favoring their own products and services over those of other companies, a practice known as self-preferencing. The six lawmakers who voted against the bill in committee were all Republicans, John Cornyn, Mike Lee, Ben Sasse, Tom Cotton, Tom Tillis, and Marcia Blackburn. This was an even stronger vote than we expected, and notably bodes well about the ability to overcome filibuster on the floor, said Ginger Quintero McCall, legal director at Demand Progress. It will also provide momentum as the debate shifts back to the House. So I'm honestly baffled. I don't know how to process this information. Congress is so broken that when it actually does something right, that's more confusing to me than when it perpetually fucks up. I mean, the lobbying against this bill was absolutely extreme, as the article alluded to, but to know that the chief executive officers at Google and Apple personally reached out to lawmakers and they still decided to vote in favor of this bill that the industry didn't like. I don't I don't even know how to explain that. It's surprisingly good news that we almost never get out of Washington, DC. Whenever there is a bipartisan thing that comes up for a vote, I immediately race because it's going to be something bad. Whenever Republicans and Democrats agree on anything, it's usually to fuck over the American people or increase the military budget. But for them to, in this instance, actually do something to reign in the power that these big tech monopolies have, that is genuinely important. Now, one thing that I have to note here is Tom Cotton and his opposition to this bill. So he previously has talked a big game when it comes to raining raining in big tech, but he voted against this. And as Matt Stoller explains, I'm a bit surprised by Tom Cotton, who has recently been aggressive rhetorically on big tech and even co-sponsored a bill to block big tech mergers. Cotton not only voted against the bill, but also attacked Lena Kahn as a calo radical law professor. And as you can see, Matt Stoller is sharing a tweet from Tom Cotton that reads, tech giants have abused their power, harmed consumers and censored a speech. These monopoly should have to prove why buying out their competition won't make those problems even worse. But wait, if buying out their competition is bad, wouldn't it logically follow that stifling their competition is also bad? I just don't understand why he's opposed to this. I mean, it's Tom Cotton. So perhaps the lobbying got through to him. Maybe he was the one that, you know, got a call from the CEO of Apple. And that is what ultimately changed his mind, I don't know. But for him to, on one hand, you know, claim that he's against big tech and their power and then just pass up on the opportunity to rain them in. It shows how these right wingers are frauds. Now, I don't want to be too pessimistic here because there was bipartisan support here, but it's interesting that Tom Cotton, of all people who in some ways tries to propagate this myth that he is a right wing populist, not as much as individuals like Josh Hawley. But still, he tries to purport that he's or at least project this image of being a populist, but he's a fucking fraud. And now for the moment that you've all been waiting for, the reason why you clicked on this video, there was an exchange during this committee meeting that was really weird to me. So Diane Feinstein, she ultimately did vote for this to her credit, but she was initially kind of vocalizing some skepticism and signaling that she wouldn't support this and she'd side with Republicans. And to kind of legitimize her point, she said that federal agencies also were vocalizing the same concerns about this bill that she had. Now, Amy Klobuchar essentially assumed that Feinstein was implying that the Biden administration had also vocalized these concerns when the Biden administration has not taken a public stance on this either way. So I'm not sure if this was a miscommunication. I'm not sure if Diane Feinstein misspoke. Either way, Amy Klobuchar went after her pretty hard and accused her of lying. And I don't like Amy Klobuchar and I also really despise Diane Feinstein. But my dislike of Diane Feinstein far exceeds the dislike that I have for Amy Klobuchar. So I won't lie, watching Amy Klobuchar low key berate Feinstein put a smile on my face on top of the good news already from this bill being passed. So I'll let you enjoy this. Mr. Chairman, could I ask the senator a question? Are you implying, Senator Feinstein, that the US government, that the administration is against this bill? You just said that federal agencies had concerns. And I would like to know if you have some knowledge that I do not know that the administration is against it since they have made antitrust enforcement as has the Justice Department a major priority. No, I do not know. What I said is I am told that federal agencies have concerns about these provisions. OK, well, that is a pretty bold statement. Had the benefit of their input. That is a bold statement. So well, I'm sorry, Senator. It's so it's so I think and I thought we're able to say what I have been told that by who and you may not like it. Well, no, I don't like it at all because I think that it's not true. Damn, Amy Klobuchar. OK, OK. This is the second time this week where I have agreed with Amy Klobuchar and it makes me kind of hate myself a little bit. But anytime somebody is going to berate Diane Feinstein for anything. I think that they deserve credit. It's warranted. Diane Feinstein is a very shitty person. She is an elitist oligarch and she really shouldn't be in Congress. She's so corrupt. There's so many conflicts of interest there. And that's not to say that Amy Klobuchar's hands are clean. She's also part of the problem. But Diane Feinstein is orders of magnitudes worse than most corporate Democrats. So to see Klobuchar call her out here for lying, again, I don't even know if Feinstein was lying. Maybe she just kind of didn't communicate her thoughts effectively either way. I love this. Yell at, you know, Feinstein all the time, Klobuchar. I love this. I was wondering how close Klobuchar was to picking up the stapler and just throwing it at Feinstein's face. Because, you know, Amy Klobuchar, this is somebody who there are reports that she sometimes will resort to throwing binders and berating her staff. So how close was she to just straight up losing it on Feinstein? Because this is Klobuchar's bill. Her and Chuck Grassley are sponsoring this legislation together. So Feinstein or not Feinstein. Klobuchar has a vested interest in getting this passed. And if she ever runs for president again, she could say, look, I reached across the aisle where President Biden couldn't. I worked on a bill with Chuck Grassley and it got passed. So this is her pet project. So for, you know, Dianne Feinstein to kind of raise concern to concerns about this and so doubt about this. Klobuchar was not going to have it. And it was great to see. So all around kind of a feel good story. I mean, I don't know if this will actually pass, but to see bipartisan support for something that's good is shocking. Although I will say don't be too optimistic just yet. I mean, be happy if you can extract any joy from this, then do that. But I mean, by the time this actually makes it to a floor vote on the Senate, who knows what types of amendments will be snuck in to make it terrible. But for now, this is a positive development. And I think it's worthwhile to share it with you.