"Sick and Pissed Off" or "The Case Against Cable"

Well, I'm nearing the tail end of whatever it is I have. I need to go see the doctor again, but I felt better today after a weekend of medicating and headaches. Anyway, I am fed up with the fact that companies are fighting and hurting customers, and the government doesn't seem to care. Therefore, this letter has found its way to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's inbox.

Dear Attorney General Spitzer,

I am writing to you with regard to a topic that has surfaced numerous times, and has once before been successfully quelled by your intervention. More specifically, this is about the business practices of Cablevision and their reluctance to cooperate with other entities in providing broadcast rights to selected programming. By now I am sure you are quite aware of the situation with Cablevision and Time Warner that has left millions of New Yorkers without coverage of the Mets and Knicks.

I would like to say that this is completely unacceptable. Both of these "hog fat" companies have lost sight of their customers' interests and this seems to be a dangerous and ever rising trend. I know that you have successfully dealt with this issue before and was hoping that you would be swayed to take some action on behalf of millions of New Yorkers. Frankly, all these exclusivity and broadcast right shenanigans have come to head. If no agreement can be reached by Cablevision and Time Warner, then at least for the time being, programming should be available a la carte, for those willing to pay. This, however, should be a temporary measure since setting a precedent for a la carte program pricing would allow cable companies to raise rates even higher in the future.

Furthermore, it seems rather foolish and somewhat insulting that the FCC which takes in millions of hard earned tax dollars to regulate free air spectrum cannot prevent these types of exclusivity agreements from being established. Any programming, especially those of local sports teams and other local interest, which is at any point broadcast over the air, should be available to all persons regardless of what service provider they choose. Anything less, is unappreciated, unacceptable and should be viewed as predatory and anti-competitive.

Finally, I would like to add that specifically over the previous decade, the United States Congress and in fact, almost all areas of the government have either turned a blind eye to or have willingly indulged in jurisprudence that is detrimental to technology and its development in the United States today. Regardless of what scope of technology, the citizens of this country are being robbed, day in and day out, of progress that could prove to be crucial and even necessary in future years to come. As a defender of the people and the public interest, and as a person of prestige, ultimately seeking higher office, I hope that you can help undo a century of the crippling of technology in America, primarily due to a lack of understanding it. I look forward to your potential candidacy as Governor or Senator of our great state. Progress begins with the most elementary of steps, and as your record shows, you have been a pioneering champion of the people. Best wishes in your continuation to do so.

Being in NY, I can watch the Cubs, Tigers, Royals, Indians, Brewers, Pirates, Phillies, Marlins, Diamondbacks, Nationals and even the Giants--just not the Mets. Even if you have the stupid MLB Extra Innings package, even the MLB's own MLB.TV service blacks out local teams. This is service? This is fuckin stupid. I just want my fucking baseball.