Will Wilkinson called this one right away: Smith is no dummy and was probably deliberately baiting the bloggers. I don't really like Billy Beck, but I think he had it exactly right in the comments at Q & O: "This is going to be no sweat at all. Let ’em try it. They’ll be ass-deep in criminals so fast that they won’t know whether to shit or place a bet.I, for one, hope they push the thing as hard as they can. We will not have seen the rotten bastards looking so foolish in one big worthless lump in all our lives, and the country can use the illustration. Bring it on." However, Iron Mouth's reflexive "Don't do it, it's what the right-wingers want!" reaction strikes me as being beside the point. Sure it's no secret that Smith hates McCain-Feingold, but the fact remains that this is a logical implication of the bill. I don't understand why anyone on either side of the aisle would support it anyway, since both parties did well enough at finding ways around it (527s, etc) in the last election. It serves no purpose and is wide open as an excuse for abusive restrictions on free speech.