The problem is that all the people opposing SOPA undercut their opposition by acknowledging the importance of copyright and IP, by condemning piracy. It is admirable that they are taking the ride side of the chasm caused by their cognitive dissonance, but dissonance it is. If you support copyright, you oppose piracy, and you support the state’s existence and its attempts to enforce these “property rights.” You cannot have both copyright, and Internet freedom/freedom of speech. The threat here to property rights, to individual rights, to Internet freedom and freedom of speech and expression and the press comes from copyright itself. We must strike at the root. SOPA is just a symptom of the disease. The disease is copyright. Everyone is trying to treat the symptom–enforcement efforts like SOPA–with half-hearted treatments like labeling the response “disproportionate” or going “too far.” This is like trying to treat a brain tumor by taking Tylenol–sorry, acetaminophen–in response to the headaches caused by the tumor. All opponents of SOPA and censorship, all denizens of the web and proponents of freedom, must oppose copyright itself (and patent too).

It is indeed a singular achievement for one man to rise so high in the reasonably clubbable, popularity-dependent world of politics while yet remaining so heroically charmless in almost every possible way.

But Huhne has managed it. That is why today on this happiest of days, let us all raise our glasses and let joy be unconfined.

“As an economic system capitalism has nothing to do with responsibility,” says the Marxist sage, yet this is perverse, uninformed, given that trust and being responsible to fulfill one’s promises is essential to free market capitalism. Indeed, one reason that that system works pretty well when uncorrupted by state interference is that those who fail to be responsible do not flourish in it unless favored with privileges they haven’t earned.

Most of us are far too busy working, building things, raising families and taking care of our communities to worry all that much about what you're up to. Just understand that if you try sneaking up on someone's property to plant a GPS bug on their car, you will probably have the dogs at your throat or a load of buckshot in your butts. We don't suffer fools gladly.

How many jobs do you know where you can’t be fired for five years, even if you don’t do what you promised you would and steal from the till? This is our chance to make sure MPs don’t think they can get away with ignoring us, or just toeing their party’s line.