I had an uneasy feeling about this guest column opposing municipal broadband in the Des Moines Register when I read it, so I've left its Firefox tab open for the past five days.For starters, it's just poorly written. It begins with an ad hominem attack on those who disagree with the author, accusing them of name-calling. He then goes on to cite a study published by his right-wing think tank; this study, of course, has not been subjected to peer review. It's author is a former consultant for private telecommunications companies, according to this rebuttal from Spencer Municipal Utilities. This rebuttal was published a month before the column, so it's not like the Register didn't realize there were other opinions out there.In general, I think it's a bad idea to let partisan organizations publish opinion pieces citing only their own research. It's too easy to cook the books and in the process muddy the debate instead of moving it forward. Perhaps there's a good reason why I'm wrong, but I can't think of it off the top of my head.