North Star Politics

Sen. Coleman, I swear on my honor that if you vote for ANWR drilling, I will devote every waking moment of the next three years to not just defeating but CRUSHING you in 2008. You promised the people of Minnesota this, flat-out and unqualified. You will be a liar and a hack if you go back on it now. Vote for Sen. Cantwell's amendment and vote against the budget if it fails. We're watching.

Most readers will know all about the fireworks today by now. My only addition is to point out how well this is playing in the media. Right now CNN.com's front headline is "Democrats close Senate to push Iraq war probe" and its byline looks even better. That's news coverage I won't complain about.

It's been a great day for the Dems. I'm very proud of our party today, especially of our Senate minority leader, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada. Thank you, sir.

Breaking news: the U.S. Senate is now in a closed session to discuss the Libby indictment and pre-war Iraq intelligence.

All I know is that Harry Reid is a gutsy guy. I don't know who would make a better minority leader. God knows he's not perfect, but he has done a hell of a job during a very tough time for the Democrats.

Kos has an interesting point regarding the use of the nuclear option: Republicans may soon be in the minority. The idea that the GOP might eventually be in the minority and thus need the protection of the filibuster has always been around, but when this debate last occurred, it looked like a much longer-term problem. Now, of course, Republicans are on the ropes, and it's looking like there's a chance that the Senate will be controlled by Democrats after 2006. It's an interesting question as to whether they'll be willing to forfeit a rule that they may need in the near future. In addition, with the public's recent disapproval of Republican politics, pulling the nuclear trigger may be much worse for them politically than it might have been this summer.

Will they do it if things do come to a filibuster? Probably. Republicans are often willing to trade away the future for short-term gain.

Dear Mr. Mike Hatch, Esq.,

Sir, I just checked out your website tonight for the first time. Wow. It's bad. Really bad. Mr. Hatch, you're a candidate for governor, and that website wouldn't be good for a candidate for city council. Please fix this; it's a sign of a shoddy campaign. Thank you.

- North Star Politics

What the hell is wrong with these people? They apparently literally want the penalty for premarital sex to be death.

I wasn't going to weigh on in Bush's new SCOTUS nomination, but I can't resist. John Roberts demonstrated that he had both the experience and the jurisprudence for his seat, while Harriet Miers failed to do either. Alito, on the other hand, has the experience but not the jurisprudence. He is, without a doubt, out of the American mainstream, exactly the opposite of the kind of person who we need on the highest court in the land. He's a judicial activist in the worst sense of the word.

This nomination is troubled from the very beginning. Democrats will unite to defeat this guy, and right off the bat he hasn't been presented well by the media. This is the Bush administration's feeble attempt to get back on course, but it's time to face it, Republicans...it just ain't happening.