All Russ Feingold All The Time

England Prevails: I thoroughly enjoyed V for Vendetta, though I thought it could use five to ten more minutes of fighting. The movie ended up stylized yet understated in much the same way that The Matrix was while it's sequels were not.

No one should really take seriously the complaints about the movie's politics. The developments of V's near future quickly drowned out any sort of political message about today's current. Plus, it's a movie, for crying out loud. For all of V's talk about the power of words and ideas, I can't believe many people really treat Hollywood as their source of political ideology.

The Battlepanda has gone another round on Russ Feingold, so I think I ought to respond in kind. In the days following the Feingold censure announcement, Democrats not named Ben Nelson have been somewhere between vaguely supportive of investigations that might lead to censure (Murtha: "I’m hesitant to say the president ought to be censured before a committee looks at it and really investigates it and comes up with some real conclusions") to outright support from Barbara Boxer and Tom Harkin. Given the blindsiding that appears to have taken place this strikes me a decent outcome. Perhaps the biggest complaint is that the censure story didn't do enough to elevate the NSA wiretapping story. Individual Members are focusing on "censure: yes or no" rather than the story motivating Feingold's censure resolution. A notable exception on this front is Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who went on Fox News and told it like it is.

The key is to get Republican Members to answer the "censure: yes or no" question while Democrats present a united front favoring investigations of Presidential abuse of power (surely we all remember this phrase from the Clinton era, right?) with a promise that they will "make changes to the law to protect our liberties and our safety, censure, and move on". Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will censure resolutions. Especially without controlling either house of Congress.

Ezra Klein has a fantastic article on the New Al Gore. You have to take Joe Trippi's quote with a grain of salt, but other than that it's great stuff.

Koufax Voting: For the love of all that is holy, if you do not vote for Fafblog! as the Most Humorous Blog, you simply don't know funny. Likewise, Goldy deserves some recognition for his humor, informative content, and occasional real journalism.

I'm finally headed back to Drinking Liberally tonight. Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th ave E, 8pm until whenever.