Now maybe I'm misreading this (certainly wouldn't be the first or last time THAT has happened), but unless I am mistaken, Herb Kohl submitted an ammendment to the Energy Bill called Ammendment S.1519 with the stated purpose of: "To amend the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal.".  

And here's the kicker:

Mr. Podhoretz’s op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal is a harrowing glimpse into the false logic and backwards-compatible rationale that first got us into Iraq and is now rushing us pell-mell into Iran.  For the neocons everything must be framed in terms of war, fear and a life or death struggle that we are about to lose if we do not follow their advice.  No objective can be pursued as a general interest, a mutual good, or in the hopes of a rational outcome.  Diplomacy and peace or relics of an age gone by.  Everything is now about threat assessment, false courage, and the need to define that which you oppose as an "evil" which must be destroyed; and destroyed not in a metaphorical sense, but literally and physically bombed, shot, and killed.

I'll start this diary at the same place I plan to end it; with a righteously indignant shout of encouragement and appreciation to former Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly.

Tom Reilly had been a consistent leader for this case and even though he lost his bid for Governor with a 3rd place finish in the Massachusetts primary back in September in many ways this is still his story.

So lets start at the beginning....

The Debate started in the US Senate at 9:45.  After Patty Murray blathered on about opposing EU subsidies for Airbus, Jim Jeffords (I-VT) was the first to stand up to oppose the Amendment despite being a 30 year Veteran of the Navy/Naval Reserve.

The debate starts now....watch it live on CSPAN-2.

Frist has said that there will be a vote today.

On numerous occaisions both here on DKos and elsewhere, I've made the suggestion that the Democratic Party should create short video clips that can be released on the Internet to generate election buzz as a way to combat the always expected voter apathy in any election year, particularly in a mid-term election.

I do not have hard numbers to back this up, but I would be willing to bet that leading up to the '04 Presidential election that more American voters watched the Jib-Jab cartoon then any televised political ad from either party.

At approximately 9:00pm, June 8th 2005 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a Tropical Storm Watch for Western Cuba, the Province of Pinar Del Rio and the Isle of Youth in response to a  tropical depression developing off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.

Overnight, that depression developed into Tropical Storm Arlene and at 6:00am on June 9th and thus the most prolific hurricane season on record began.  One year ago today.

After reading Mr. George Will's "A Vote For English in today's Washington Post I sent the following reply to the author.

I have posted it here as well for comment and discussion.

New article in The Hill today outlines the next phase of slimy base-pandering by Rove & Company.

What is interesting is that their own power players like the Federalist Society and American Center for Law and Justice and even Mr Bill Frist himself, are boycotting the conference calls in protest of BushCo not sending judicial nominees fast enough or conservative enough for their liking.

Full article below the fold.