Hey, look, they did something right for a change.

Harry Reid instructed his minions to vote against a "$453.5 billion defense bill including $29 billion for hurricane relief, the war and border security, and $2 billion to help low-income households pay this winter's heating expenses."

That's great news!

Why?

Because right wing nutjob Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) tacked on a provision to the bill that called for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. What does that have to do with hurricane relief, border security or helping poor people pay their heating bills? BUGGER ALL! (Stevens, by the way, is the same jerk who shouted poor Maria Cantwell down when she requested that oil executives be placed under oath when they testified in front of a senate committee last month - God forbid)

Stevens and the Republican leadership hoped that Democrats would buckle underneath the pressure of having a campaign commercial next year that says "Liberal Senator Liberally McLiberalson voted, like the rest of the Liberal members of the senate, AGAINST hurricane relief, border security or helping poor people pay their heating bills. Do you want this Liberal in representing YOU? You aren't safe...a-Boogey-Boogey-Boogey!".

Drilling ANWR, not conservation and developing alternative energies, is the cornerstone to Bush's energy policy- just thought I'd put that in there.

So kudos, Harry Reid, et. al., for acting like a Republican and standing up for what you believe in. It's good to finally see a Democratic leadership with some balls. Now they just have to win the (mis)information war. That's the hard part. Unfortunately, "standing up for what you believe in" means bollocks when the campaign ads run. I'm so fucking sick of attack ads that use the word "liberal" like it means "Nazi" or "child rapist". Can't Democrats come back with an attack ad that uses the word conservative like that? Is that possible? Sigh....