Today’s the 215^th birthday of the Bill of Rights, which is the real basis of what I think of as “America.” Rather than muse darkly on the many assaults on those freedoms we’re living through right now, today I’m taking heart from the example of George Mason, who more than anyone else gave us those ten amendments. (more…)

I know it has gone fairly unheralded, but we have one more new Democratic member of Congress as of yesterday, and I for one, am pretty darn pleased. Not only are we getting back a member of Congress who voted against the war, but we are seeing a slow repudiation of the 2003 Tom DeLay redistricting debacle. We will be greeting returning Texas member Ciro Rodriguez in January, who beat 14-year incumbent Republican Henry Bonilla. Those of you around for the 108th Congress remember Rodriguez as a member of Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees, as well as the chair of the Hispanic caucus, so the Iraq vote was pretty brave. He had what some could almost define as a miraculous resurrection yesterday, after a pretty rocky two years.

(more…)