I was watching Good Morning America at 7 AM this morning and was completely stunned to hear McCain lie so blatantly about something that's a well-established fact. This is the sort of thing that Tim Russert used to feast on -- providing previous video, audio or text from a politician, and contrasting that with the same person's attempts to re-write history (to put it most charitably).

Sad that Robin Roberts wasn't prepared to challenge McCain on his flat-out lie. Wonder if anyone else in the "main stream media" will pick up on this (and the MANY other egregious McCain flip-flops) and hold him accountable? Please? Even a LITTLE?

...are then sent as "comments" to the FISA bill debate.

What, pray tell, is the relevance of the verbal diarrhea that's been posted here by several people?

For what it's worth, here's the definition of "hold" from the U.S. Senate's website:

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"hold - An informal practice by which a Senator informs his or her floor leader that he or she does not wish a particular bill or other measure to reach the floor for consideration. The Majority Leader need not follow the Senator's wishes, but is on notice that the opposing Senator may filibuster any motion to proceed to consider the measure."

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Sounds like this is one of those old-timey favors sometimes granted in the Senate, but not absolutely required. The irritating part in the past has been the secrecy granted to the Senator asking for a "hold" -- holds are traditionally granted when requested, but the identity of the Senator used to be withheld routinely.

Repeat after me: "Victory is defeat!"

This also truly gives new meaning to the phrase "Pyrrhic victory" -- it's more important to Hoyer to gain an even greater Democratic majority than it is to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States?

These people must go; they must be removed down to the last man and woman if they continue such subversive behavior in the guise of a "greater, later good". There won't BE any greater, later good if we allow our "leaders" to continue this erosion of what makes the United States a free democratic republic.

Just when you think you've seen and heard it all, something like this comes along. Almost too bizarre for words.

As Kurt Vonnegut famously put it, "So it goes..."

Some have guessed that some Democrats actually salivate over having unchecked executive power, just like authoritarian Republicans and ultraconservatives, and that this explains their abject surrender on all important points of the FISA and illegal surveillance debate. That may be true in part, I suppose, but there are other possibilities.

While there is, as far as I know, literally no evidence to support one alternate explanation of why Democrats would do this, I have to wonder if it isn't at least partially true: Have Dubya and friends uncovered uncomfortable secrets about Congressional Democrats from the illegal surveillance programs, and is this information being used against them to coerce support for the FISA "compromise"?

Blackmail can be VERY effective, can't it? (Just asking!)

Do Americans recognize how desperately close we are to losing many of the basic constitutional rights that exist in our Constitution? Only ONE VOTE on this Supreme Court separates the conservative faction from prevailing in cases such as today's.

Assuming we can take John McCain at his word (a shaky proposition at best, since he's flip-flopped more furiously on more issues than any politician in recent memory), he will nominate clones of Alito, et al. If for no other reason, Obama must prevail over McCain in November, and the Senate must refuse to consider any Bush nominees during the remainder of his term, should a Supreme Court vacancy develop.

We may just luck out, and get saved by the bell that rings on January 20, 2009.

Here's the truth -- the Current Occupant realizes no one can admit publicly to having NO regrets of any sort, even if he truly has none. So he invents regrets about "style" rather than "substance".

While Dubya's "style" is enough to make any thinking person vomit most of the time, I could easily stomach my revulsion -- if only he had real substance that wasn't driving our country and the planet right off the cliff. It should go without saying that the policies and practices of his administration -- the substance, if you will -- ought to be far more important than its style.

His bizarre gift appears to involve pairing matchless lack of style with substance worse than any in the history of our republic. Little wonder he's earned the title of Worst President Ever from millions of people around the world...

All we need do is read the last couple of items posted on Salon by Glenn Greenwald detailing the real agenda of Bush and his ilk, which is now being heartily endorsed by McCain. Our democratic republic is in real danger of vanishing under a third consecutive term with such anti-Americans in the White House -- people who do not value the rule of law, but instead crave the false security of a dictatorial supreme leader who is accountable to no one.

We need a bracing campaign centered on REAL patriotism to sweep Obama and like-minded Democrats into office in Washington, simultaneously sweeping McCain and friends into the dustbin of history. This truly may be our last chance to reverse the deplorable trend of the last 7 years!

All I can say is, at least we won't have to endure a performance reminiscent of Zell Miller's at the 2004 Republican National Convention. His total meltdown on national TV, while entertaining, was beyond anything Joe is capable of producing.

All that Joe can do is bore us to death with his sickeningly annoying WHINE. Lord, are we going to be faced with turncoat Democrats offering up speeches at each and every GOP convention in future?