The supposition that in the last few years the Democratic Party has miraculously lost all ability to fight the Republican Party is one of the most damaging fish stories ever peddled. And sadly, it is one we've come to believe. All one has to do is scratch the surface of what many Democrats stand for and one will find remarkable substance on issues from health care to education to the environment to even Iraq. The trouble is, Democrats ain't the party in power. And the further trouble is that we're so damn angry at the outrageous behavior of the Republican Party, that we start to believe not only Republican canards about Democrats, but our own.

The truth is that the Democratic Party has stood up to Bush and the Republicans on numerous issues. Unfortunately, Democrats happen to be operating in not only one of the greatest climates of fear this country has ever witnessed, but, more importantly, an era where Republican political and intellectual dishonesty has reached mammoth proportions. It is, and always has been, extremely tough to fight an opponent who does not play by your rules of engagement. The Republican Party has gone so far across the line of decency, stitched such a tapestry of lies and defamation, that it may take a bit longer than we hope to overcome it. Hopefully, the avalanche of bad news for Bush and the Republicans will help awaken people to the stink from the GOP's fish cart.

I will certainly not make the argument that the Democratic Party has fought the good fight on every issue. But I will also never make the blanket statement that the Democratic Party has stood by helplessly while being flattened by the Republican steamroller. It is not only self-defeating, it is also patently false. And it is doing greater damage to our cause than we wish to admit.

Ummmm... Hell's Liberal.... 22 Democrats in the Senate voted AGAINST the resolution authorizing use of force in Iraq. As for John Kerry's vote in favor of that resolution and his vote for the Patriot Act and free trade agreements, that's true. But Kerry also voted against BOTH of Bush's tax cut bills, was instrumental in defeating Bush's first attempt to drill in ANWR, has been a leading voice on progressive energy issues, and has fought Bush on numerous issues while in the Senate.

Which goes straight to my point. Why do people like you insist on making blanket statements that Democrats have given Bush everything he's ever wanted? It's just totally untrue yet you repeat it like some kind of mantra. There are Dems who've rolled over. No doubt. But are you going to tell me that legislators like Henry Waxman, Barbara Boxer, Jerry Nadler, Paul Wellstone (RIP), John Conyers, Barbara Lee, John Lewis, Ted Kennedy, Raul Grijalva, Lynn Woolsey, Dennis Kucinich and many, many others really have rolled over for Bush all these years. Of course not. Because it's simply not true. But your anger at the Republicans completely clouds any contact with reality on the ground.

And before you go painting me as some kind of Democratic apologist, I'll have you know that I worked for Nader for President not in 2000 or 2004, but back in 1992.

If you want a legislator who agrees with your positions 100% of the time, I've got a suggestion. Run for office. Really.

I just checked on both my computers and it ain't Real Player that's malfunctioning. With every other briefing I've checked, you get the Real Player controls which make it easy to fast forward or rewind a particular briefing. The October 31 briefing is the only one I've found where the control panel does not work. Can anyone else check on this and see what the results are? I'd like to smell something fishy, like the fact that the White House doesn't want people listening over and over again to that briefing, but I'd like to be sure it's not just my malfunctioning computers.

I just checked on both my computers and it ain't Real Player that's malfunctioning. With every other briefing I've checked, you get the Real Player controls which make it easy to fast forward or rewind a particular briefing. The October 31 briefing is the only one I've found where the control panel does not work. Can anyone else check on this and see what the results are? I'd like to smell something fishy, like the fact that the White House doesn't want people listening over and over again to that briefing, but I'd like to be sure it's not just my malfunctioning computers.

My previous letter should have (and has been) posted in the letters section of "What Scott McLellan Said." Accidentally posted it here. My bad.

Yes, for the tech savvy, you can get full Real Player control to watch it. But that's not the point. The question is has the White House made an effort to make it harder to discern what McLellan actually said? I don't know. I simply pointed out that for every other briefing I looked at on my PC's, you have full -- and immediate -- control over Real Player. It was only the Oct 31 briefing where this problem exists.

But what makes this whole little contretemps interesting is that if true, it's a mini-scandal that perfectly encapsulates (and plays into) one of the larger aspects of the entire Rove-Libby scandal. And that is that the cover-up is worse than the crime. If he had just let the sleeping transcript lie, without changing it, no mention would have been made whatsoever. David Gregory would still be pounding McLellan and that would be that. It hardly made the news when McLellan said what he said. But by tampering with the transcript and now, possibly trying to make access to the video of what was actually said harder to view, they keep compounding their mistakes.

It's like knucklehead central. And that is the story.