Yesterday Was A Good Day For The Democrats

Maybe it was the result of a recent poll showing Bush with a 24% approval rating, but something definitely clicked yesterday for the Democrats -- well, at least for two Democrats.

This is what California Democratic Rep. Pete Stark said during yesterday's House debates over whether to override Bush's veto of legislation to expand the SCHIP program (the override attempt failed):

First of all, I'm just amazed that they can't figure out-- the Republicans are worried that we can't pay for insuring an additional ten million children. They sure don't care about finding $200 billion to fight the illegal war in Iraq. Where are you gonna get that money? You gonna tell us lies, like you're telling us today? Is that how you're going to fund the war? You don't have the money to fund the war or children, but you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people, if we could get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement.

Of course, the Republicans immediately demanded a retraction, but Stark would have none of that. He simply responded by offering more criticism of the "chicken hawks in Congress who vote to deny children health care." Stark apparently understands how to deal with Republicans -- raise the stakes, and when the Extreme Right complains about it, then re-raise.

And Democratic Senator Chris Dodd found some guts as well:

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) announced in a breathless press release this afternoon that he would block the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) "from being considered by the full Senate and from receiving a vote on the Senate floor." The statement came as the Senate Intelligence Committee met to consider the legislation -- and weeks before it is likely to reach the floor.

On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of Senators and the Bush administration reached a compromise on the politically charged bill, which governs the federal government's domestic surveillance program, including a highly controversial grant of legal immunity to telecommunications companies. Civil libertarians oppose the compromise as going too far to protect telecoms that were revealed to have participated in a warrantless wiretapping program, and because the legislation wouldn't establish warrants for each individual wiretap.

Dodd said he would place a "hold" on the FISA bill, a device available to any senator to stop legislation from moving forward. "By granting immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the president's terrorist surveillance program, even though such participation may have been illegal, the FISA reform bill sets a dangerous precedent by giving the President sweeping authorization to neglect the right to privacy that Americans are entitled to under the Constitution," Dodd explained in a statement outlining his concerns.

The rhetoric got hotter with every paragraph. "It is unconscionable that such a basic right has been violated, and that the president is the perpetrator," Dodd said. "I will do everything in my power to stop Congress from shielding this President's agenda of secrecy, deception, and blatant unlawfulness."

We'll see how all this eventually plays out, but it is a good start.