Via email and snailmail, I received two fundraising letters today from the DNC. If I'd gotten them on separate days, they'd have gone into the trash without a second thought. (I don't donate to organizations, except for the ACLU. Individuals, yes.) Taken together, though, something struck me.

The DNC is implicitly claiming credit for the successes of bloggers!

I've been claiming for years that the Internet has the potential to vastly change the political landscape. In recent months, we've seen some strong support of that theory. In the past couple weeks, there has been explicit credit offered to Josh and crew over at Talking Points Memo, in regards to smelling out USAgate and pushing. "Macaca" Allen owes his loss not only to his video-taped comments, but to the vast dissemination of the tape via the net.

So how is the DNC spinning this?

I came home from work today and found a door hanger from the Montana Republican State Central Committee, touting Conrad Burns (Senate) and Denny Rehberg (House of Representatives).

At first I simply tore it into 4 pieces and chucked it in the trash, but then I reconsidered. Why not find out what they've got to say? I'll most likely never have a more legitimate opportunity...

More on the flip. Paraphrased, with his responses shortened, but I've got a pretty good memory...

During Andrea Koppel's live interview with Dennis Hastert on CNN, Hastert made a huge slip of the tongue. He admitted that his concern was focused on political consequences.

Transcript (emphasis mine) and more below: Update: title changed.

Just had a robocall from Common Sense 2006. Plain old garden variety pushpoll.

Questions, as best I can remember, with my answers following each:

Further support for my contention that Conrad Burns really is about as Dumb as a Bag of Hammers!

Last Friday, Conrad Burns, increasingly besieged by questions about his dealings with uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the fact that (so far) Burns is at the top of the money list, made this truly pertinent, eloquent, and mature observation:

So, Scalito leaps into action: The day after the eight members of the Senate Judiciary Committee asks for a truckload of records on his handling of the Vanguard case (everybody remembers that one, right? Where he ruled on a case involving Vanguard, a company in which he holds considerable stock? And when called on it, decided maybe he should recuse himself after all? Especially since when he was confirmed, 15 years before, he specifically promised to recuse himself from cases involving Vanguard?), he makes a bold, daring move:

Follow me for the exciting conclusion, after the flip!

Last week I sent a LTE to the Billings Gazette, a response to a local wingnut (I'll reproduce both letters below the fold). This morning I received mail from a local reader, which I will also reproduce below.

I thought about tossing it. Then I thought about responding to his direct points.

I finally decided that the only appropriate response would be to offer him as many facts as possible, cited, with polite and reasonable commentary. To do less would be akin to sharing bathwater...

What I would like from you, if possible, is any pertinent points of information that you know off the top of your head, together with source (specific if possible, general if not). I will follow up, collate, write it up, send it to him and post the results.

Please, follow me on...

Garry Trudeau has been my favorite comic strip writer/political commentator since I first saw his "J'accuse!" strip at the age of 8 or so. Without fail, he has hit that sweet spot blend of comedy, cynicism, truth, and sardonic wit that makes me want to clip and frame about every third or fourth strip.

He has covered every major social-political event in the USA that I can think of - Watergate, Iran-Contra, drugs, minorities in politics, Clint Eastwood as governor, homelessness... The list is truly staggering.

But today he has outdone himself.