So Peter Beinart is taking a leave from TNR to expand his article "A Fighting Faith" into a book. You guys remember the piece, it called for a return to hawkish liberalism and a party purge of "softs" like Michael Moore. It pitted Democrat against Democrat and liberal against DLC'er. It did, one might say, what an article is supposed to do -- inspire debate, arouse passions, and challenge assumptions. I didn't agree with everything he wrote, but it was a good, timely piece that provoked an important, if overly vitriolic, discussion. But he should have left it at that.

Sen. Reid's statement on Gonzales is eloquent and inspiring. It sits after the fold, and you should read it.

Sue's post about goat singing, laughing uncontrollably, and doing so at inappropriate times is hilarious. What's not so hilarious is when I do it. Mainly, that I seem to always do it. I don't think I've attended a Yom Kippur or Rosh HaShanah service where a significant chunk of my time wasn't spent convulsing in laughter, desperately trying to calm myself by reading biblical genealogies and hoping my Grandfather wasn't about to yell at me. At least I only do it around my family though, right?

Wrong.

A few days ago, I responded to a QandO post accusing the Democrats of being all opposition, no ideas. The folks over there have issued their latest missive, amending their argument to admit yes, the Dems have ideas, but they don't have any good ones.

You're not going to find a better SOTU wrap-up than Shakespeare's Sister has penned:

I had the notion that I would do a thoughtful analysis of the State of the Union speech, and maybe I still will, but now, immediately afterwards, my feeling is: What's the point? It was all just bullshit wrapped in the rhetoric of freedom.

Freedom around the world! And end to tyranny! Liberty and justice for all! Not so fast, faggots...

New commentary up top. Your commentary in comments. Let's play ball.

7:26 -- Why do Dems need to have their leaders give the rebuttal? Our congressional heads have a lot of roles and talents, but oratory is not necessarily among them. Is there a reason we can't have, say, Biden and Tim Ryan offering the response? Anyway, I need dinner. Been fun, though.

7:23 -- Pelosi's a markedly ineffective speaker. Her facial expressions are off, delivery monotonous. She's definitely making Reid look good here. And us bad. Or at least boring.