I've been talking with the Senator about the torture-memo judge.  Last week, I asked Leahy what it would take to impeach Bybee.  The Senator responded, "high crimes or misdemeanors".  he went on to say that, "of all the things this past administration did, this was one of the worst."  

As most of you probably know, yesterday Representatives Michele Bachmann, Steve King and the rest of the Republican caucus, along with Mark Levin and several other conservative celebrities rallied their base against healthcare reform on the Capitol steps.

The Billionaires for Wealthcare showed up; I followed them around for a couple of hours.

These folks have always made me laugh. Their shtick is creative and fun. What I hadn't thought about is how dicey (meaning borderline - or actually - dangerous) their work can be. In fact, when they finally broke character and went home for the day, I spoke with one of the troupe. He told me that at one of their outtings, he watched one of his performers take a punch to the face.

I put this video together to show you what it can be like in the lion's den...

Last week, I ran into a "centrist" Dem's press conference where made some noise about cloture being a "tough vote" if the health care bill contained a public option.  I asked the Senator if he had any idea how many medical bankruptcies were filed in his state last year.  He grumbled and shut down the press conference.  It was clear that he had no idea what the answer to my question was and he was annoyed that the "riff-raff" was let in to intrude on the little party he and the beltway press were having.  

Seriously, the press loves telling the story of how "liberal" democrats are fighting with the "moderates" in their own party; they hate it when someone points out to them that, all to often, "moderate" is a euphimism for "incompetent douchebag".  Anyway, I'm sure you'll be seeing that video soon enough.

I asked Congressman Dennis Kucinich about the prospects for his health-care Amendment - a provision that would allow states to set up their own single-payer healthcare networks.  Here's what he sent to Democrats.com:

Hi. For those of you that do not know me, my name is Mike Stark and I am an incorrigible direct action activist.

A long, long time ago, I got started with my confrontational style of activism by calling into right-wing talk radio shows, saying something truthful and stepping aside to watch the ensuing head explosions. For a long time, this subversive obsession remained a dirty little secret... I mean, really... What kind of geek actually calls talk radio, right?

Well... one day I got through to the flatulent king of right-wing talk radio - Rush Limbaugh. I asked him why Michael Moore and the NBA thugs and Dixie Chicks paid less than one-one-hundredth of one percent of their incomes in social security taxes, when I, as a very hard-working American, had 6% taken out of every paycheck... I was so proud of the call that I posted a diary about it at DailyKos.