72-25

That was the announced vote. Only reason it wasn't announced 1/2 hour ago is because Lindsay Graham's ego required that his late-ass vote be counted.

72-25-3. Three who were not there, one of who we know could not be there because he was in a head on automobile collision this morning. But if he had been, it would have been 73-25-2.

Last time I checked, there were 44 Democratic members of the United States Senate. We also know that Sen. Jeffords voted against cloture.

That means that the vote in our party was 17-25-2. In other words, even though the Devil Got his due when the 4th Democratic senator had cast his or her vote for cloture, 13 others nonetheless felt compelled to say "me too."

Even though it was the last death knell for any possible appearance of party unity and discipline that the Democratic Party.

And as we sit here now, because there was so overwhelming a number of our own breaking ranks when it was absolutely NOT necessary to do so once the 5th vote for cloture had been cast by a Democrat, I'm sitting here listening to Sen. DeMint gloating about the bipartisan cloture vote, a quiet portend that I know is going to be 1,000 times more gloating tomorrow night when it comes out of Dubbya's mouth:

"Democrats will say anything, and do nothing."

Those are the words I just heard Sen. DeMint utter.

He is right. Goddamned his Republican soul. He is right.