by JAMES TARANTO
Monday, January 30, 2006 2:53 P.M. EST

Best of the Tube Tonight
We're scheduled to appear this evening on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" to preview President Bush's State of the Union Address. The program airs at 6 p.m. EST, with a repeat at 4 a.m. EST tomorrow.

Mr. Swiss Goes to Washington
Amid chants of "Hey hey, ho ho, multiple regression analysis has got to go," John Kerry*, the haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat who by the way served in Vietnam, reported for duty in one more losing battle: to filibuster the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. As in Vietnam, not all of his "band of brothers" are pleased with Kerry's leadership, reports the Washington Times:

Sen. Barack Obama, the freshman Democrat from Illinois who is one of his party's brightest stars, chided his party yesterday for its "over-reliance" on "procedural maneuvers" such as the fruitless filibuster threats against the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.

"We need to recognize--because Judge Alito will be confirmed--that if we're going to oppose a nominee, that we've got to persuade the American people that, in fact, their values are at stake," he said yesterday on ABC's "This Week." . . .

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat, seemed to agree.

"I think a filibuster makes sense when you have a prospect of actually succeeding," he said on CNN's "Late Edition." . . .

Still, Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden said yesterday that they will support their party's hopeless filibuster.

Somehow it doesn't seem right that Obama, the only African-American in the Senate, is being pressured into going along with a tactic that earlier generations of Democrats used to prevent the passage of civil rights laws.

Conveniently enough for Kerry, the cloture vote is perfectly timed to divert attention from today's first anniversary of his promise to release his military records. But what's really going on is that he is trying to establish his Angry Left bona fides in preparation for what he mistakenly thinks will be another presidential campaign in 2008. The Washington Post notes that the Democrats face "an intraparty rift that could complicate efforts to win back the White House: fiery liberals raising their voices on Web sites and in interest groups vs. elected officials trying to appeal to a much broader audience."

What the Post article fails to capture is just how far off the deep end the Angry Left has gone. Here's an excerpt of an e-mail we received in the wee hours of Friday morning from Democrats.com:

If we lose the cloture vote on Monday at 4:30 p.m., the Senate will vote at 11 a.m. on Tuesday to put Sam Alito on the Supreme Court with Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and John Roberts--where they will vote in lockstep to ensure that the extremist agenda of the radical right is never blocked by any Court.

And what is that agenda? It is no longer a mystery: allowing a President to start illegal wars, murder civilians and journalists, destroy cities, torture prisoners, lock away citizens at home, and wiretap every email and call in the world. Having the Supreme Court choose Presidents, not the voters. Letting corporations crush their workers and poison the planet. And, of course, outlawing all abortions, even at the cost of women's lives.

A follow-up came early Saturday morning:

Naturally, the White House freaked out and told Senator Bill Frist to schedule a cloture vote as quickly as possible--Monday at 4:30 p.m.--to prevent Democrats from uniting behind Kerry.

Then the White House called its media whores at the NY Times (David Kirkpatrick), AP (Jesse Holland), Pentagon Post (Charles Babington), CNN (Miles O'Brien), and MSNBC (Chris Matthews) and told them to trash John Kerry for daring to challenge the will of Emperor Bush, and to repeat over and over that Democrats did not have enough votes to stop Alito.

The Friday e-mail also urged wavering Dems to use wounded soldiers as political props:

Three Democrats--Ben Nelson (NE), Tim Johnson (SD), and Robert Byrd (WV)--plan to vote for Alito.

Three Democrats have said publicly they oppose Alito, but also oppose a filibuster--Mary Landrieu (LA), Ken Salazar (CO), and Dianne Feinstein (CA).

We must give these six Democrats two choices: (1) change their position to support a Democratic filibuster, or (2) spend Monday away from the Senate--preferably at Walter Reed Hospital talking to soldiers who have been maimed for life by the criminal actions of George Bush.

Actually, as our tally shows, Landrieu has not said how she'll vote on Alito's confirmation. Meanwhile, Feinstein, although critical of the filibuster, has said she will vote to sustain it.

Which raises an interesting question: What if the dog catches the car? Democrats like Biden, Feinstein and Obama plainly do not want to filibuster but will vote to do so anyway, out of either party loyalty or fear of the Angry Left. The Daily Southtown, a suburban Chicago paper, reports that "the day before the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote on Sam Alito"--that is, a week ago today--"U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said he had 37 votes to support a filibuster--not enough." Sustaining a filibuster requires 41 votes; there are 45 Democrats (including nominal independent Jim Jeffords) in the Senate, so Durbin was claiming the support of all but eight of them.

There are at least nine Democratic senators who should not be voting in favor of a filibuster: the seven in the "Gang of 14"--Mark Pryor (Ark.), Ken Salazar (Colo.), Joe Lieberman (Conn.), Daniel Inouye (Hawaii), Mary Landrieu (La.), Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Robert Byrd (W.Va.)--plus Kent Conrad (N.D.) and Tim Johnson (S.D.), who have said they are voting for Alito's confirmation. That would leave only 36 votes against a filibuster. If Durbin wasn't just blowing smoke, then, it seems likely that some of the gangsters are willing to walk away from the filibuster compromise and vote against cloture this afternoon.

It's highly unlikely, and no one actually seems to be expecting it, but what if today's cloture vote does go against Alito? A second cloture vote would surely follow, but the pressure on the Democrats to maintain party unity would be immense. The likely result: "nuclear" confrontation. Republicans would change the rules to do away with the filibuster on judicial nominees.

In a way this would be the best outcome for the GOP, for the filibuster compromise expires at the end of this congressional term, and a few Democratic Senate pickups could deprive Republicans of the votes they need go nuclear if, say, Justice John Paul Stevens retires in 2007. The Angry Left should be careful what it wishes for.

* The senior senator from Davos.

So Who's Minding the Orchids?

"I am neither a politician nor an organizer. I am a retired police officer with a passion for orchids. Until January of this year, the only public presentations I made were about my orchid hobby. But in this presidential election, I had to speak out; I had to tell the American people about John Kerry, about his wisdom and courage, about his vision and leadership."--Jim Rassmann, The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 10, 2004

"Sen. Hillary Clinton's fundraising trip to Portland is under fire from some Democratic veterans, who say she is siphoning away money that could go to local candidates. The group, which includes Jim Rassmann, the Florence veteran who hit the campaign trail with John Kerry in 2004 to speak about how Kerry saved his life in Vietnam, have issued a letter denouncing the former first lady's support for the Iraq war."--Associated Press, Jan. 26, 2006

Laffey All the Way to the Bank
Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island this morning became the first Republican to announce that he'll vote against Sam Alito's confirmation, the Associated Press reports:

While Chafee praised Alito's "outstanding legal credentials," he said he was concerned about the judge's philosophy on executive power, abortion rights and his interpretation of the Constitution's commerce clause, which Congress has used to pass environmental legislation.

"I am a pro-choice, pro-environment, pro-Bill of Rights Republican, and I will be voting against this nomination," Chafee said.

Maine's Olympia Snowe has not announced her intentions; the other 53 Republican senators all say they'll back Alito. In political terms, Chafee's choice must have been a difficult one. Rhode Island is one of the most liberal states in the country--but it also has a higher proportion of Italian-Americans than any other state, and some voters surely will note that Chafee voted for the chief justice, whose name ends in a consonant.

Chafee's term is up this year, and Democrats think he's vulnerable. But conservative Republicans think so too, including Mayor Stephen Laffey of Cranston, who is challenging Chafee in the primary and says he'd vote for Alito. Although Chafee may be more "electable" than Laffey in Rhode Island, it's hard to think of much reason why a conservative would support the incumbent. Chafee seems pretty much indistinguishable from a Democrat--except that unlike some Democrats (cf Joe Lieberman) he actually seems to believe this nonsense.

Moonbattery Goes Mainstream
This should be fun. "U.S. peace activist [sic] Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, said she was considering running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein because she thinks the California lawmaker has been too supportive of the war," the Associated Press reports from Caracas, Venezuela:

Sheehan issued a statement Friday saying her decision to oppose Feinstein would also depend on whether the Democratic senator backed a filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Later in the day, Feinstein announced she would support the filibuster, reversing an earlier position that she did not think the move was justified.

Is DiFi doing the bidding of this anti-American crackpot? Probably not, but one consequence of the media falsely presenting Sheehan as a "mainstream" figure--a "peace activist" rather than a hateful harpy who thinks terrorists are "freedom fighters"--is that it reduces the distance between Democrats and her sort of lunacy. Sen. Hillary Clinton, supposedly a centrist, was in Feinstein's hometown of San Francisco over the weekend engaging in some moonbat conspiracy theorizing of her own, the New York Sun reports:

Senator Clinton told a largely friendly audience here Saturday night that the slow pace of government-sponsored reconstruction following Hurricane Katrina was the result of a deliberate decision by the Bush administration and may have been motivated by a desire to discourage Democratic voters from returning to the devastated region.

"I think that basically we are now watching a deliberate policy of neglect take root," Mrs. Clinton said during an appearance at a fund-raiser for legal services charities. "It is deeply troubling for any American to believe that your government would abandon such a huge part of our country and such an important part of our history."

Mrs. Clinton said she suspected that the assignment of President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, to oversee the relief effort indicated that political mischief was afoot. "Cynical minds might suggest that the destruction of the Democratic vote in Louisiana was a mixed blessing. If you rebuild New Orleans, all those Democrats might come home," she said during a 90-minute public interview conducted on an auditorium stage by a former television host, Jane Pauley.

Wouldn't it be more cynical to rebuild portions of New Orleans that are below sea level and thus leave "all those Democrats" vulnerable to natural devastation, all for the sake of keeping them on the Democratic plantation?

E&P Spots Black Men in 'Black School'
Editor & Publisher reports on the latest kerfuffle over a campus appearance by Ann Coulter, this one at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark.:

Coulter did provoke some booing, though, especially after she stopped two black men during questions, telling them, "I'm not gonna be lectured to," according to the newspaper account.

That is from the third paragraph. Here's the fourth:

Blacks "are the most loyal group for Democrats and you ought to be getting a little more out of them by giving them competition through the Republicans," Coulter said.

And the sixth paragraph says that "Afterward, black students stood around 'lashing' back at Coulter's 'rhetoric.' " So far, then, the E&P report has told us that Coulter was rude to black people and spoke of blacks in sweeping generalizations. But if you read the seventh E&P paragraph, it turns out the explanation is quite innocent:

The college president, Walter Kimbrough, had told the audience, that inviting Coulter to speak at the black school made sense because like hip hoppers she is "raw, outspoken, uncensored." He also called her the "conservative answer to rapper Lil' Kim--[both] attractive and sexy, long-haired blondes. . . ."

Given that it's a "black school," it's hardly surprising that the students with whom Coulter tangled were black. But E&P certainly took its time in making that clear--perhaps in a cheap attempt to paint Coulter as a racist.

What Would We Do Without Census Bureau Reports?
"The latest Census Bureau report shows median prices for new residences sold in December fell 1.5 percent from the previous month to $221,800. Half of the homes sold for more than the median, the rest for less."--CNNMoney.com, Jan. 27

Whatever Floats Your Boat, Arizona
"Husky Women Whip Arizona 91-73"--headline, KING-TV Web site (Seattle), Jan. 27

Dept. of Creative Euphemism
"Man With 11-Woman Commune Had Stun-Gun?"--headline, Reuters, Jan. 27

That's Easy for You to Say!
"Humuhumunukunukuapuaa Dethroned in Hawaii"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 28

We Blame Bush
"The Brechin Babies: Football boss blames 11 babies on promotion party..nine months ago"--headline and subheadline, Sunday Mail (Glasgow, Scotland), Jan. 29

Noah Remains at Large
"Police Weigh Charges Against Ark. Mother"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 30

It Was Too High for the Dwarf to Reach
"Giant Pulls Soup From Shelves After Needle Found in Can"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 30

Thanks for the Tip!--XLII
"Health Tip: Avoid Foods for Baby That Cause Choking"--headline, HealthDayNews, Jan. 27

Bottom Story of the Day
"Joaquin Phoenix Uninjured in LA Car Crash"--headline, Associated Press, Jan. 27

So Help Me Me
"One registered Republican won't be able to vote in the next election unless he appears at a Berks County Elections Board to explain the signature on his registration form," the Associated Press reports from Reading, Pa.:

The man is registered as Paul S. Sewell, Elections Director Deborah M. Olivieri said, but his form is signed "God."

County Solicitor Alan S. Miller said Sewell claims his "God" signature is merely a legal mark like the "X" used by people who are illiterate.

Sewell, 40, said he will be happy to explain. As the owner of a bail enforcement agency, he finds fugitives, he said.

"Whenever I go to arrest somebody, they say, 'Oh, God, give me another chance. Oh, God, let me go. I'll turn myself in tomorrow,'" Sewell said.

He said he thinks his designated mark is legal. "PennDOT accepted it on my driver's license. I have a credit card with it," he said. "It shouldn't be a problem."

It may be a problem, though, if Sewell's neighbors begin wondering why their wives shout out his name in moments of passion.

(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Don Hubschman, Phil Hord, Charles Boersig, David Hutchital, Kevin Englet, Erik Axelson, Lynne Schatz, Barbara Ledeen, Terry Hinshaw, Tim Graham, Charlie Gaylord, Dan O'Shea, Mark Van Der Molen, Michael Segal, C.E. Dobkin, Paul Music, Chris Scibelli, Ethel Fenig, Ed Lasky, Ruth Papazian, Darryl May, Thomas Dillon, Christopher Desmond, Wayne Rutman, John Hartness, Kathleen Myalls, Christian Peck, Jesse Meyer, J. Kaufman, Matthew du Mee, Allen Utter, Brent Silver, Rod Pennington, Mark Finkelstein, Christopher Galati, Mordecai Bobrowsky, Andrew Robinson, Tom Bonetto, A.S. Clifton, Jacques Couret, Michael Feldbush, Jamie Extract and Kevin Littleton. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)

Today on OpinionJournal:

• Debra Burlingame: Al Qaeda, not the FBI, is the greater threat to America.
• John Fund: Tom DeLay's predecessor talks about how to reclaim the Republican soul.
• The Journal Editorial Report: A transcript of the weekend's program on FOX News Channel.