More About Democrats and Alcohol and Stuff

Getting back to the discussion on modern-day Democrats that could use some talking-to (after that gleeful interlude over Tom DeLay's legal pickle, heh), I'd like to urge everyone to check out Dr. Laniac's excellent graph charting the voting records of our representatives in Washington and separating the Blue Dogs from the True Blue Dems. This is a very useful tool to illustrate just how far some of the folks in DC have strayed from party ideals and wandered into the Republican front yard to munch on the grass and maybe pee on a tree or two. (Actually, carrying that metaphor farther than it should ever have gone, maybe if some of those same Blue Dogs had peed on a Bush a few times, we'd be more enthusiastic about supporting them in the future.)

And speaking of Dr. Laniac and dogs of color, I had a chance last night to converse with both the good doctor and Bob Geiger of the Yellow Dog Blog, who was in town from New York and attending the weekly meeting of Drinking Liberally. We had a good discussion about the state of politics today and potential ways to light a fire under the current crop of spinally- and testicularly-challenged Democrats, who should be increasingly on the attack right now with Bushco and its supporters reeling and/or getting indicted. The meet-up was at San Francisco watering hole Zeitgeist, which, appropriately enough, has been graced by a billboard that was recently altered to reflect an extremely apt political view. Also in attendance were fellow Bay Area bloggers Paperwight, Simbaud from The King of Zembla and the newly-resurgent qubit of The Token Reader. Scaramouche, who had said he would be there, was, unfortunately, feeling under the weather, and so missed out on meeting a lot of interesting people and a whole lot of free-flowing beer. Not to mention the round of Manhattans that always show up mysteriously when the King arrives.

One topic of discussion was the formation of a new group blog devoted to local, Northern California politics. As of now, there appears to be a dearth of sites devoted to the goings-on of the upper half of the Golden State, and we'd like to rectify that situation. I'll post more about it once the plans become more concrete. Look for it soon on an internet near you!