I've noticed that since starting the podcast, I've basically stopped writing about anything else. This may seem particularly odd to those who know me because, frankly, the American political system is crumbling through our fingers at the moment, and that's something that I sort of care about.

But it's getting to the point that I just don't want to think about it anymore. This isn't "outrage fatigue," although I am pretty tired of all this outrageous shit, it's fatalism. The past five years have been such an assault on my principles and the principles that conceived this country that I've hit the point of physical effects. Reading things like this is like getting repeatedly kicked in the gut by the corpse of your dreams.

George Bush has declared himself above the law and unaccountable. He's just straight up saying it, with no hint of subterfuge. Does anybody honestly think it's a sure thing that he'll voluntarily leave office in January, 2009, if a Democrat beats JEB! in 2008?

But what turns this horrible perversion of American ideals from the challenge of a generation into a downward spiral of abomination with no end in sight is the utter lack of a cohesive opposing force. To wit, Marshall Whitman, the DLC's Republican-in-residence, has this to say:

"Miraculous"? Putting aside for a moment the anthrax attacks, as Whitman and his fellow travelers always do, anyone who finds this to be honestly miraculous, even in the figurative sense, ought to be locked up. I'm serious. This is a simply mindless assessment of how Islamic terrorists operate, and having such mindless people in positions of any influence over American policy or Democratic strategy is too dangerous to tolerate.

But for everything the Democrats do to make noise about these illegal wiretaps, they're not willing to muscle their party brethren the way the GOP does. This is the party, after all, that failed to rebuke Zell Miller even while he gave the keynote address at the Republican National Convention. The first step to becoming a truly effective opposition party is becoming a truly effective party, and that means publicly and loudly cutting off agents provocateurs like Whitman and Joementum. They are not just sabotaging the Democratic party from within, they are accessories to a criminal organization for which the Nixon Administration was just the opening act.