Flop Sweat

When the producers of a play begin to realize that the show is going down the tubes, they break out in "flop sweat." The pressure of trying to keep the dying production afloat leads to desperate measures.

Perhaps I am alone in this, but I detect flop sweat in the Republicans' latest $70 billion tax relief measure for the rich, which passed the Senate tonight. Is this really an attempt to get some momentum back by returning to Bush's central principle? Or is it a desperate move by a party that sees it has little time to reward its friends before the apocalypse ?

Consider this: Senate Republicans are talking about bringing no fewer than 20 judicial nominations to the floor in the next few months--knowing that if they lose control of the upper chamber, Democrats are going to sharpen their knives on any nomination that W sends up.

So far in this Congress, Democrats have shown more cohesiveness in opposing the administration's slash-and-burn policies than they have in a long time. Will it continue? Will they tie the GOP agenda up in knots? Do congressional Democrats realize that their chances of retaking at least one house have been immensely aided by their ability to deny Bush legislative success? You'd think the lesson would be obvious. Let's hope so.