Just a short three-dot column today...

...For all of you interested in showing Dianne Feinstein what the voters of California think of her recent actions, there is a drive for the California Democratic Party to officially censure Senator Feinstein at its upcoming executive board meeting. I have no contact information for them, but if I were thinking of letting them know how I felt, I'd start at the California Democratic Party website.

[Update: You can sign the petition to censure Dianne Feinstein at CourageCampaign.org.]

...President Bush has begun the veto parade by vetoing his first budget bill, the health and education money. This will not be his last budget veto, as he is determined to score political points off Democrats this budget season. But if Democrats play it right, they can tie this into his recent veto of the children's health program (SCHIP) as well. Democrats can easily get the public on their side in this fracas, if they only frame the issues correctly. Here's hoping, at any rate...

...Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been quoted saying the same thing Speaker Pelosi said last week -- if the $50 billion Iraq war bill doesn't make it through, that's all Bush can expect out of Congress this year. While this is hedging things a bit (this doesn't mean that they won't give Bush his money in January, for instance), it is a lot stronger than we've heard in the past. Let's see if Pelosi and Reid roll over this time, or if they actually mean what they are saying. Again, one would like to hope...

...I hate to close on an ominous note, but that's about the only way to describe the development of Turkey hitting targets inside of Iraq with helicopter gunships. This is technically an act of war by Turkey against Iraq. I have been worried what such a scenario would be like for a long time, and it now appears we're going to see what happens. The Kurdish northern section of Iraq has been fairly stable up until now, and it's anyone's guess how this is going to end.

[This will be the last "live" column until the Monday after Thanksgiving, November 26th. I have prepared for you while I am gone a series of eight speeches -- one from each of the Democratic presidential candidates -- which will begin running tomorrow morning and will continue through to the Friday after Thanksgiving. Although a few of the campaigns took more phone calls than others to get a speech from them (ahem), I have successfully gotten permission from ALL the campaigns to run these, so I leave you with an interesting week and a half of reading material. Enjoy!]

-- Chris Weigant