Is this ... gasp ... democracy?

Not yet, anyway. But I think l'affaire Downing Street is picking up steam.

While it's sorta being covered in the press, you have to go all the way to the antipodes to get a transcript of Cindy Sheehan's speech. But it's worth it. That woman is Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld's worst nightmare.

I haven't sifted through every report on the Conyers forum, but I was struck by a couple things from the CSPAN coverage last night. First, clearly the House leadership was not interested in making things easy for Conyers. He was forced to convene his hearing in a tiny basement chamber, and 11 major votes were scheduled to coincide with the forum. I don't know if this is evidence the Bushies are scared, or just more garden variety contempt on their part. And speaking of contempt, it doesn't get more patronizing than this . . . .

Also interesting was Ms. Sheehan's declaration that her organization, Gold Star Families for Peace, has been trying to meet with Rumsfeld for quite some time. Since January, at least. In fact, she said, they would settle for a meeting with ANY Pentagon employee. But a group of survivors of war dead has been completely and studiously ignored. That is a scandal in itself.