Meanwhile, in the real world . . .

Up in Washington, DC, the Senate today will vote on the Feingold/Reid amendment, which calls on the President to withdraw US combat forces from Iraq within 4 months, and cuts off funding for troop deployment at the end of next March.

Leading candidates for the Democratic nomination for the presidency are supporting it, but frankly, i don't think there's a ghost of a chance of it passing. Forty votes will be a significant achievement, and it could get as many as forty five, i think. Here in North Carolina, represented as we are by Liddy Dole and Richard Burr, neither of whom are capable of thought independent fromt he Whit House party line, i don't see any reason to call our Senators urging them to support the amendment. Dole's vote in support of Bush's failed Iraq policy will be another reason why North Carolina will be represented by a new Senator after November, 2008.

UPDATE: Not even close. 29 Senators supported the Feingold/Reid amendment. That's only a little more than half the Democrats in the Senate.

We're pretty well fucked. And we probably deserve it.

UPDATE 2: the 29-67 vote was merely a vote to close debate on the Feingold amendment. So we didn't even get the "straight up-or-down" vote that our Republican friends were so hot and bothered about for so many things during the previous 6 years. Pretty pathetic that Dems coulnd't even muster the 41 votes needed to bring this thing to the floor.

Sixteen Dems, including (surprisingly to me, at least) Carl Levin of Michingan, voted against cloture. No Republicans voted for cloture. Liddy Dole is listed as not voting. Hope she's feeling OK.