Sad, Sad, Sad

I'm so glad that Senate Democrats are acting like adults:

The U.S. Senate was called to order for 11 seconds on Wednesday as the last political scuffle of the year between the White House and the Democratic-led Congress played out.

Nearly all the senators left the Capitol for the Christmas holiday last week, but Democrats are keeping the Senate in session to block President Bush from making any recess appointments -- a constitutional mechanism that allows the president, during congressional recesses, to fill top government posts for up to one year without Senate confirmation.

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, opened and then immediately gaveled the Senate session to a close. He spent 57 seconds in the chamber.

If a Republican Senate had pulled a stunt like this, CNN, the New York Times et. al. would be calling it the end of the republic, with the Senate obstructing the Executive Branch's power. Instead, CNN plays it off to be Bush's fault and that the Democrats are merely executing checks and balances.

This is a sad commentary that government money was actually set aside to fund the operation of the Capital for these kind of shenanigans. Of course, if I were a member of the Senate minority leadership, I'd have somebody there in the chamber, if only to allow plenty of time to put certain statements on the record...