Dianne Feinstein -- #1 On My Shitlist

Fuck it, we'll continue with the political blog since it's an election year and there seems to be an unending supply of entertainment.

It was just announced that the Senate rejected a constitutional amendment that would have given Congress the power to ban flag burning. The tally in favor of the measure was 66 to 34, just one vote shy of the 67 votes required for a two-thirds margin of approval. Such a majority would have been necessary in the Senate and House before a constitutional amendment could have been sent to the states for ratification.

The amendment's advocates have been promoting it for years and had hoped that Republican gains in recent Senate elections would get them to the two-thirds threshold. Thankfully, there were 3 GOP senators who broke ranks and provided crucial votes that thwarted the measure.

That's not to say that Republicans lost entirely. The still got in some great sound bites for the mid-term elections this Fall:

"Old Glory lost today," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), one of the amendment's prime backers. "At a time when our armed services are defending America's freedom in the war on terror, it's unfortunate that a minority of my colleagues blocked" the proposal.

President Dimbshit expressed regret that the amendment failed. "By showing respect for our flag, we show reverence for the ideals that guide our nation," he said in a statement. "We show appreciation for the men and women who have served in defense of those ideals."

Of more disgust to me was the support thrown to it by Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. She spoke of picking up a newspaper in 1945 and seeing the now iconic photograph of Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima. "For me, at that time as a 12-year-old, and for the nation, the photo was a bolt of electricity that boosted morale," she said. "Its symbolism of everything courageous about my country was etched into my mind for all time."

Feinsten (who has evolved into a female version of Joe Lieberman over the years) argued that the amendment was "no slippery slope" toward an erosion of rights and that "protecting the flag will not prevent anyone from expressing his or her point of view."

Holy shit. I can't even fathom that she actually believes what she's saying. Jesus Christ, Dianne -- you're a Democtratic Senator from California, not Mississippi for crying-out-loud. You're not running for national office, so there's no need to pander to the Religious Right.

Ridiculous.