Ah, may you live in interesting times:

With the 2010 election year barely under way, two senators and one governor — all Democrats — ditched plans to run for re-election in the latest signs of trouble for President Barack Obama's party.

Taken together, the decisions by Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota as well as Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter caused another bout of heartburn for Democrats as they struggle to defend themselves in a sour political environment for incumbents, particularly the party in charge.

As 2009 ended, Democrats watched a string of their House members announce retirements and one congressman defect to the GOP.

Some of this is just going to be natural attrition. But it's also obvious that, once again, liberal Democrats have underestimated the power of the media attacks against them, and as always have not even figured out the need for an effective response, let alone how to formulate one.

Soon we'll find out if the Senate is really going to buck President Obama on the deal he cut with Big Pharma. I wonder how serious this is:

North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, a member of Democratic leadership, isn't a party to that bargain. "Senator Dorgan intends to offer an amendment to the health reform bill and his expectation is that it will be one of the first amendments considered," his spokesman Justin Kitsch told HuffPost in an e-mail. "Prescription drug importation is an immediate way to put downward pressure on health care costs. It has bipartisan support, and has been endorsed by groups such as the National Federation of Independent Businesses and AARP."

U.S. patients pay far more than the rest of the world for prescription drugs. The Canadian government keeps prices down by using its purchasing power to negotiate for lower rates. Dorgan wants American consumers in on the deal.

A bill to allow re-importation -- S. 1232 - has 30 cosponsors, several Republicans among them, including Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, John Thune (S.D.) and David Vitter (La.).

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would result in $50 billion in direct savings over the next decade, with $10.6 billion of that being savings to the federal government.

[...] The amendment threatens to blow up the deal Baucus and the White House cut with the drug makers. According to the deal, re-importation would not be part of comprehensive health care reform. And if the measure does save $50 billion, that will come from Big Pharma revenue and take it above the $80 billion in cuts it agreed to over ten years. It puts Congress on a collision course with its trade association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

The Big Picture: Many experts point to the Financial Modernization Act as one of the causes of our current financial crisis. Byron Dorgan was one of the few senators to speak out strongly against the legislation then. Looking back, his predictions in 1999 seem prophetic and, looking forward, his views raise more questions about the $700 billion bailout plan.

The Brad Blog: New study details massive voter roll purge underway in at least 19 states.

Media Nation: Gwen Ifill? What about NBC's "McCain liason," Tom Brokaw?

TheZoo: Psychogeezer says he gets foreign policy advice from Palin -OMG

Rolling Stone: Make Believe Maverick: A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty.

Spiegel Online: The end of arrogance

Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) took to the floor today to deliver a scathing indictment of the Bush administration. From the August 6th PDB to the bogus intelligence given to us by Curveball -- an alcoholic whose assertions turned out to be 100% false and whom we based our entire case for war on -- Dorgan let's it fly.

Download | play -WMP Download | play - QT (Audio fixed)

(guested by Mike L)

With all the commotion made over John Harris's beef with Dan Froomkin a little while back because he sucked up to a right wing operative named Patrick Ruffini and called him a blogger. (Ruffini is pals with Ken Mehlman and the eCampaign Director) A person might figure that Deborah Howell would try and hide the fact that she is shilling for the RNC that is desperately trying to make Abramoff's scandal bi-partisan. In her latest column.
"The second complaint is from Republicans, who say The Post purposely hasn't nailed any Democrats. Several stories, including one on June 3 by Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, a Post business reporter, have mentioned that a number of Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and Sen. Byron Dorgan (N.D.), have gotten Abramoff campaign money.

So far, Schmidt and Grimaldi say their reporting on the investigations hasn't put Democrats in the first tier of people being investigated. But stay tuned. This story is nowhere near over."

My God, does Deborah Howell bend over every time a republican asks her? Why does she care what the republicans think about a story that the WaPo is working on? The story takes it's course and the chips will fall where they will for everybody involved.

FireDogLake: "That she does not understand the thrust of this story -- that Abramoff was fundamental to the architecture of the GOP money machine -- is obvious. But beyond that, she can't even master the simplest detail -- that Abramoff's VICTIMS, the people he fleeced, the Indian tribes, are free to give money to whomever they feel will help them serve their interests. That is quite a different thing than contributions given by Abramoff himself; Abramoff is the one currently under indictment, not the Indian tribes. What part of this does Howell not understand?...read on

I have a feeling that Deborah isn't going to like checking her technorati links today.

As Bloomberg notes: "Between 2001 and 2004, Abramoff gave more than $127,000 to Republican candidates and committees and nothing to Democrats, federal records show....read on"

John posts a republican donation list too.

(Update): Insiders tell me that the best place to express your displeasure over Howell is to post it at the post.blog.

(Update II): Check out the comments at the washingtonpost.blog.

I'm sure we'll read how awful she is being treated by the angry blogs, but I challenge her to drop me a line so she can explain herself. I'd certainly like to hear her side of the story. Here's my email: crooksandliars@gmail.com