Jesse Helms represented the ugliest parts of my adopted home state’s history. The only thing sad about his death is that it did not occur several decades earlier.

(Thanks to LGM for the links to Mother Jones and Salon.)

Michael Hall — America

Wilco — Ashes of American Flags

Pogues — Body of an American

The Clash — I’m So Bored With the U.S.A.

Graham Parker — I Discovered America

Elliott Smith — Independence Day

Joe Patek’s Orchestra — Krasna Amerika

Phil Ochs — The Power & The Glory

MC5 — American Ruse

Bruce Springsteen — 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)

Elvis Costello — American Without Tears

Woody Guthrie — This Land is Your Land

Neko Case — Thrice All American

Billy Bragg — Help Save the Youth of America

Alfie: Dad, what’s this Scooby Do about?

Me: It’s about some kids with a dog, and they catch a bad guy pretending to be a ghost.

Alfie: Oh, I like that one.

The ukulele version is sweet. But I still love the original.

Though this afternoon’s rain came from the west, not the ocean, it made me think of this old favorite song.

Congressional Democrats once again do what they do best: fold like a cheap suit.

After months of wrangling, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress struck a deal on Thursday to overhaul the rules on the government’s wiretapping powers and provide what amounts to legal immunity to the phone companies that took part in President Bush’s program of eavesdropping without warrants after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The deal, expanding the government’s powers to spy on terrorism suspects in some major respects, would strengthen the ability of intelligence officials to eavesdrop on foreign targets. It would also allow them to conduct emergency wiretaps without court orders on American targets for a week if it is determined that important national security information would otherwise be lost. If approved, as appears likely, the agreement would be the most significant revision of surveillance law in 30 years.

[* * *]

The proposal — particularly the immunity provision — represents a major victory for the White House after months of dispute.

“I think the White House got a better deal than even they had hoped to get,” said Senator Christopher S. Bond, Republican of Missouri, who led the negotiations.

The always-helpful IOZ answers distraught liberals who wonder, “is this why we elected a Democratic majority in 2006?”

Origin here. Follow-up here, there, and everywhere.