A brief coupla things, since the Flu That Won’t Quit has hit our house.

• A local blogger responds to Krugman’s annoyance with Obamaniacs.
• Spitzer will be on the Colbert Report tonight. Sweet.
• William Barclay (R), running in a special election in the 48th state Senate District, is trying out the Monroe County GOP’s tactic of demonizing our public schools for political gain.
• FISA update from TPM (h/t Open Left):
  

  “We’ve lost every single battle we had on this bill [in the Senate]…. We’re not getting anywhere at all” he said. “The question now is can the House do better.” After the bill passes in the Senate, as is expected late today or tomorrow, the bill would head to a conference. There, conferees from both houses will try to hash out the significant differences between the House and Senate versions, the issue of retroactive immunity chief among them.
  However, Dodd said, if the final bill emerging from that powwow does contain retroactive immunity, he said he’d “absolutely” filibuster that bill; he’d use “whatever vehicles we can” to stop it.

  I’m so cheesed that the Senate felt that protecting the rights of telcos was more important than protecting our rights, or the Constitution. More and better Dems, please! Meanwhile, we gotta make sure our reps stand by the vastly superior RESTORE Act they passed last year. Sign the petition at FireDogLake:

  The FISA bill passed by the Senate is a disgrace. By legalizing warrantless spying on Americans and granting retroactive amnesty to lawbreaking telecoms, the Senate seeks to ensure that the Bush administration’s illegal spying programs are never investigated or subjected to the rule of law. The Senate bill is a profound betrayal of the votes of millions of Americans who voted in 2006 to put Democrats in control of Congress in order to increase, not eliminate, checks and oversight on this administration, and to restore the rule of law to our country.

  The House’s RESTORE Act is an infinitely superior bill. It provides real safeguards on the President’s spying powers while providing him with the surveillance powers he needs to protect the country. It enables the issue of the legality of the President’s spying programs to be decided where it belongs — in a court of law. And it preserves the crucial balance that has existed for decades between enabiling necessary surveillance on Americans and ensuring that our political leaders do not abuse that power.

• East Rochester settles down. New mayor Jason Koon (D) proposes some commonsense-sounding stuff:
  

  Koon instituted a new period of public comment before the start of village business

  (snip)

  Koon said that he has been looking for ways to attract more businesses and residents to East Rochester. He proposed a Six Sigma study of village operations, in the hopes of finding ways to cut costs and lower taxes.He announced plans to update the village Web site to include a community calendar, online reservations for town facilities, and past board meeting minutes.

  Koon also invited discussion of the fate of the village’s Water Tower, which is no longer in use. Earlier this year, Koon sent a letter accepting the Monroe County Water Authority’s offer to tear down the tower at no expense to the village, which is also incorporated as a town.

  The village has budgeted $150,000 to paint and rehabilitate the tower, which faces West Commercial Street.

  “There are two sides to this,” Koon said. “Cost versus nostalgia.”

  Open government and efficiency initiatives. Sounds like a progressive to me.