Missing in Action

Wow! You lay in bed for a day with fever and a puny stomach, and you miss a whole day's worth of news! Funny how that happens.

In case you missed any of it, too...

Over the weekend, Sen. John Kerry returned from his Swiss retreat to help lead the filibuster of Judge Samuel Alito's Supreme Court confirmation. The much ballyhooed move might have succeeded... if it hadn't failed so miserably. The votes for cloture won out in a lopsided 72-to-25 defeat of the filibuster, and Judge Alito was quickly confirmed in a mostly party-line vote. Judge Alito was promptly sworn at -- or in, I forget -- by new Chief Justice Roberts, in time to begin stripping the civil liberties from American citizens before the president's State of the Union address.

For a more serious look at the news from Monday and the weekend:

• Cindy Sheehan courted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and is considering a run for the Senate
• Judge Samuel Alito was sworn in as member of Supreme Court
• Coretta Scott King passed away (and an Atlanta news report on Mrs. King)
• President Bush gave his State of the Union address -- see columnist Bridget Johnson for an exercise in "live-blogging," or go to The Anchoress and Expose the Left (formerly The Political Teen) for their unique takes on the event