The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant.

It somehow escaped me yesterday that it was Guy Fawkes Day. Luckily Crooks and Liars weren't as absent-minded.

That clip in which V commandeers the television station and broadcasts a call to arms to the nation is one of my favorite moments in the film. I believe I posted it myself last November. (yup.)

I remember how moved I was by that speech when I saw the movie. How it so closely paralleled our own country and the paralytic fear that had held us back after the 9/11 attacks. How V mixed the gentle understanding of how we could acquiesce our constitutional birthright to the mini-tyrants in our government with a call to overthrow those same tyrants. How empowering the whole thing was. Especially with an election just around the corner. We would be HEARD.

Then the Democrats were swept into control of congress and there was a moment, just a moment mind you, where a little sunlight shone through the clouds. It was fleeting and illusionary, of course. The DLC. corporatist wing of the Democratic party were still very much in charge and weren't going to let REAL Democrats have a say in anything congress would do, especially if it involved having to confront the tinpot bully in the White House.

With that in mind when I watch V's speech today it just makes me sad. The people roared. The government changed hands. And nothing changed. Nothing.

I've always considered myself moderate-left but can't remember a time in my life when I've been this radicalized. The entire government - both major parties - is one big steaming turd. I'm not alone. As one example - anybody that's read Daily Kos knows Markos Moulitsas is very often pro-establishment. He's spend a hell of a lot of time defending the Democratic powers-that-be against the progressive barbarians. Yet, yesterday he wrote this...

But D.C. is a funny place. No one seems to have gotten that resounding message, certainly not Bush and the new Republican minority. More surprisingly, Democrats also failed to get the message. On issue after issue, the Democratic norm has been to capitulate to the slightest pressure from the GOP. And while the public has meted record-low approval ratings for this Congress in response, the lesson apparently remains unlearned.

Whether it’s Iraq funding or the Michael Mukasey confirmation, Democrats continue to give away the store without receiving any concessions in return. It’s a one-way street in a town that has ceded Article I of the Constitution for a unitary, non-compromising executive. The public is sick of this administration’s betrayals. Why aren’t Democrats?

Indeed. I can't think of a single issue that George W. Bush has lost on with Democrats in control of congress. From nominees to foreign policy the Democratic congress capitulates without so much as a whimper. The country is sick, perhaps terminally so, and Democrats refuse to be part of the solution.