"Sky Captain and the Democrats of Tomorrow."

There's a running gag in the movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow where super-reporter Polly Perkins (Gwyneth Paltrow) is down to two shots left in her camera (soon reduced to one) and continually passes up absolutely amazing pictures because maybe, just maybe, there's something better around the bend.

Shangri-La, the mobile reconnaisance platform, the bizarre dinosaur-like creatures on the island, even the Ark rocket ship -- every one bypassed because something more spectacular might just pop up. The punch line, of course, is that she blows the last shot (of Sky Captain himself, played by Jude Law) by forgetting to remove the lens cap.

I couldn't help thinking of this, watching the last few months of Democratic angst south of the border as the boneheaded members of that party continually passed up the opportunity to show some spine and filibuster some of the truly reprehensible judicial nominees that came out of the Bush White House.

(I can't take credit for the next few paragraphs, I read their basic theme somewhere on the net but can't remember where, so pointers would be appreciated.)

First, the Dems howled over the neo-con hacks that were nominated to the federal appeals court, but accepted them because, you know, the real fight is going to be over the Supreme Court, you know.

They they bitched about the thoroughly talentless and inexperienced John Roberts but, don't worry, he's just replacing another right-wing hack so, no big deal, it's a fair trade and, hey, we're saving up our big guns for the next nominee, just you wait. Boy, we'll let 'em have it there, yes sir, you bet.

So when the thoroughly loathsome Samuel Alito was put forward, you could perhaps forgive the progressives for thinking, "Finally! Someone so vile that the Dems can finally pull out all the stops. Damn right!" And ... nothing.

Amazingly, in voting for Alito's confirmation, some Dems actually explained their actions by claiming that this just didn't warrant a filibuster; that Alito wasn't horrible enough to make a stand. But if not Alito, who? Just how horrific a human being does someone have to be to have at least 40 Democrats yell, "Enough!"

It's so pathetic, it crosses over into amusing -- the Democratic Party as Polly Perkins, with that last shot in her camera, hoping against hope that, if she waits long enough, she'll finally run across something really worth taking a picture of. And the worst part?

The Dems don't even a one-filibuster limit. That's what makes it so pathetic.

AH, THERE WE GO: Where I read it the first time.