Oh yeah -- thanks for checking in, Loud Al

Al Gore -- that is, the angry, give-'em-hell Loud Al persona who endored Howard Dean -- really socked it to Bush yesterday. (Emphasis mine)

"He betrayed this country!" Gore shouted into the microphone at a rally of Tennessee Democrats in a stuffy hotel ballroom. "He played on our fears. He took America on an ill-conceived foreign adventure dangerous to our troops, an adventure preordained and planned before 9/11 ever took place."

The speech had several hundred Democrats roaring their approval for Gore, the party's 2000 standard-bearer.

The party's 2000 standard-bearer. A sob catches in one's throat.