What happened to 'I feel your pain'?

Bill Clinton has a message for flummoxed Democrats: Stop whining. "'The Republicans had a clear message, a good messenger, great organization and great strategy,' he said. 'The Republicans did a better job of turning out those who were already registered who hadn't voted' as well as bringing out their base."

He might have been talking about the sentiments expressed in yesterday's NYT in an article which looked at reeling west coast leftists, who were quoted saying things like "I am depressed, but I am also just really angry at the rest of the country's ignorance" and "I am sad that America is asleep at the wheel." The article also compared yesterday's funereal protest march in San Francisco to a scene from Night of the Living Dead. Ouch.

Trying not to grasp at straws, I still must note:

Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican, will become chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and yesterday he warned the newly re-elected president not to assume he would rubber-stamp court nominees. Specifically:

"When you talk about judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, overturn Roe v. Wade, I think that is unlikely," Specter said, referring to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.