Yes, I am in Australia, but as you’ve probably noticed, I tend to keep a close watch on U.S. politics. I am registered to vote in Washington, after all.

I’ve been watching the (inevitable?) confirmation of Alito to the Supreme Court with some anxiety. And so yesterday I did something I’ve never done before: called my senators to encourage them to perpetuate Senator Kerry’s filibuster.

So three cheers to Senator Patty Murray for voting ‘no’ on cloture.

Senator Cantwell voted ‘yes’ on the filibuster, but says she’s going to vote ‘no’ on Alito’s confirmation. I’d say don’t bother. The filibuster was the chance.

Congratulations to Murray for showing some spine and acting like a member of a real opposition party. That can’t have been easy.

Update: Senator Cantwell voted ‘yes’ on cloture, one of only three blue-state Dems to do so. But what do you know! she’s up for re-election this year. I will do everything I can to make sure she loses the primaries. Which, unfortunately for me, is limited to voting for the other candidate, and writing on a blog that hardly ever gets read.

We need Democrats who aren’t afraid to act like Democrats. The cloture vote really showed me what side people came down on, for better or worse.