A friend who knows recently commented on how different it is for Congressional members these days. They don’t interact as much, as most of them now live outside the Beltway. This makes it harder to get things done when a personal relationship can bridge some of the partisanship. But then Bush seems to be helping, as both R’s AND D’s object with Bush’s faux-pas’ in respecting the other branches of government.

It is an interesting irony having Dennis Hastert get pissed at Bush for letting the FBI go into Democratic Rep. William Jefferson‘s office (with a warrant), citing separation of powers. I suspect he is worried about a precedent, with his own concern over corruption. They are trying to patch things up, it’s good to know. But having Hastert defend a Democrat shows some bi-partisanship, no, especially when Jefferson surely had his hand in the cookie jar.