In that big pork barrel omnibus spending bill that the Republicans recently pushed through Congress (the Republican bill that funded a special yacht for George W. Bush and allowed Republican politicians in Congress to search through citizens’ private tax records) was a single pearl of wisdom:

Senator Robert Byrd from West Virginia succeeded in including an amendment that requires that all federal employees to receive training in the United States Constitution, and provides educational materials on the Constitution to schoolchildren all across America. Given the increasing attacks against our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms by the Republican elites in Washington, the timing for this amendment could not have been better.

Thank you, Senator Byrd. If we had more legislative action like this from the Democrats in Congress, we’d have a much easier time giving them our support. Some say it takes a senator near retirement to act with courage. We hope for our nation’s sake that this bit of conventional wisdom is wrong.

Hillary, Barack, Mr. Kerry: We’re waiting.