redblueamerica.com

There's been crankiness among rank-and-file Democrats about the party's inability -- now that it runs Congress -- to force some kind of withdrawal from Iraq, or to challenge the Bush Administration on some other important topics. Brian Beutler looks at the bright side.

But there have been successes, too. Many have emerged as part of an aggressive oversight effort, which has dragged a number of scandals out of the shadows and into the cleansing daylight. Democrats in both the House and Senate have led the way in rooting out corrupt leadership at the Department of Justice, in revealing just how shadowy the president's domestic spying program was (and how unpopular it was among members of the federal law enforcement community), and in alerting the country to the damaging and deadly role private military contractors play in war zones.

Indeed, sunshine is the best disinfectant. But it's worth pointing out that the domestic spying program is virtually unchanged over the last year -- and in fact has been strengthened thanks to the acquiescence of Democrats. Sunshine is useless without action.

That action, incidentally, will probably need to come from Congress. Even if Clinton, Obama or Edwards ascend to the White House next fall, there's precious few examples in history of an executive willingly giving up his or her power.