And that means that I have been here for about 4 1/2 months. That is somewhat hard to believe. It is true that if you get into your work here, you can get so wrapped up in it that time goes by without being noticed. Four years in the White House must seem like 15 minutes sometimes. It may also seem that way because things like legislation move so slowly that it seems like no time is actually going by. That is until the temperature plummets and the rains come.

Which it has. It is officially November. I've also officially learned to deep fry something in a frying pan.

So before I actually turn the page, let me give you some tidbits from last week.

Now, I cannot tell you exactly what the future holds - that is why we have a Policy & Lobbying dept. - but I can tell you what I saw while watching three solid days of Senate Environment and Public Works hearings. I can also direct you to the 40 blog posts and 162 tweets that I did during the span, all of which are now on ActGreen. For the first time ever we hit 100 posts in a month on that blog. Actually some of my favorite stuff we did in October, however, was on Really? Seriously?, where we just called out the head of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity for lying in a Congressional hearing. No research was needed. We all watched him do it. And yes, "clean coal" is an oxymoron. There is no such thing.

Anyway, back to the hearings. From Tuesday-Thursday there were about 21 hours of hearings. That seems short when you think "that's just a normal workday". Then try to imagine sitting in a meeting that long. Separate from everything else you had to get done. They were long days. The chair of the committee is a California Senator named Barbara Boxer. She is, well, I guess partisan would be the word. You contrast that with the Ranking Member, James Inhofe from Oklahoma, and you had some far right vs. far left sparring. At one point there was a legit squabble. That stuff is made even funnier by the fact that the two sit right next to each other, yet they completely avoid eye contact, instead yelling their frustrations into the microphone.

Other than the partisan bickering, Congressional hearings are just extremely long dialogues. Each Senator gives an opening statement, followed by each witness. Then each Senator gets about five minutes to ask questions. Senators come and go as they please, going to other committees or just not staying. Very little of what is said is surprising given that all of the witnesses themselves are partisan and most have already spoken with the Senators. It is all largely ceremonial. There were, however, some funny exchanges, mostly as Boxer just shot down anything that was said against the bill and Inhofe whined about it. Also when Lamar Alexander, of Louisiana, complained, every time he opened his mouth, about nuclear power. His first comment each time he was allowed to speak was "we need to build 100 nuclear plants now." He said them with serious contempt for the bill. I finally tweeted on Thursday, "if we built a nuclear plant every time Sen. Alexander said we needed to build 100, we'd be done by now." But even better was midway through Thursday, when Sen. Boxer basically told him to shove it. You see, the bill provides for nuclear power. Nearly $500 million for it. For the many Republicans that argue that nuclear is cheaper, well, that is simply false. Nuclear is far more expensive up front, which is why it hasn't already caught on here. That and that little mess in Hanford, Wash. And Alexander was just complaining. Which is why Sen. Boxer finally said that she wished he would stop complaining and work with one of his other Republicans, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who is working hard with Sen. John Kerry on nukes.

There are many more stories and much less time. So I'll beak here.

Some links:

You may not have heard about it, but the special election in the NY-23 has been somewhat of a mess for the Republican party, or what is left of it.

This is politics at their best. Or possibly worst.

It seems as if Rush Limbaugh is headed in the direction of Ann Coulter more and more everyday. Which is fine. I like Ann Coulter. Read one of her books. But Republicans don't. And from what I've found, more of them than you might think really do hold Nationalism dear. So, while they may disagree with and dislike the president, maybe talking about him like this is getting a little old. It certainly is not solving any real problems, as Rush himself often claims the president should do more of.

Jimmy Kimmel in a Big Bird suit.

Fists were flying in the Washington Post Style room.

This ethics stuff is heating up out here - probably only to cool down before long.

And the U.S.S. New York, built from World Trade Center steel, made its first trip to Manhattan.