West Wing: Maybe, I should start to having a running "what I said about issues touched upon in West Wing this week" segment. After all, the politicalization of scientific funding/research has been a concern of mine, and the politics of the judicial nomination process surely has been. A word ... citing Supreme Court justices that were recess appointed, justices that later easily were confirmed for that matter, is not quite an answer to those worried about recess appointments of controversial lower appointees the Senate has already blocked or held up. I'm glad no major social problem was solved this week (such as Social Security) as is happening a bit too often these days. I also enjoy Toby's new aide and the Vice President is a keeper ... remember, Gary Cole previously played the role as Mike Brady in a television movie.

Talking about ongoing concerns, it is good to know that the new touch screen voting systems seemed to work well yesterday, their first big test. The problem of security is ongoing, but it's a good start.