WaPo’s Richard Cohen spares no one in the sick and sad spectacle of Congressional intervention in the Schiavo case:

By late Sunday, when the debate had reached the House of Representatives, Barney Frank stood almost alone in opposing the bill. Cliches suffered. Here was an openly gay Democrat, the Massachusetts liberal of all Massachusetts liberals, defending the Founding Fathers, federalism and the American tradition of keeping the government’s nose out of a family’s business.

It was a bravura performance and one could only have wished that it had been matched by John Kerry or Hillary Clinton — or any of the other Democrats who are being mentioned as presidential candidates. Most of them seemed to be cowering in some bunker, calling their consultants and pollsters, asking what they should do and how they should do it. Please, have a memo on the desk by morning.

…But for me the real loser was the Democratic Party. It showed that it’s almost totally without leadership. If there is a national figure (other than Frank) who stood up and took on the GOP in this matter, his — or her — name does not come to mind. In the Senate, oddly enough, it was Virginia’s John Warner who pointed out that he opposed the bill — and he’s a Republican, for goodness’ sake. The Democrats were nowhere.
Damn right, on both DeLay and Democrats alike.

And a corollary:

Kerry’s words and moves suggest that he thinks Nov. 2, 2004, was merely a detour on his road to the White House. He has been holding private dinners with potential fund raisers and policy advisers, signaling he might run again and blaming his political strategists for many of the mistakes his campaign made last year, such as not responding swiftly to ads attacking his Vietnam service. He has set up a political-action committee to finance his travels around the country, which will include stops in 20 cities over the next two months to give speeches and headline fund raisers for other Democrats. And he is constantly e-mailing his list of more than 3 million supporters to promote causes he championed as a candidate, like expanding health insurance to all children and preventing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Kerry plans to write a book on his views on national security.

No, clearly, it was all someone else’s fault, John. It’s not because everyone’s got you pegged as a gutless poll-watcher. (This coming from someone who voted for you.)

Le sigh.