What to say when the Feds come knocking: The federal government's much publicized questioning of antiwar protesters and African American voters in Florida prompts this piece by Steve Weissman--what to say and how to say it if the G-men pay you a visit.

Garrison Keillor on ralphing, Republicans, and renewing democracy: Minnesota's own voice of moderation and midwestern values, Garrison Keillor, explains why he's come out as a fierce Democrat and how Republicans--the party that brought us the Environmental Protection Agency and The Americans With Disabilities Act--have traded in this history for teeth-grinding zealotry:

At the moment, they are drenched in hubris and self-regard, incapable of telling their own history. It takes defeat and regret to give a person a little perspective and self-knowledge, and once the Republicans have gained that, one of them will tell us what happened to the GOP. Like this old Nebraska Republican who, now that he's retiring from Congress, comes out with a closely reasoned attack on the administration's Middle East policy. George W. Bush will retire to his Crawford plantation in January and begin work on his Georgic lament, in which he meditates on the dangers of success. Political skill in the absence of statesmanship is the first act of a tragedy.

Read the rest of the interview where he discusses Al Franken's potential Senatorial run; calls Norm Coleman "a man without a single principled bone in his body"; and urges Nader supporters to "Stand tall for Ralph, wear his button, wave his flag, put on his cologne in the morning, be as ralphic as you like, but in that private sacred moment, make your X for the Man."