Dick Durbin

Minnesotans disgusted by insipid Twins-Yankees TV commentators might find comic relief in civil libertarians’ online kibbitzing about U.S. Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, who last week voted to renew the Patriot Act without reforms in the Senate Judiciary Committee. In so doing, Minnesota’s senators committed the legislative equivalent of calling a plainly fair ball foul [...]

Republicans and Democrats have been sniping about the USA Patriot Act ever since Congress passed the law in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks to try to forestall another such disaster. But now, it’s the Democrats who are sniping among themselves about it.

The U.S. Senate took an hour Thursday to honor former Sen. Norm Coleman. Here are clips of the complete tributes to Coleman from 10 senators (seven Republicans and three Democrats, including Amy Klobuchar), as well as transcribed highlights of their remarks — with particular attention to what they had to say about Coleman’s future.

Dick Durbin is the senior senator from Illinois and was an early supporter of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. Today he was in Minnesota stumping for Obama. I spoke to him by phone.