Senate on Arctic drilling: No means no

Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska thought he had opponents of Arctic drilling over the proverbial barrel when he snuck approval of drilling into a defense appropriations bill. Senators wouldn't dare vote against the bill just because of the drilling provision, he thought, because they could be attacked for being "weak on defense."

Guess again. Drilling opponents sucked it up and blocked an attempt to cut off debate. The vote was 56-44, four votes short of what was needed to end a filibuster. The Senate Democrats are beginning to find their backbones.

The Washington Post has details.