It's all come down to this: The conference committee, which was charged with making two stadium bills into one, will meet at 9:00 CST this evening. After that, the House of Representatives is scheduled to re-convene at 10 PM and presumably vote on final passage.
The latest info on the Senate is kind of conflicting. Earlier, it sounded like they would not meet until tomnorrow, but now rumor has it that they are also going to re-convene at 10...but there are no senators or staffers around the Capitol right now, if the Twitters are to be believed.
So, with luck, this might be wrapped up tonight. Or it might not. Or some of it might be done. Either way, these last few days have been phenomenal--this is a big deal, and you've shown us that, with over 4,000 comments since this began in earnest on Monday. People have come and gone through these threads, but there's been a core of us that have stuck through most of it. I couldn't think of a better quote to encapsulate how I feel. So, with apologies to William Shakespeare:
This story shall the good man teach his son,
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered,
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
For he today that sheds his blood comments in these posts with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition.
And gentlemen in England Minnesota now abed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought blogged with us upon Saint Crispin's Day. Stadium Passage Day
And so we go, once more into the breach. TO THE WALL!!!!!!! Live audio feed here: