Eight days ago I commented on Pete's post about the strong possibility that the two veto overrides he was predicting would be the effective end of the Bush administration. Mark the date: it was May 21, 2008, when the House voted 316 to 108, including a majority of Republicans, to override the Bush veto.

The Senate is expected to do the same before it leaves for the Memorial Day recess.

The irony here is that the bill House Republicans used to demonstrate their independence from the White House is also one that demonstrates their independence from what at one time had been Republican principles about reduced federal spending. While they will use the vote to show that they are not the same as the very unpopular Bush administration, Democrats will use it to further damage congressional Republicans' standing with the GOP's fiscal conservative wing. Conservative commentators are also likely to take them to task for this vote.

That's not to say that Democrats have much to be proud of with this vote: They don't.

But Republicans will have a hard time criticizing Democrats for overspending when it was Republican votes that got this bill enacted.

This Just In: More overrides could be on the way.  Even more surprising than the farm bill, this afternoon the Senate passed a domestic spending package that will be added to the Iraq supplemental by a veto-proof 75-22 vote.

If this were a parliamentary system of government, these overrides might be the equivalent of a no-confidence vote and elections might have to be scheduled.