This sign is taped up on the door of the Senate Republican Caucus Room.

I understand that the 17 Republicans at times feel dwarfed by the power of 32 Democrats in the Senate. But do they really want to compare themselves to the iconic figure of China's democracy movement?

Historical analogies are tough, and none more so when an opponent ends up being compared to a dictator's brutal regime. Several hundred people were killed by government forces in the student uprising in Beijing in 1989. I've seen the damage the tanks did to Tiananmen Square, and listened to government press minders tell me that there were no killings and that the government did not crush any uprising.

I've heard complaints from Senate Republicans about being locked out of the process. That happens every year. But it has not included the sort of anti-democracy talk we hear some times from the minority.

I'm not sure what's going on with the Senate Republican Caucus today. I just got back from taking the picture of that sign. As I walked up to the door of the caucus room, I heard from inside:

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain. Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell?

Yes, the Republicans are in a closed caucus meeting listening to Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here."

UPDATE: Why were Republicans listening to Pink Floyd? It was about Israel ,of course.

The song was a soundtrack to a presentation Sen. Joe Zarelli was giving his Republican colleagues about Convergence Northwest. That is a two-day conference in Vancouver designed to boost support for Israel in the United States and, according to a pamphlet for the event:

Provide an honest depiction of the current state of the war in Israel, the threat of terrorism, and how they both effect the United States.

The conference will bring prominent conservative Israeli politicians to the state, including former Prime Minister and current Knesset member Benjamin Netanyahu. There are three other members of the Knesset scheduled to attend, including prominent conservatives Limor Livnat and Arieh Eldad. Zarelli is also scheduled to speak. He told me got involved in the effort after making friends with an Israeli. Zarelli traveled to Israel and he said he and his wife have been deeply involved in organizing the conference.

Also on the agenda for the June meeting is Brigitte Gabriel, founder of the American Congress for Truth. Gabriel was born in Lebanon and raised as a Christian. After 9-11 she started ACT to help America "win the war against Islamofascism" and to battle the "political correctness" she thinks hurts that fight. The group's website says:

ACT members are trained to be vigilant and respond quickly to anti-American and anti-Israel media bias and social, political and religious behavior.