(2003-11-09) -- Senate Democrats today blamed President George Bush for last night's lunar eclipse, which shaded the entire visible surface of the moon and left large swaths of earth considerably darker.

"Bush has something to hide," said one unnamed Senate Democrat. "There's something going on up there that the President doesn't want the American people to know about."

Other Senators speculated that the President may have ordered clandestine exploration of helium-3 in the lunar soil. The non-radioactive isotope may be useful in the future for generating electricity by fusion.

"We know that Bush hides behind executive privilege," said the Senator, "Last night, he hid behind the shadow of the earth. But there's no object in the solar system that can keep his deceptions hidden forever."

Senate Democrats called for an investigation of last night's eclipse starting in September 2004.