Yes, ladies and gents, Senator Patrick Leahy is in The Dark Knight...

I was so caught up in the movie last Wednesday night that I didn't realize who this was. But sure enough, not only is Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy in The Dark Knight, but he gets a major moment with The Joker. Leahy is a well-known Batman nut, having appeared in Batman & Robin and voiced a minor character in Batman: The Animated Series (he was the sheriff in the western-flashback Jonah Hex episode - Showdown), and written an introduction to The Dark Knight archives volume 1, a hardcover collection of the first four issues of Batman.

The Leahy clip (not a spoiler in any way)

And because it's actually relevant to the plot of The Dark Knight, here is Patrick Leahy opposing the gutless FISA 'compromise' that allows the Bush administration to continue warrentless spying and gives them retroactive immunity in civil courts for previous illegal eavesdropping. Barack Obama inexplicably caved on this one, but hardcore progressives like Leahy and Russ Feingold did not.

Scott Mendelson