I didn't think that I would write a diary on this, but...

On "The View" today, Joy Behar opened up a discussion on the Ron Paul/Rudy dust-up at the debate.  She asked whether Americans consider, as Paul had said, what American policies actually are in the Middle East and how we may create blowback based on our actions, not based on who we are.  She then called out Guiliani for his ownership of 9/11, and for his response to Paul which completely twisted what Paul had said into a "blame America" mantra.  She reminded Rudy that he doesn't own 9/11, and many have suffered.  She asked about the Shah of Iran, the Saudi government, and what have we done over there?  In essence, our hands are not clean.  Rosie then brought up the 655,000 civilians now dead in Iraq since our invasion and how can that be accounted for?  Why have those Iraquis died?  Continued...

Will tonight's Faux GOP debate be turned into a memorial service for Falwell?  Seems that a new litmus test suddenly intruded this afternoon - who will bow to the mighty Falwell tonight?

McCain?  How to explain your pilgrimage to Liberty U.?

Romney?  How to pander slavishly and "atone" for past liberalism?

Rudy? How to "genuflect" to the right wing which you plan to grab despite no adherence to their core beliefs?

The real right-wingers will have to chuck the word "Reagan" and substitute "Falwell."  Gee, funny how both GOP debates so far will be homages to dead white men remembered for their attempts to install God at the helm of a secular democracy.

So, not since the fevered days of Schiavo, do we have a "moment" when all hands on deck will compete for the right wing mourners in visible fashion.

And to the extent that Falwell is memorialized tonight, the continued and increasing irrelevance of the GOP will be on full display.

MSNBC has been a platform for murderers and killers of all kinds.  It's part of their business plan.

Turn on the so-called "news" channel on any weekend to see who qualifies to be one of their "Headliners and Legends."   This is apparently a documentary series whose purpose is to give those who got way more than 15 minutes of fame even more fame.

Jeffery Dahmer.

BTK Killer.

Robert Chambers.

Green River Strangler.

Ted Bundy.

The list goes on, but you get the point.  In my book, none of the above should qualify for the increasing and continuous fame that MSNBC is willing to give them.

What is it about zer0-tolerance that MSNBC does not get?

Last night, I posted a diary asking why Imus still had a job and asked for MSNBC to fire him:

http://www.dailykos.com/...

I am repeating that demand tonight.

There's a dustup today with Sharpton and then the TV network decides that a 2 week suspension will "make it all go away."  Do they think that there is no memory in the blogosphere?

Wrong.  

Why does Imus still have a job?  Will he be able to show up tomorrow to his overpaid perch and babble on as he always does?

For those who haven't followed what happened last week, Imus chose to denigrate the Rutgers women's basketball team, which had played in the NCAA championship game on Tuesday night:

"That's some nappy-headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that"

http://www.cnn.com/...

Here's to you, Joe Wilson.

Here's a toast to Joe Wilson for all he's done to hold the Bush administration accountable and to Valerie Plame for all the harrassment directed at her and her endurance in spite of it.  Your suffering has not been in vain.

Joe, we remember your trip to Niger and your powerful Op-Ed in the New York Times that tried to bring the truth to the American people.

http://www.commondreams.org/...

Four years into this war, who is being asked to issue the only apology for this fiasco? We know.  Read on.

This administration, on the other hand, has been wrong for years, from the time this President first started beating the drums for this war on the first anniversary of Sept. 11. When does he apologize for that, for using Sept. 11, propping himself up on the rubble, to go after a tyrant who had nothing to do with blowing up our buildings?

Yet, Hillary Clinton is in the dock, for her failure to issue an apology.  Read on.

She should say she will apologize right after Vice President Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, the fired secretary of defense, do the same. They are a couple of hacks out of another time, especially Rumsfeld, who must have imagined this country's original strategy in Iraq on the back of a napkin.

http://www.nydailynews.com/...

This is from columnist Mike Lupica, in today's New York Daily News.  Lupica is spot on here, reminding us of who does not get asked about apologies from the mainstream press.  

Maybe it's seeing the CBS News report on today's carnage in Baghdad while the anchor reports from the Miami football stadium.  You must know how many people were killed and wounded today in one of the worst attacks lately:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/...

I know that we have "Super Bowl Sunday" - but where is our day where all games stop and Americans focus on the war for 24 hours?  

What would War Day look like?  Could Americans really go to war in 2007?  

The postponement of the inevitable in Iraq is the centerpiece of the Bush policy.  There is no rosy outcome to a war predicted from the start to result in chaos and disintegration.  Bush lit a match in that country - and a raging fire is the result - no American action can now quell the torment of the place.

Today, however, Dear Leader returns to his chief foreign policy objective - dodging failure for his war.

But those who refuse to give this plan a chance to work have an obligation to offer an alternative that has a better chance for success.  To oppose everything while proposing nothing is irresponsible.

We propose an end.  What is it about NO MORE WAR that you do not understand?

Look at the following:  The Democratic Senators that voted NO on the Iraq war resolution in October 2002.

Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Chafee (R-RI)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Graham (D-FL)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Wellstone (D-MN)
Wyden (D-OR)

Congratulations, Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

I picture a silent, no make that noisy, chorus of women who have come before that share in this historic day:

The suffragetes.

Those who fought for the Equal Rghts Amendment.

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

And we still don't have an Equal Rights Amendment.  

All of the unnamed women who tried to enter a boy's club and were kicked out, ridiculed, harrassed, ignored, or physically attacked.  All of those who kept kicking the door.  All of those who eventually got in.  And all of those who stayed.

Today, the election of Speaker Pelosi has been a model of enthusiasm and civility.  That's very hard won.

A woman is now 3rd in line - 2nd in succession - for the Presidency.  Should the President and Vice-President be unable to serve (not merely incompetent!) Speaker Pelosi ascends to the Presidency.  Presidential Succession Act of 1947

I'm setting up a discussion of any technical ideas that make Internet use easier, faster, more efficient.  That's because so many of us rely on breakneck speed as we race around the Net doing research, writing and advocacy.

Please share any browser tips, hints, etc. that make your Net life more productive.  

How is the Firefox/IE cultural divide playing out?  Where do we stand here?  

Any tips on managing listservs and political mailing list contacts are also welcome.  

What are any new tips for the recent increase in spam at many institutions with high filtering?

Are there any Net-wise issues or warnings that we all need to be aware of?  Anything on the horizon?

That's all.  I'd welcome any tech knowledge added here that collectively deepens our Net-IQ on this site.

Page 102, State of Denial, Rumsfeld:

We never - none of us ever believed that they had nuclear weapons.

Interview with Woodward on July 6, 2006.

Page 97, State of Denial, Bush in October, 2002:

Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof - the smoking gun - that could come in the form of a mmushroom cloud.

Page 1, Washington Post:  The GOP knew all about it.  Hastert was notified of the emails and that places knowledge of this likely criminal activity right on the GOP's radar screen for all of this year.

What's the defense for not throwing him out at the time?  Harboring a pedophile in the GOP leadership?  Too busy running around the country screaming about values to police your own party?

Yesterday's developments revealed a rift at the highest echelons of House Republican ranks a month before the Nov. 7 elections, and they threatened to expand the scandal to a full-blown party dilemma.

How many states of denial can a party be in at one time?

http://www.washingtonpost.com

Heads up for the special comment tonight:

Keith will pivot off the red-hot Clinton smackdown of Fox, and will squarely point out how Bush - yes, Bush, not Clinton - dropped the battle against bin Laden as soon as he took office.  I diaried years ago about the August 2001 vacation and the PDB of August 6th, and it has taken 5 years for the media (tonight, Keith) and for Clinton to get fed up enough to say:  "It's your fault, buster; it happened on your watch."  None of this could be spoken in the 2004 election - talk about an elephant in the living room, literally!   Is this the election that will finally confront what we all know?

Keith: "Clinton has liberated us all to tell the truth."
Will update after Keith's special comment later.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15003287?

We are planning to boycott Disney and its products.  Does anyone remember the right wing boycott of Disney which went on for 9 years?  The right was upset by Disney's cultural products, including the Miramax films, and the company's tolerance toward gays.  All of which caused the American Family Association (AFA) and the Southern Baptists to shun the company in a high-profile campaign.

But in 2005, these boycotts ended, amid signs that Disney had been effectively alerted to its need to embrace the Christian community with open arms.

More below.

I'm putting together the true story of 9/11.  It will be comprised of clips showing the Bush administration "hard at work" fighting terror.  The following scenes will be included:

1. The Presidential reading of My Pet Goat as the intial plane attacks were occurring.

2. The blank frozen stare of G. Bush as the paralysis of crisis set in and locked him into his kindegarten chair upon learning of the attacks.

3. A plane careening across the U.S. on 9/11 carrying a terrified President afraid to land in any American city.

Today, watched Pat Buchanan endorse the willingness of Jimmy Carter to meet with former Iranian president Khatami, sharply criticizing the neocons who want to hasten the confrontation between the U.S. and Iran. He said "I commend Jimmy Carter."

U.S. officials insist they will neither meet Khatami nor attend his speeches. Jimmy Carter, whose presidency was marred when student revolutionaries seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, has indicated a willingness to talk.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...