John Warner is wavering on the Webb amendment.  That is a big disappoinment.  And this matters for the whole course of the Iraq debacle: If he supported the amendment, as "Mr. Moderate Republican" he could give cover to a slew of other GOP senators to do so and perhaps pave the way for a veto-proof majority on the amendment.

I believe that Warner is persuadable.  All that we need is an avalanche of messages from Virginians telling him that he must support the Webb amendment.  Please be polite and respectful but forceful and passionate.

My disappointment with our Congress is deep and bitter.   They caved on the war, then they caved on FISA.  They are now making noises as if they will buy the administration's line on the escalation of the war (a.k.a., the "surge"), and Reid is saying that he doesn't want a fixed withdrawal date.

I need, really need, a way to rap our congressional leaders on the knuckles, grap them by the lapels and shout that they are blowing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take a stand and fix our government.

The usual methods -- the emails, the calls, LTE -- apply, but a new one has dawned on me:  the fundraisers.

There's an online poll on MSNBC on the question "Should Bush be Impeached?"  The interesting thing is that, without any mention on DailyKos, the voting at this moment is already running at 88% for "Yes," with 435,000 votes.

This is pretty striking.  Online poll, unscientific, and all that, but I would expect it to be biassed against us if anything since there's been no call for "freeping" or "Kosing" from these quarters.

At any rate, perhaps we should also weigh in.  I think even if it does not happen until the last day the guy is in office, it would be immensely valuable if the "i" thing actually happened.  The point is simply that the point must be made that crime will not pay.  They pulled many of these same stunts under Nixon.  They pulled many of these same stunts under Reagan.  They mostly went unpunished, and that is why they are back, subverting our basic institutions and making our government their own plaything.

I want to flag a post today by Josh Marshall, which is a remarkable summary of all of the multiple scandals swirling around our heads at the same time.  It explains, concisely, clearly, and with brutal effectiveness, how the attorney purge story, the "lost" email story, and the "voter fraud" story are all part of the same story, which must not be lost in the details.

That story might be summarized as The Republican War on Black Voters -- without any hyperbole.

Over the next few days, if you have some burning observation on why your representation in Congress stinks and how it's urgent to toss 'em or toss 'er out of office, don't post it here.

Take it to your local newspaper.

I hope that folks have not written off the prospect of retiring Virgil Goode from his less-than-stellar career in the House.  Diarist Gordie over at RaisingKaine has posted a review of poll numbers that suggests that the numbers are all over the map; anything could happen, but things look like they are moving in the right direction.  I do hope that every single Kossack in the 5th CD will be phone-banking or knocking on doors this week if feasible.

Here I offer two modest ideas to help things along.

We've seen GOP'ers scrambling to distance themselves from Denny Hastert. Many have cancelled appearances with the guy. Some are calling for his resignation. Sterling Newbery has quipped that he may need to be stored in Yucca mountain because he's so radioactive.

In central Virginia, though, we have at least one exception: Representative Virgil Goode (VA-05). Virgil thinks Hastert is a real hero in this story, and in fact he doesn't think the whole episode is even a big deal.

According to the Danville Register-Bee, here is Virgil's take on Hastert and Foleygate:

Rep. Virgil Goode, R-5th, said based on what he knows now, he does not think Hastert should step down.

"He [Hastert] said in his statement he was glad Foley resigned and if he hadn't resigned then he would have asked him to."

(See this diary from Mark on RaisingKaine.  Unfortunately, the bit from the newspaper is not online.

Doing canvassing a while ago, I was struck again by how many people complain that the Democrats have no positive message, no ideas. This annoys me, because most of the things that actually work about our government are Democratic ideas -- Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. -- and we need people in government who will keep those things from being destroyed by the hooligans currently in charge. And I know that apart from any list of specific things the Democrats might promise that they'll do once in power, they will put grown-up, competent, qualified people in charge, as they always have, and make government work again. That should be enough, I thought -- more than enough -- to win a sensible person's vote.

But then I thought of what seems to me to be a zippy one-line way of getting this across that cuts through the clutter. Here's my slogan, and my pitch, beyond the flip.

We all are familiar with the sad, strange case of Brian Doyle, the Deputy Press Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security who has been arrested on charges of soliciting sex from a 14-year old online.

Kossack magggiemae has pointed out that another DHS offficial recently was apparently arrested recently in a televised pedophilia sting operation.  I have not been able to find any more detail on this; perhaps someone else can chime in.

Now I see that Christy Hardin Smith at firedoglake has noticed a third recent case of alleged pedophilia by a DHS official.

I'm supposed to have a brief on-air telephone conversation with Chris Vallance of the BBC radio program "Up All Night" tonight at 9:25 or so, Eastern time (I guess that translates to 2:25am London time).  He'll ask me about the Kaloogian fib photo story, and how the case was cracked.

I'll try to put the DKos community in a good light!  (Of course, speaking only for myself.)

I'm sure we are all aware of the puzzle posed by Anthony LA.  Where was that photo taken?

Here is the answer.  (I posted this as a comment in Anthony's diary, but with 700 comments it's hard to find.)

We do a lot of griping around here about the Republicans.  It's time we showed how big and broad-minded we are by acknowledging some of the achievements they've managed, especially in the warm glow of national unity following the State of the Union speech.  After all, since they have controlled all branches of our government for several years now, they must have something to show for it. I offer a few minutes for positive vibes across the aisle, below the jump-- focussing on national security, which we all know is where the Republicans have their greatest strength.

I agree with Jane and Chris Bowers: This turkey can be beaten.  There is so much about him that is unappealing, if the case is made to the public.  The strip search, the membership in a clearly racist group, his bizarre evasions, his lying on Vanguard. Remember the polling that said a substantial majority of Americans will oppose him if he's going to overturn Roe v. Wade?  Remember the documents in which he lays out a strategy for overturning Roe v. Wade?

This stuff is not a bunch of rarified abstractions.  Most Americans, if they hear these things, will be repulsed.

In addition, the Republicans are just not in a good position right now.  Polls are showing a lot of 'throw the bums out' sentiment, the Abramoff situation is breathing down their necks, and Harry Reid has indicated that if they try the 'nuclear option' he has the power to make their lives a living hell -- and he showed with his recent Senate shutdown that he really can run circles around Frist with this sort of thing.

(Please see update below for important corrections.) Lance deHaven-Smith is a professor in the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University.  He has long been deeply immersed in the politics of Florida, and has just published a book through University Press of Florida entitled "The Battle for Florida:An Annotated Compendium Of Materials From The 2000 Presidential Election." (Amazon link)

He has an interview on the book in Florida State's Research in Review Magazine that you really have got to read.  It's all about the disaster of 2000, and the man is full of insights and wise words (and by the way, terrified that we are in the late stages of losing our democracy).

But the  real zinger is his comment on overvotes.

I have been in transit the last few days, and this is my first chance to post about this, but I wanted to make sure to register my outrage.

Mr. Bush on Thursday made a great show of signing a bill to raise a statue of Rosa Parks.  While he was at it, he generously supported renewal of the Voting Rights Act (why is that controversial among Republicans?  Why is this a grand concession?  Why does it not go without saying?)

This is the third time, at least, that George W. Bush has attempted to use Rosa Parks's reputation for his own purposes.  He seized upon her death as a photo opportunity, and allowed Samuel Alito to view her coffin in the Capitol Rotunda to bolster the nominee's respectability.  This is three times too many, and must not pass without comment.

(Via Atrios and The Rude Pundit).

We know that many Republicans have a soft spot for torture, while a number of others such as John McCain -- who as a torture victim and war hero has unique moral authority on the subject -- have campaigned against it.  McCain, in particular, has argued, as have many of us, that torture is not only morally wrong, corrosive of our souls, and poisonous to our reputation in the world, but is also useless as a means of obtaining information.  We object to a great deal of what Sen. McCain has said and done in politics, but he deserves applause for his uncompromising stance on this crucial issue.

Now here is a new wrinkle in the debate -- and, dare I say it, perhaps a new low!  The right-wing and loyally Republican NewsMax website has now argued that McCain's argument about the effectiveness of torture is wrong -- because torture did work -- against John McCain!   Here's a link to the article, but rather than give them the hits, you might just read the Rude Pundit's blistering summary.

Some of you are aware of the story of a nice young man, Chris Craddock, who was nominated by the Republican pary of Virginia to represent the state's 67th district in the House of Delegates.  He has gained a reputation for what one might call outspokenness.  He has opined recently that the reason for the AIDS problem in Africa is that "Africans will have sex with anything with a pulse," that people "turn gay" because they have an absent or abusive father, and that "Christians and gays hate and despise each other" (he's a Christian youth minister, by the way).  The local GOP canned their successful incumbent in the primary because he wasn't on board with their vision of society the way this guy is.

This AP story ("'Intelligent Design' Battle Goes to Polls", by Martha Raffaele, 11/01/05) tells us that the infamous creationism-obsessed school board in Dover, PA school is up for re-election.  These folks have required students to be exposed to a disclaimer in biology class:

Protection against perverts who who want to teach those children science, evidently.