This is the first open thread since the new site launched Monday.  All topics are welcome.

For those of you who want to see the comment you are responding to in the same window as the one you are writing in, if your comments are set to "nested" or "threaded" there will be a "reply to this" button in each comment.  Click on the "reply to this" for the comment you want to respond to and that comment will be there when the commenting screen opens.  

So you can view and cut and paste from the individual comment you are replying to and view both in the same window.

Update: I deleted this post by accident (I'm learning Scoop too for the first time).  Let's start again.

by Last Night in Little Rock

The NY Times reports tonight that the closely watched Long Island case of the DWI death of 7 year old wedding flower girl Katie Flynn prosecuted as second degree murder for "depraved indifference" for the accused driving on the wrong side of the road at three times the legal limit resulted in a guilty verdict after a five week trial.

Martin R. Heidgen, of Valley Stream, NY, was found guilty on Tuesday after five days of deliberation, with the jurors having twice reported being deadlocked. Jurors wept as the verdict was read.

The case became a cause celebre for the D.A.'s election and advocates of stronger DWI prosecutors.  It "is one of only a few murder convictions won in fatal drunken driving cases anywhere."

by Last Night in Little Rock

A new issue: How far may a police officer go in searching an arrestee's personal GPS device for where he has been?  The first apparent first case is now working its way through the courts.

From the Journal Times of Racine, WI, by Janine Anderson: Sheriff's department uses Google Earth to pinpoint marijuana fields.

The Racine County Sheriff's Department used Google Earth -- an online mapping program -- last week to pinpoint marijuana fields in Mount Pleasant and bust a Racine man for harvesting pot.

We've corrected most of the bugs (including those posted in the comments we thought warranted fixing) and the RSS feed.

I'm very happy with the move, and hope you are too.   Change is never easy, try it out, see if you don't get used to it.

Before I let the developers off the hook, here's your last chance to tell us what isn't working or what you wish we would change.

David Ignatius laments the demise of civil rational public discourse that he labels centrist:

People from the Old Media, like me, instinctively prefer a centrist style of civilized debate. Of course we do, say Halperin and Harris. We are the gatekeepers of the old order. The shrill voices of the New Media -- the bloggers and talk-radio hosts and other partisan megaphones that Halperin and Harris describe as the "Freak Show" -- don't just threaten our beloved center. They might eventually put us out of business.

The gatekeepers have been AWOL. There is no rational debate because lies are accorded equal treatment as truth. Issues are nothing in campaigns for the Gatekeepers, personality and image everything. David Ignatius and the Old Media failed us and Left bloggers were forced to deal with it. and we have. But if Ignatius wonders what killed rational discourse in this country he need look no further than his mirror. He and the Media failed and accepted the Republican ground rules of falsehoods and trivialities. Ignatius, you killed rational discourse.

I go on and on about how to fight the political battle. But in a post, Digby discussed how governance has changed in our country:

It really can't be overstated how Newt's bare knuckle style of politics changed the way things worked in Washington. When it was combined with the big money media operations that finally came to fruition during that era --- Limbaugh, FOX etc. --- any old fashioned notions of political comity went out the window. And it was such a strong series of below the belt punches that it knocked the Democrats to the ground for nearly a decade. (It was providence that the Democratic president at the time was a skilled rope-a-dope fighter who could withstand a relentless rain of blows.)

Indeed, it has been governance as an extension of scorched earth politics and is the single most important reason why today's Republican Party simply is incapable of competent governance.

But let's assume Democrats, in some imaginable miracle, take both houses of Congress, how should they run the Congress? Some thoughts on the other side.

Democracy in Iraq:

For Mr. Maliki, these concerns have taken on a keen personal edge, exposed Monday when the White House revealed that Mr. Maliki asked President Bush in a telephone call whether there was any truth to rumors that the Americans had plans to replace him "if certain things don't happen within two months," in the words of Mr. Bush's press secretary, Tony Snow.

Chalabi time? What a farce. It would be funny if it was not tragic. Purple fingers anyone?

In death, Ken Lay has escaped both conviction and incarceration.  Lay died before his sentence commenced, and today, a federal judge vacated his conviction.  Since Lay died before his case could be reviewed on appeal, the law gives Lay a posthumous pass.

In a technical sense, the UPI may be correct to say that the action "lifts a cloud from Lay's name."  In the real world, those who saw Lay as a symbol of corporate avarice will not forget that a unanimous jury found the evidence of his guilt convincing beyond a reasonable doubt.

Air America Radio may or may not survive its financial troubles, but say hello to the new kid on the block -- Nova M Radio, formed by two of the original founders of AAM, consultant Joe Trippi and pollster John Zogby.

Nova M Radio, Inc. based in Phoenix, Arizona officially announced the formation of its new progressive talk radio network. Debuting on the network will be the long awaited return to the airwaves of America’s original “truth-seeker” Mike Malloy. The Mike Malloy Show will initially broadcast live, from 9PM -12 Midnight (EST) beginning October 30,2006 on Nova M Radio affiliate 1480-AM KPHX Phoenix. The Mike Malloy Show will be made available to affiliates across the nation and will also stream live on www.novamradio.com.

Here's the backstory:

This post from the Lieberman campaign demonstrates the fear:

Seems pretty clear to us this cynical tactic [discussing Schlesinger's debate performance] is part of a coordinated strategy -- and that it will fall as flat as the rest of Ned's general election campaign.   The next logical step will be for Ned and his more wealthy friends to start funneling money to Schlesinger to try to get him on television.

Whoa! Does Lieberman really want to talk about who is funding campaigns? The fact is that Schlesinger was the surprise star of that debate, and to be frank, I was as surprised as Lieberman was. But that is just a lucky break for Lamont. There is nothing Lamont can do to help Schlesinger. As before, Lamont must make Lieberman pay a political price with Democrats for his Bush and GOP support. If Schlesinger can make Lieberman pay on the Right, so much the better for Lamont, but that is out of Lamont's control. Joe's careful Republican dance became more difficult yesterday. Tomorrow, another debate in Connecticut will make watching Joe dance even more entertaining.

The federal judge in Ken Lay's Enron trial has vacated his conviction. Charges against him were dismissed.

In his decision, Lake cited a decision in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that makes death, before the appeals process has been exhausted, grounds for throwing out a conviction and dismissing an indictment.

Although the Justice Department tried to get Congress to trump the precedent by passing a law, no member of Congress voted for it.

Through his teeth:

Lieberman has said he will not endorse Democratic candidates because he understands that his candidacy has put Democratic candidates in an awkward position, and has said he would stay out of their races.

Excuse me? Lieberman's candidacy has hurt Democratic candidates in Connecticut but his endorsement could mitigate that damage.

The harm he wishes to avoid is to his Lieberman for Lieberman candidacy. The Lie in Lieberman - everyday. Have any doubt that Lieberman is now fighting for Republicans? This flip flop should put them to rest:

"I see no reason not to be for [John] Bolton [as UN Ambassador]," Lieberman told a meeting of the Daily News Editorial Board.

Lieberman, when fishing for Dem votes earlier this year, voted to filibuster Bolton's nomination.