Don't miss this article in the Weekly Standard on Markos and the Daily Kos, and why politicans need to take him seriously.

The Daily Kos is the most popular and important force in the blogosphere; it's a fact with which Democrats are just now coming to grips.

It recaps the history of Daily Kos, Markos' shrewd instincts, his up front acknowledgment that he is an activist, his at times in-your-face style and the undeniable fact that his is the most influential voice in the blogosphere.

And in the spirit of full disclosure, Markos designed TalkLeft in its current incarnation.

Yesterday the race for DNC Chair was down to three and now, with the endorsement today of the United Auto Workers, it may be all but a fait accompli that Howard Dean will get the position.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said Dean, a former Vermont governor and presidential candidate, has proven that he can bring new people into the party and energize activists.

"Governor Dean understands quite clearly that the Democratic Party cannot afford to write off voters in any region of the country, and we're convinced that he will work tirelessly to make Democratic ideas and candidates winners in local, state and national elections," Gettelfinger said in a statement.

Add in the Dean endorsement today by the United Steelworkers Union.

Update: Kinky Friedman will announce his candidacy for Governor of Texas tomorrow on MSNBC's 'Imus Show', from 7 to 8 am CST.

******

Highly recommended: Kinky Friedman's article about Max Soffar locked up in Texas for 23 years, and granted a new trial last year. It was written a year ago for Texas Monthly, but is available free at the link above (as well as on Kinky's website.) It begins like a Friedman novel, but this is no fictional story.

I've seen Cool Hand Luke and The Green Mile, but I'm not a prison reform activist. I'd never interviewed anyone on death row until the middle of January, when I picked up a telephone and looked through the clear plastic divider at the haunting reflection of my own humanity in the eyes of Max Soffar.

Max doesn't have a lot of time and neither do I, so I'll try to keep it brief and to the point.

Among the brief points:

Democrats will question Homeland Security Nominee Michael Chertoff on former Ethics Office Counsel Jessalyn Radack during his confirmation hearing today:

...Senate staffers say he will face sharp questions bout his tenure at Justice, including the decision to order the detention of immigrants and his advice to the CIA on the line between harsh interrogation and tactics that might constitute torture. The incident with the ethics office reflects what several Justice Department lawyers described as pressure to toe a hard line after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. When Jesselyn Radack, a lawyer in the ethics office, gave advice that ran contrary to Chertoff's wishes, she says, her promising career foundered.

We've been blogging like crazy the past few weeks, and could use some help with donations, particularly from our most frequent readers and commenters. If you can throw in a few bucks, it would be most appreciated. Many thanks.

• PayPal
• Amazon (anonymous)

Related Note: Superbowl spammers are out in force. MT-Blacklist does a great job with comments, but the spam is getting through the trackbacks. There were 30 today I had to delete. So I've turned off trackbacks until next week. If you don't have a weblog, no need to even wonder about what this means. If you do, you might want to block strings with "super-bowl" to save your sanity.

What's up with Colorado Senator Ken Salazar's continued support of Alberto Gonzales? As I wrote over at 5280 this morning, this is not a politically smart move. Granted, he's attacked Bush's social security plan, but his consitutents are more apt to remember this betrayal of party values.

by TChris

Sgt. Javal S. Davis entered guilty pleas yesterday to several charges surrounding his abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Sergeant Davis ... admitted Tuesday that he had stepped on the hands and feet of some of the seven detainees brought into his prison section for punishment after a disturbance in November 2003. He said he also fell with full weight on top of them.

Although Davis entered into a plea agreement, it isn't yet clear whether he obtained the deal he was seeking: a cap on his possible sentence at 18 months.

Also on Tuesday, Specialist Roman Krol was sentenced to 10 months after admitting to "pouring water on the naked detainees in October 2003, forcing them to crawl around the prison and throwing a foam football at the prisoners while they were handcuffed on the floor."

by TChris

The Senate will not vote to confirm Alberto Gonzalez as attorney general today. Instead, the debate surrounding his fitness to serve in that position will continue, with a vote expected on Thursday.

Democratic opposition to Gonzales derives "from the nominee's involvement in the formulation of a number of policies that have tarnished our country's moral leadership in the world and put American soldiers and American citizens at greater risk," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said during Senate debate Tuesday.

A confirmation hearing is also being held today regarding the nomination of Michael Chertoff to head Homeland Security.

Bush will try to sell social security reform tonight the same way he tried to sell us the War in Iraq--with lies. From a speech in early January appearing on the White House website here:

"By the time today's workers who are in their mid-20s begin to retire, the system will be bankrupt. So if you're 20 years old, in your mid-20s, and you're beginning to work, I want you to think about a Social Security system that will be flat bust, bankrupt, unless the United States Congress has got the willingness to act now."

Back to Salon:

Many economists would consider that statement very nearly an outright lie. If we do nothing at all, Social Security's accumulated trust fund will be depleted by about the middle of this century, at which point it will need to reduce, not discontinue, benefit payouts.

There is no crisis. But here is how Bush is going to spin it for you - straight from his playbook.

Wonders never cease. Ken Starr is representing a death row inmate in Virginia, seeking to overturn his conviction. At no charge.

If you are watching Bush's SOTU on television tonight, here's something to get you through it.

Remember, there is no crisis.

Also check out MoveOn's ads throughout the day. Click here to watch Working Retirement. Here's the ad (pdf) appearing today's New York Times.

Shorter version: There were no WMD's and there is no social security crisis.

Here are some bloggers live-blogging tonight's SOTU:

• America Blog
• Suburban Guerrilla
• Common Sense
• Political Forecast
• Truthout

If you know of more, put them in the comments (in html format, please.)