Indiana Senator Evan Bayh is announcing today he will not seek re-election.

The party faces several other retirements -- Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., both have said they will not seek reelection -- and challenges ahead in trying to hold on to those seats, among a range of others.

Republicans need 10 seats to re-take the Senate. Will they get them?

Republicans are favored to win in North Dakota. They may also be able to capture Vice President Joe Biden's old Senate seat in Delaware.

Today is Presidents Day, which is a day that was invented in order to roll Lincoln and Washington's birthday into one national holiday. For some reason, we could not just add a holiday to honor Martin Luther King.

What Presidents Day brings to mind for me? Ads like this one:

Ugh. No offense to Washington and Lincoln, but the celebrations of their birth have set advertising back like nothing else.

This is an Open Thread.

Credit "Goldman Fleece" to Mark Kleiman. See also Robert Stein on "The Ponzifying of America."

Goldman Sachs has not only helped or encouraged some European governments to hide a large part of their debts, but it also endeavored to do so for Greece as recently as last November. These actions are fundamentally destabilizing to the global financial system, as they undermine: the eurozone area; all attempts to bring greater transparency to government accounting; and the most basic principles that underlie well-functioning markets. When the data are all lies, the outcomes are all bad – see the subprime mortgage crisis for further detail.

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Via Andrew Sullivan, from ABC's interview with Dick Cheney:

CHENEY: I was a big supporter of waterboarding. [. . .]

KARL: And you opposed the administration's actions of doing away with waterboarding?

CHENEY: Yes.

It's not new but it remains news. And news mostly unreported -- the Bush Administration sanctioned and engaged in torture - a federal crime, a war crime and a crime against humanity.

Speaking for me only

Via Crooks and Liars, Doug Fieger, lead singer of The Knack died this morning after a long bout against cancer. Fieger's brother, Michigan attorney Geoff Fieger.

My Sharona was such a classic. RIP.

Politico was stung by the criticisms of it as Dick Cheney's mouthpiece. So they published this rather ridiculous "nuanced" piece by Allen and Vandehei, 2 of their heavy hitters. It is embarrassingly pusillanimous. But I bet they think it is brave. In any event, there is one part that I find particularly objectionable:

Obama has pulled back on what he sees as the most inexplicable overreaches of the Bush-Cheney years — the “enhanced interrogation techniques” (“torture,” to critics) [. . .]

(Emphasis supplied.) You can have any opinion you want about waterboarding, but it is a fact that it is defined as "torture" under the relevant international treaties and federal law. That is a fact. In short, it is not "torture" to critics, it is "torture" under the law. And there is no dispute that the Bush Administration sanctioned waterboarding. If a news organization is too frightened to publish a factual statement, then what value does it have as a news organization? None. More . . .

The 10k Biathlon (the cross country skiing/shooting event) is being televised right now (on the East Coast.)

It is one of my Winter Olympic favorites.

For West Coasters, you will want to watch the Nordic Combined event. Fantastic stuff.

This is an Open Thread.

Is that all there is, is that all there is?
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

Today, in the United State of America, the Democratic Party controls the House, the Senate and the Presidency. In the scheme of things, after 12 year of GOP control of the Congress and 8 years of GOP control of the Presidency, you would expect significant changes. Especially after the landslide result of the 2008 election. But it just has not happened.

Let's be clear -- Democratic governance is better than GOP governance. But let's face it, how could it be worse? The question is this - is this as good as it gets? Is this all that the Democratic Party can deliver in terms of progressive governance? If so, then David Broder has won. The choices we have as Americans are between a Center Right government and a Far Right government. This despite the fact that the American electorate is supportive of progressive ideas. Why is this? I'll think about that on the flip.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. Who's got something romantic planned?

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Vice President Joe Biden appears on Meet the Press this morning. Here's the transcript of his comments about Dick Cheney (no link yet, received from NBC by e-mail), in which he asserts Cheney is attempting to re-write history. As for his motive, Biden says Cheney is either misinformed or misinforming. Why not just call him what he is -- a disingenuous ex-politician.

DAVID GREGORY: Let me ask you about some of the criticism that's been leveled at this Administration by former Vice President Dick Cheney. He has argued that this Administration has failed to treat the fight against terrorists as war. He cites the decision related to Khalid Sheik Muhammad to offer him a civilian trail as one example. Giving the Christmas Day Bomber the privileges of the American criminal justice system is another example. The decision to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison. What do you say?

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Apolo Ohno is just about to skate. (Update: He wins silver in 1,500 for 6th Olympic medal)

I've been offline all day, was there any big news?

Dave Cullen, author of the bestselling, Edger-nominated Columbine, provides his take on the female professor accused in the Alabama shooting.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm running errands today and won't have time to follow the news. Here's an open thread for those of you online, all topics welcome.