Chris Bowers, writing about the stupid blogrolling dispute (easy for me to say right? TalkLeft is linked, thanks to J.), actually stumbles into interesting ground:

What are individual bloggers trying to accomplish? What is the blogosphere in general trying to accomplish? . . . I am not saying I know the answer to those questions. I'm just saying that before anyone is accused of anything, people should explain their motives for blogging, ask others to explain their motives, and then see if those motives intersect.

Explaining motives, disclosure of conflicts, etc., is all important stuff and something the Netroots need to do better, but I am still much more interested, in another part of what Chris writes:

[A]s an activist blogger, I seek ways to help make progressive political machinery more effective.

Does that describe how the "Netroots leadership" generally have functioned on Iraq and the Iraq supplemental funding bill? I think the answer is obviously no. I have written a lot on why I think so but I will remind everyone on the flip.

Update [2007-4-3 12:44:16 by Big Tent Democrat]: See also Glenn Greenwald on Dictator Rudy, who also believes the President has the power to imprison American citizens without due process. A dangerous lunatic is Giuliani.

Via Matt Yglesias, Rich Lowry describes Rudy Giuliani endorsing dictatorship:

Rudy . . . began to muse about, after a veto, "would the president have the constitutional authority to support them [the troops], anyway?" . . . He seemed to suggest that Bush could fund the Iraq war without Congress providing funding. . . [He] said, since the war had been authorized by Congress, the president has "the inherent authority to support the troops." But he added, "You have to ask a constitutional lawyer." . . . I asked Rudy whether he was saying Bush could veto the supplemental and, in the absence of a deal with Congress, fund the troops in Iraq under his own authority. "If he vetoes it, he's going to have to find a way to support the troops," Rudy said. "They have given him the authorization to fight the war," and "Bush has the power to redirect the money and time to work something out" with Congress. . . .

This is blatantly unconstitutional. It advocates for dictatorship in wartime. It is a great example of what Rudy Giuliani is.

I'm at the airport, heading back to Denver (slowly, having to change planes in Chicago) from rural Connecticut where I've spent the last five days with Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake and her three big poodles, Kobe, Lucy and Katie.

Jane is amazing. She is an eternal optimist and determined to get as much joy out of every day as she can, despite her cancer, which I'm convinced she is going to beat. We walked up and down the long winding hilly road to her house for 60 minutes every day. We cooked and ate only the freshest fish, greens, fruits and vegetables. She looks as gorgeous as always, has a strong appetite, laughs a lot and was great company. If I didn't have a day job, I would have stayed longer.

The dogs are incredibly smart, sensitive, respectful and loving. I'm going to miss them.

We didn't see much news, the days just kind of flew by, so here's another open thread to bring us all up to speed.

I should be back to regular blogging Tuesday or Wednesday.

There's good news over at Captain's Quarters. Ed's wife (the First Mate) has had a successful kidney transplant. She and the donor are doing fine. Ed's been blogging through the surgery to relieve the stress. Go on over and send some good wishes.

Hillary Clinton raked it in this quarter.

Shattering previous records, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton collected $26 million for her presidential campaign during the first three months of the year and transferred an additional $10 million from her Senate fundraising account, aides said Sunday. The New York senator's total included $4.2 million raised through the Internet.

The amount outdistanced past presidential election records and set a high bar by which to measure the fundraising abilities of her chief rivals.

I wonder how Rudy Giuliani did.

Update: John Edwards raised $14 million.

I'm still hanging out with Jane in Connecticut. I don't know where the hours go, but there hasn't been much time for blogging. We're just now sitting on the couch for the first time all day, turning the tv on to see the news, and logging on to check our e-mails. The poodles are great. By the time I leave on Monday, I'll be able to tell Lucy from Katie (Kobe's easier, he's taller.)

As always, thanks to Big Tent and TChris for blogging while I'm away. And say hello to two new blogs:

• JusticeLA

A new social justice site with a (nominal) grant from the USC Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism and

• Sparkmeter:

The concept of the site is that users submit news and everyone ranks the recent news as having a left-leaning bias, right-leaning bias, or objective. The most active news rises to the top. Users are also given the ability to rate other users as left, right, or objective. (think digg/reddit but for political news)

This is also an open thread.

More....

The GSA political scandal produces high hilarity.

Anyone who has taken a deposition has seen this approach before by a witness, but I never understood how anyone would try it in a public hearing. I love her put upon attitude, as if there could be nothing wrong with it. A strange performance. Some more fun here.

Via Atrios, via Yglesias, Karen Tumulty has a question:

What is a "concern troll"?

Atrios and commenters provide the answer. What other questions should be answered on blogging lingo? I imagine you know what a "purity troll" is by now. And you are all aware of the the "pimping" and "whoring" rampant in the blogs. A veritable Sodom, not to mention Gomorrah.

I claim authorship of one term, but I think both the term and the practice really has not caught on - "linky thread." This is an Open Thread that contains links to other posts from other blogs that you feel merit attention. Now a staple at daily kos and other sites.

My favorite insidery blog phrase was "Holden gets a pony." I think everyone knows that story, but if you do not, Google and Wikipedia have it. Just kidding, one of the leading atriots, NTodd, quoting athenae, explained:

I'm off to Connecticut today to hang out with Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake. I'll be staying with her through Monday, as she continues her battle with breast cancer.

We planned the visit while in D.C. at the Scooter Libby trial. I'm really looking forward to it. Jane is an inspiration, a warrior and a total trooper. She's going to win this battle.

Except for Wednesday and Monday which are travel days, I'll be blogging here as usual. Big Tent Democrat, TChris and Last Night in Little Rock will be here in my absence, as their schedules allow.

Let's start the day off with an open thread, where you can all weigh in with what's on your mind. I'll be following along as internet access allows.

I'll be live-blogging the Joseph Nacchio insider trading trial for 5280 this afternoon. There's a lot of posts up here already today, but in case you want more, here's an open thread.

There will also be an open thread tomorrow since it's a travel day for me.

I'm heading over to court and 5280.com to blog the Joseph Nacchio trial proceedings. Big Tent is out of pocket today. TChris or Last Night may stop in, but in case not, here's a place for you to bring everyone up to speed on the news and your thoughts.

Bump and Update: The LA Times is on the three fired U.S. Attorneys who opposed the death penalty.

Original Post:

Fired Margaret Chiara and the Death Penalty

On February 24, I wrote about the possibility Michigan U.S. Attorney Margaret Chiara was fired because of her anti-death penalty beliefs.

Quoting the Washington Post,

Chiara -- who had once studied to be a nun -- is personally opposed to capital punishment....Another of the fired U.S. attorneys, Paul K. Charlton of Phoenix, also clashed with Washington over the death penalty.

The Washington Post today has more on Chiara's firing and it isn't pretty for the White House. She was well-respected by the judges, federal prosecutors and defense lawyers in her district.

More...