A huge thank you to all who voted for Best of the Top 250 Blogs Results will be final Monday, but these are the votes as of the time voting ended:

Talk Left 25.15 (3495)
Feministe 24.44 (3396)

Stop The ACLU 15.35 (2133)

Bump and Update: Voting has ended. Thanks to each and every one of you who voted. The official results will be announced by Monday. I think that when voting ended, TalkLeft was in first place. We'll know soon.

Now back to regular blogging.

Bump and Update: We've pulled into first place, but just by a nod. Your vote is still needed. And thanks to all of you.

Home Depot is running an ad this month (click on "Pulled Over Santa") where Santa Claus is pulled over by an officer who asks for his license and registration.  Santa can't find the registration, and he sits back looking resigned to the fact that something bad may be in the offing. The elf nervously waves to the officer. The officer then asks: "What's in the bag?"

So, if kids, or even the general public, see this ad, are they supposed to believe that it is legally permissible for a police officer during a traffic stop to ask "What's in the bag?"  

Atrios points out how Lieberman lied again:

In July he said:

So I am confident that the situation is improving enough on the ground that by the end of this year, we will begin to draw down significant numbers of American troops, and by the end of the next year more than half of the troops who are there now will be home.

Lieberman, visiting Iraq today with Republicans McCain, Graham and Collins, reportedly said today:

"We need more, not less, troops," Lieberman said.

There really is no less principled person in politics today than Joe Lieberman.

From Gregg Gladden at the Texas ACLU:

An Overdue Visit

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the nation
Friends of Freedom knew it was a special occasion.
Lady Liberty stood taller just off the shore
Her torch shining brighter than a few weeks before

But it wasn't the flame turning her cheeks all rosy
It was thoughts of Snowe, Feingold and Nancy Pelosi
And leaders from every side of the aisle
Who would soon bring the Bill of Rights back into style.

The Amendments had all hurried out of their beds -
Which was no easy task, they were nearly in shreds
And they rushed to the window on papery feet
As a jolly old man flew right over their street.

Bump and Update: A right wing site named Stop the ACLU is catching up to TalkLeft. Please vote again today.

If you haven't voted yet today in the 2006 Weblog Awards, here's the link. All votes are very much appreciated.

You can vote once a day until December 15.

I'm at the airport about to return to Denver. Telluride is a winter wonderland, but I'm ready to head home. Here's an open thread for you.

If you haven't voted yet today in the 2006 Weblog Awards, here's the link. All votes are very much appreciated.

You can vote once a day until December 15.

Like many across the blogs, I am a big fan of the HBO show "The Wire." My favorite discussions of the show generally spring from Matt Yglesias' blog, but today I like Ezra's discussion:

It's testament to the overpowering awesomeness of The Wire that despite being a deeply opinionated commentary on social, urban, and economic policy, it's basically beloved by the whole political spectrum. You already know the panoply of lefty bloggers who regularly recommend and rave over the show, but now Cato is recommending it as a stocking stuffer. Meanwhile, my personal Wire-watching group includes lefties, punk rock chefs, and hardcore libertarians. So I think the anecdotal evidence of pan-ideological appeal is ironclad. Which is a bit odd, given that the creators are, as best I can tell, revolutionary socialists. . . . Yet everyone likes the show. That's possibly because it's a masterful story, expertly told, and exquisitely acted. It may also be because it's little kinder to state intervention than personal initiative. While none of the problems would be solved by charter schools, the public schools aren't making progress either. Indeed, it may be the radical apocalypticism of The Wire's vision that makes it so palatable: By offering absolutely no hope, it evades arguments over solutions.

Pessimism is what "The Wire" is all about. For some reason, the drama of futility attracts me. And this is as close to a criminal law post as I will do.

larger version here.

It's snowing big-time here in Telluride. It's very beautiful and peaceful. No ski slopes for me though, here's where I'll be.

larger version here.

What's going on in your neck of the woods?

Bump and update: Vote early, vote often. Please don't let us lose out to a right-wing site named Stop the ACLU.

TalkLeft is nominated in the "Best of the Top 250 Blogs." If you'd like to vote for us, we'd appreciate it. Just click here.

You can vote once a day until December 15.

larger version here.

I'm headed back to Telluride today to prepare for a court hearing on Monday. The courthouse is the building with the clock in the picture.

I won't have time to ski, but if you've ever wondered what the slopes there look like, check out these pictures.

For those of you online this weekend, here's a space to chat.

TalkLeft is nominated in the "Best of the Top 250 Blogs." If you'd like to vote for us, we'd appreciate it. Just click here.

You can vote once a day until December 15.

It's not the Koufax Awards but the 2006 Weblog Awards by WizbangTech.

TalkLeft is nominated in the "Best of the Top 250 Blogs." If you'd like to vote for us, we'd appreciate it. Just click here.

You can vote once a day for the next 8 or so days. It's got real time calculations, so you can see after your vote how the blogs are doing in the vote count.

The voting skews right because Wizbang, which sponsors it, is mainly a right-wing blog. There are several left-leaning blogs nominated however.

This form of voting is intended to level the playing field for the smaller blogs. The reasoning: