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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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:

Blogging or reporting on the web can be a risky endeavor in some countries. Many have lost their liberty because they told the truth or expressed their opinions.

The number of journalists jailed worldwide for their work increased for the second consecutive year, and one in three is now an Internet blogger, online editor, or Web-based reporter, according to an analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

About half of the world's imprisoned journalists are print reporters (including editors and photographers), but web-based journalists are increasingly losing their freedom.

China, Cuba, Eritrea, and Ethiopia were the top four jailers among the 24 nations who imprisoned journalists.

December likely is the month that bloggers must balance the ledger sheet and reassess their time commitment to blogging because of the financial drain. How many hours were spent blogging, how much money did it cost in lost income from the day job and how much did the blog make from blog ads and donations? When they do, the blogosphere runs the risk of losing them. We may be raving activists, but we live in the same capitalist world that you do.

So, as you're putting a little something in the pocket of your paperperson, housekeeper, doorman, shoe shiner, hairstylist, secretary, whomever.....think about the bloggers whose sites you read day after day either for enjoyment or enrichment, and make a note to add them to your gift list. If ever there was a month to do it, this is it.

To give to TalkLeft, go here or here.

Cintra Wilson in Salon has a four page article that should be read by anyone either contemplating supporting Rudy Giuliani or not familiar with his pre-9/11 personality. The tag line sums it up:

9/11 gave America amnesia about the real Rudy Giuliani. He's an authoritarian narcissist -- and we don't need another one of those in the White House.

I couldn't agree more. Here's a sample:

On 9/11, all Americans were frightened children, and in a moment of mythic personal heroism, Mayor Giuliani filled the gaping leadership void. The president looked like a petrified chimp; Cheney was spirited to an underground bunker. Only Giuliani could pull himself together sufficiently to get on TV in the midst of the wreckage and show America that a grown-up was still breathing. On that terrible day our reptile brains looked at Rudy Giuliani and said, "We're OK now. Daddy's home."

And we forgot, some for a moment, some permanently, that Daddy was psycho.

One more, and then just go read the whole thing:

There's still time to order one for Christmas. It ships in 3 business days.

TalkLeft's 4th Amendment Subway Tote. (Larger version here.)

Let the 4th Amendment speak for you as you hand your bag over for a search by a subway or airline security guard. It's a silent protest and reminder to authorities that you consider searches without reasonable suspicion or probable cause to be an infringement of your privacy rights.

They make great gifts, especially for college kids.

In the news:

• Robert Gates' confirmation hearing as Defense Secretary is underway. He says we are not winning the war in Iraq.

• Former President Bush dissolves into tears of love for son Jeb at a speaking event. Was he drunk?

• Hillary reaches out to Dems in New Hampshire and Iowa. Will she announce before the end of the year?

• Obama praises Hillary in New York. Once again, I see a Hillary-Obama ticket in our future.

What's on your news screen today?

At talking points memo, David Kurtz links to this fairly egregious article in the New York Times, titling his post "The Ties That Bind":

New on the Web: Politics as Usual

THE Netroots.” “People Power.” “Crashing the Gate.” The lingo of liberal Web bloggers bespeaks contempt for the political establishment. The same disdain is apparent among many bloggers on the right, who argued passionately for a change in the slate of House Republican leaders — and who wallowed in woe-is-the-party pity when the establishment ignored them.

You might think that with the kind of rhetoric bloggers regularly muster against politicians, they would never work for them. But you would be wrong. . . . [T]his year, candidates across the country found plenty of outsiders ready and willing to move inside their campaigns. Candidates hired some bloggers to blog and paid others consulting fees for Internet strategy advice or more traditional campaign tasks like opposition research.

Here is a listing of some of the most influential bloggers who went to work for campaigns this year, what they were paid according to campaign disclosure documents, and praiseworthy posts about their employers or critical ones of their employers’ opponents.

There is a very nasty implication of bloggers for sale to that article and David Kurtz chooses to endorse that. That is darned egregious of him. But he has shown disdain for the Left blogs for some time. He has never been a friend of the Left blogs. His right, but something to keep in mind when you read his work. He is an Establishment type through and through.

It's almost sunset here in Key West. Incredible weather, great company. I'm sitting at the dock of the bay on the Gulf of Mexico, 100 yards from the Atlantic Ocean. We're hoping to see the Green Flash.

Here's an open thread for you.