I'm in court today, so here's an open thread for you.

I'm still busy at work so here's an open thread. There's also some good diaries this weekend:

• November 19, 2006 - Cheney Says Dems Can't Stop Bush's War With Iran
• November 17, 2006 - Keisler must be blocked.
• November 17, 2006 - New Report Finds Bush Banned Rights Before Military Tribunal Law Enacted By Congress
• November 16, 2006 What Do Hunger & Torture Have In Common? No Pain Equals No Existence.

Since I'm traveling today, I think an open thread is appropriate.

To set the mood, here's a Friday Funnies I received by e-mail:

In honor of Trent Lott's return to power, coffee shops are bringing back the popular "Trent Latte."

It's separate but equal parts of milk and coffee.

Also, Poor Man begins the pre-nominations phase for Golden Wingers Awards.

I'm heading back to Omaha Friday where I'll be until after court ends Monday afternoon. This sculpture [larger version here] is my favorite of the many public art works there. It's a tribute to the workers in the labor unions that helped build Omaha and is the second largest labor memorial in the country.

It's the Tuesday open thread, where readers take over to post their thoughts. With last week being election day, we missed it, so hopefully some of you have enough pent up to get a thread going. If you don't, or even if you do, hopefully TChris, Big Tent or LNILR will keep you updated. Enjoy.

I'm recovered from the election frenzy and thinking about the direction TalkLeft will take between now and the 2008 election, which is not far away.

Personally, I'd like to concentrate as I've always done, on the politics of crime, the crime in politics, civil liberties, criminal justice legislation in Congress, prisons, sentencing, the detainees and the War in Iraq. I haven't asked, but I suspect TChris and Last Night in Little Rock feel the same.

But I'm also grateful to Big Tent Democrat who posts on TalkLeft on politics and often exposes the non-liberal media, and glad that he has agreed to continue posting on TalkLeft even though the elections are over. After all, 2008 is right around the corner.

But, let's take a poll.

Bob Stein, a long time magazine editor, has joined the New Media, starting his own blog, Connecting.the.Dots. Here is Bob's bio:

ROBERT STEIN, editor, publisher, media critic and journalism teacher, is a former Chairman of the American Society of Magazine Editors, and author of “Media Power: Who Is Shaping Your Picture of the World?” Before the war in Iraq, he wrote in The New York Times: “I see a generation gap in the debate over going to war in Iraq. Those of us who fought in World War II know there was no instant or easy glory in being part of 'The Greatest Generation,' just as we knew in the 1990s that stock-market booms don’t last forever. We don’t have all the answers, but we want to spare our children and grandchildren from being slaughtered by politicians with a video-game mentality." This is not meant to extol geezer wisdom but suggest that, even in our age of 24/7 hot flashes, something can be said for perspective. The Web is a wide space for spreading news, but it can also be a deep well of collective memory to help us understand today’s world. In olden days, tribes kept village elders around to remind them with which foot to begin the ritual dance. Start the music.

Bob is a wise old man. Very much worth reading.

Where did the time go? I left Denver on Monday to be in D.C. for CNN's election night blogger party. I returned late Wednesday, and have court this morning at 8:30 a.m. I feel like the elections hijacked my life. I'm sure my clients feel the same way.

So I hope readers will forgive me as I take a day to re-enter my life, which as much as I sometimes wish could be spent blogging 24/7, just is not the case. In truth, it's a privilege to do both -- to have an opportunity to effect change in the real world of criminal injustice and opine here in the virtual world.

Major thanks to TChris and Big Tent Democrat for their great contributions here -- hopefully they have a bit more energy and time than I do today. In case they don't and even if they do but something else is on your minds, here's an open thread for you.

George Allen refuses to concede Virginia. He just made a statement thanking everyone for their prayers and saying vote-counting will continue tomorrow. We all thought it was going to be a concession speech, no such luck.

Like Amnesty International, TalkLeft condemns the death sentence imposed on Saddam Hussein. From their press release:

"This trial should have been a major contribution toward establishing justice and the rule of law in Iraq, and in ensuring truth and accountability for the massive human rights violations perpetrated by Saddam Hussein's rule," said Malcolm Smart, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. "In practice, it has been a shabby affair, marred by serious flaws that call into question the capacity of the tribunal, as currently established, to administer justice fairly, in conformity with international standards."

For Pastor Haggard:

Son of a Preacher Man (Dusty Springfield, 1999)

For Mike Jones:

Can I get a Witness? (Dusty Springfield, 1964)

Chris Bowers is a treasure. But he is prone to this type of knee jerk nonsense:

Democrats are once again showing weakness in the face of attack, an eagerness to apologize for calling the right-wing names, and a willingness to close Daou's triangle on themselves.

Just look at the latest AP headline:

Some Democrats join Republicans in pressing Kerry for apology. Game over. So much for showing strength in the face of attack. Once again, we are weak, divided, and grovelling for forgiveness. The triangle is officially closed on this now. Well done, Democrats. My only remaining hope is that this story goes away quickly.

This is dumb beyond belief. Chris, it was game over the moment Kerry pushed this thing big with his stupid press conference. There is no reason for Democrats to have to go to bat for John Kerry in THIS ELECTION!! The Left Blogs have been dumb as hammers on this one. There was one thing to do with this story for the word go - hope the story went away quickly. MY gawd, Chris wanted to fight on the issue of whether John Kerry insulted the troops?

Now Stoller joins the dumb act. What is it with these guys? Kerry misspoke AND apologized. So what the heck is there to defend now? Honestly, stupid pills abound.