Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake has been in Oklahoma all week at her mother's bedside in the hospital. Her mother passed away this afternoon. If you are a reader of FDL (and what progressive blog reader isn't), it would be nice to visit FDL and leave her your condolences. Christy says she is (quite understandably) devastated.

Here's an open thread for you all (except Duke which will get it's own.)

Major thanks to TChris for his excellent posts this morning. He's about to go on a two week vacation, so make sure you catch all of them as you'll be stuck with me until his return.

I've been busy writing elsewhere today:

• Altercation, The Torture Edition

• Bloggers, Karl Rove and the Presumption of Guilt (an op-ed in the Washington Examiner)

• Jailing the Undocumented at 5280

Writing is much more labor-intensive than practicing law, I'm glad to be going to work now.

I had dinner with Murray Waas in DC tonight. While we've talked on the phone a bunch and e-mailed about PlameGate, we had never met in person. He was suffering from a really bad bout of bronchitis, so we just ate at my hotel. Then we walked to the Capitol building where I took some pix on my cell phone, but I haven't figured out how to get them from the phone to the email (or set up email in the phone -- one of those high-tech razors,) so it will be next week before I get them posted and you all can see Murray standing in front of the U.S. Capitol.

Happy blogiversary to us! With traveling, I forgot it's TalkLeft's birthday. 4 years old.

13 million plus vistors, 22 million plus page views, 14,500 entries and 192,000 comments.

Wow. Thanks to all of you for sticking with us.

Update: Thanks to Kevin for his blogiversary praise for TalkLeft -- no chopped liver here!

I'm on the road today. Here's a place for you to keep each other informed of the news -- and your opinions. Try to keep it civil, ok?

You will see an ad on TalkLeft for the next week that makes you angry. It opposes net neutrality. Personally, I support net neutrality. But TalkLeft does not accept or reject ads based on ideology. If the NRA wants to advertise here, they are welcome. Are there some ads I would reject? Yes, I'd refuse an ad for the she-pundit's book, the KKK, a radical right, fundamentalist organization or one that raves about the death penalty -- ads that made me cringe.

The issue of internet regulaton just doesn't fall in those gut, emotional categories for me. It takes money to spend the amount of time that I do on this site. I'd rather have ad revenue than continually ask readers for donations.

If you'd like to know how I feel about net neutrality, check out Save the Internet. Read both sides and make up your own mind. Then let your Senators know how you feel.

Digby rocks today over at Firedoglake. The success of Yearly Kos was amazing, with no small part played by the FDL foxy ladies Jane and Christy, and reporters like Murray Waas. If, like me, you were not one of the 1,000 bloggers or blog readers at the event, you can catch what you missed on videos here. The Plame Panel with Jane, Christy, Marcy,Murray and Joe Wilson is here.

Digby's point is that blogs wouldn't exist without readers and commenters, and you all deserve to take a bow -- not because you're online, but because you are changing the national political conversation. We are going to take our country back. Since I can't write like Digby (let's face it, very few can) I'll quote -- and add my thoughts at the end:

We got quite a few visitors this weekend from far right weblogs critical of my Zarqawi and Guantanamo coverage. Commenters from these sites have come over here on the attack. They insult, call other commenters and liberals names and post multiple trashy comments with the intent of dominating the discussion. They also have riled up some of TalkLeft's regular ommenters who have begun to respond in kind. I don't have the time or the interest in playing traffic cop.

Deleting individual comments takes too long. What I've done is delete all comments for Sunday (and some from Saturday) -- both those of the unwelcome visitors and the TL commenters who stepped over the line. The most insulting and chattering of the righties have been banned.

Memo to all commenters: Keep it civil and lose the hostility and the name-calling. This is my site, not yours and it's going to be run on my terms, not yours. And don't lecture me on the First Amendment. I'm not the government.

TalkLeft was down for several hours, it's back up now. Here's an open thread to tell us what we've missed.

1,000 bloggers, assorted Democratic party leaders and candidates and the national press, including Maureen Dowd, Adam Nagourney and Dan Froomkin, are all in Las Vegas for Yearly Kos.

By all accounts I've read, the Plame panel was outstanding (great job, Jane and Christy, Murray Waas, Joe Wilson, Larry Johnson and Empty Wheel.)

Markos is totally the rock star of the blogosphere, and it couldn't happen to a more deserving guy. Even Elisa and Ari are there (old picture.)

Mission Accomplished Man, aka actor Will Keenan, is making them all laugh.

And who's live blogging? Skippy!

Other commitments and time constraints prevented TalkLeft from attending Yearly Kos. I'd be there if I could.

Also not there: Crooks and Liars and Sideshow. We'll all be blogging through the weekend.

Meanwhile, for those who need their Daily Kos fix, check out C-Span and Air Amercia Radio who are broadcasting live.

And check out "Misson Accomplished Man," Will Keenan's new video promo for Yearly Kos..

Also, while I'm on videos, don't forget G.A.G., a gangsta rap for the Bush Administration.