A wide open thread is overdue, so here it is. Some things I'm reading and watching:

• John Dickerson in Slate asking "Where's My Subpoena" in PlameGate. Reddhedd at Firedoglake provides analysis.

• Howard Kurtz in WAPO on the deficient cable news coverage of the Gonzales hearing.

• Jonah Peretti on the Huffpo Contagious Festival. Many of the entries are great and well worth checking out and voting on.

• The NORML video, Sam's Journey, in the ad on the right side of TalkLeft. I hope they enter it in the contagious festival.

Say hello to the Nation's new blog, The Notion:

Starting today, The Nation launches The Notion blog, which will feature light, off-the-cuff commentary, spontaneous reaction to breaking news, and unfiltered ruminations on debates of the day. Readers should expect lively debates, insightful critiques, crucial questions, bold new visions and the occasional sophomoric Bush joke. Notion contributors will interact and respond to each other, as well as readers who post comments.

It has an all-star lineup:

I have one more day at the Judge-Journalist workshop I'm attending in Reno and will be back to regular blogging tonight. If you're feeling like you have something to say, here's a thread for you.

I usually stay out of the fray between journalists and bloggers. But this one, picked by Nation Editor Katrina Vanden Heuval against the liberal blogosphere, and Ezra Klein in particular, I just can't pass up. I agree with Crooks and Liars and Jane.

If it was just Ms. Vanden Heuval's comments justifying the Democrats' choice of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to give the SOTU response, even though I disagree with the pick, I'd probably demur. But she attacked my pal Ezra, and I don't like when my friends are attacked and she's just flat out wrong, or as Jane says, blind.

by TChris

Noting that bloggers on the left have lately been more vigorous in their pleas to elected Democrats to protect our country from Republican assaults, the Washington Post reports a "rift" between "liberal activists" and Democrats who want to appeal to a centrist electorate. The Post quotes Gov. Kaine: "You can get a lot done if you're not bitterly partisan."

Oh really? On the federal level, where bitterly partisan Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the Presidency, what can Democrats accomplish by remaining sweet and nonpartisan?

Liberal bloggers are echoing a centrist view: we do not want our Supreme Court to undergo a dramatic change of direction. We want our Court to adhere to a traditional understanding of the Constitution, one that safeguards individual liberties while maintaining an appropriate balance of power among the branches of government. We expect Democrats in the Senate to share that same concern, and to exercise their power to protect the Court and the Constitution. Preserving Justice O'Connor's seat for a centrist jurist is the immediate duty of Senate Democrats.

Update: The e-mail spammers hit the comments. Registration is back on. If anyone has trouble getting their comment posted, please email Mike Ditto. Also, I don't like anonymous comments because you can't tell if it's ten people or one person commenting ten times. Thanks.

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I'm told there's a bug in the commenting registration system today. Until it's fixed, I'm turning off the comment registration requirement.

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Lindsay from Majikthise is the first to spill the beans. Blogads has arranged for about 20 bloggers to go to Amsterdam, all expenses paid, courtesy of Holland.com. The details are here.

All of the trips will take place in February. I'm going on the 16th, as is my pal Ezra Klein, who was such great company at the Democratic convention in Boston. From his comments, I learned that Amanda from Pandagon is going the same day. Even the TL kid has decided to come along.

Many thanks to Blogads for putting this together. I've never been to Amsterdam and have always wanted to go. The Holland.com people are very nice. They asked if there was anything special I wanted to see or anyone I might like to interview. I said I'd like to see the new high-tech prison and interview Joran van der sloot to present his side of the story on the missing white girl in Aruba and provide some balance to her mother who never gets off tv, but that's not what they had in mind.

Which means I just get to have fun, and I'm all for that.

Thanks to those who have noticed that there has been a paucity of advertising on TalkLeft since News Years and put a few dollars in the tip jar. They really help me out and are very appreciated.

Here's the link to TalkLeft's tip jar, if anyone else is so inclined.

It's time for the Tuesday Open Thread. Some things of interest:

• Jane of Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh and Matt Stoller (who often writes at MyDD) have created a blog for comments on Washington Post articles.

• Arianna writes that Hillary is not a lock for the '08 nomination

• Alternet also has a new blog, The Echo Chamber, that will cover how political ideas and issues are communicated and gain traction in the media universe. It aims to spread the word of the progressive community far and wide.

Congrats to three of my favorite blogs who received finalist nominations today to the 2006 Bloggies for best political blog.

Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake -- those are my top three.

They are only missing Atrios and Huffington Post.

Go on over and vote for your favorite.

Update: The 2005 Koufax Awards for liberal bloggers are moving to the next phase. The initial nominees for Best New Blog and Blog Deserving of Wider Recognition are up. This is a great way to find new and interesting blogs that you don't come across every day.

Here's an open thread to get your weekend rolling.

As for me, I just loved reading Diane Keaton's post on Huffpo about turning 60. I hope I have her attitude when I get there. From Annie Hall, Looking for Mr. Goodbar and Reds through Something's Gotta Give, she has always been one of my very favorite actresses.

And here's John Conyers on the Bush's warrantless electronic surveillance program (received by e-mail.)

Danny Glover has a three part series in the National Journal (available free) on the rise of political blogs and their influence. It really covers the whole spectrum, and I recommend reading all three parts including the interviews with Arianna and Henry Copeland of Blogads.