TalkLeft needs a lot more votes to make it to the finals in the Koufax awards. A few other blogs have received blocks of votes from their readers. So if you haven't already voted and you think we are the best single issue or expert blog, please go on over and vote or vote by email. A recap from an earlier post:

TalkLeft is nominated in two categories, "best expert blog" and "best single issues blog." We won the award for "best single issues" blog in 2002 and 2003.

The Koufax Awards are named for Sandy Koufax, one of the greatest left handed pitchers of all time. They are intended to honor the best of the left of blogtopia (ysitp). At its core, the Koufax Awards are meant to be an opportunity to say nice things about your favorite bloggers and to provide a bit of recognition for the folks who provide us with information, insight, and entertainment usually for little or no renumeration.

You can vote here for best expert blog and here for best single issues blog. Just scroll down and leave your vote in a comment. You can vote once in both categories. If you'd rather email your vote, you can do that here: Email Mary Beth or Email Dwight.

On Bill O'Reilly now on Fox News. Unbelievable that this non-story has risen to the level of national cable talk shows. (Update, Crooks and Liars has the video up.)

O'Reilly gets it wrong, he says Kos was paid by Dean to blog nice things about Dean. Right wing blogger and radio host Hugh Hewitt is on by himself. He slams Kos and praises right wing bloggers like himself and Power Line and Captain's Quarters and Roger Simon and Instapundit (who I don't put in the same category) and says that none of them are on the take. Newsflash to Mr. Hewitt: Neither is Markos or Jerome.

Fair and balanced? Not tonight.

On the other hand, major Kudos to DNC chair hopeful Simon Rosenberg, who writes today defending Markos and Jerome and says:

Here's the 23rd Sigh - Oy to the World

Bush is my shepherd;
I dwell in want
He maketh logs to be cut down in national forests.
He leadeth trucks into the still wilderness.
He restoreth my fears.
He leadeth me in the paths of international disgrace for his ego's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of pollution and war, I will find no exit for thou art in office.,

As if there isn't enough news to write about, the Wall Street Journal (free link) picks up on a spat that's going on in the blogosphere over fallout from the Armstrong Williams consultancy flap. It repeats what Markos of Daily Kos and Jerome of MyDD told their readers ages ago - that they had been hired by the Dean campaign as consultants for a period of time. Jerome shut down MyDD while he was working for Dean and Markos kept the disclosure on the front page of Daily Kos for the duration of his consultancy.

Very few bloggers make a living by blogging. Most are lucky to take in a few bucks through donations and advertising. There is nothing wrong with bloggers being consultants. In this case, Jerome and Markos went the extra mile to disclose it. So where's the story? Answer: There is none.

TalkLeft will hit 5 million visitors today. We began in June, 2002 with this post, some of which we got right...

It has become readily apparent that this Administration is not interested in preserving our rights, only in convincing a fearful public that it is fighting terrorism.

We really like the way the ACLU has jumped on Mr. Ashcroft and the administration since Sept. 11.

We think the FBI has no business engaging in domestic spying. Not after all its past abuses.

And some of which turned out to be wishful thinking:

It seems like progressive and liberal websites and blogs are sprouting daily. Hopefully it will be in time to cause a major defeat for the Republicans in the 2002 elections.

2002 and 2004 are now behind us. Hopefully we'll be here for 2006. If at first you don't succeed.....

I'm off to court in the mountains ....50 degrees in Denver, snowing up there. I hope you'll catch up with our weekend posting, and check out the great blogs nominated for the Koufax Liberal blogging awards (links on top left). This is also an open thread for you.

We've been down all night from what Instaundit says is another DDOS attack at Hosting Matters, which is the hosting company for both of our weblogs. Lots of weblogs, actually. They are excellent hosts.

We don't have a backup blog to let you know about these things, but Instapundit does, here. So if you can't find us, you might check his backup blog to see if it's a server or hosting problem.

On a related note, we moved CrimeLynx (our legal resource site) to Hosting Matters this weekend, so if you wondering what's up there, same story. And you may have to refresh your bookmark for the change to go through.

Quite a coup for blogger Tom Burka of Opinions You Should Have who has a satirical op-ed on Alberto Gonzales, the Tsunami, filibusters and other news stories in Saturday's New York Times. This part made me laugh out loud:

As the result of a bureaucratic slip-up, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was inadvertently included in the United States government delegation sent to comfort tsunami victims in Southeast Asia.

"Waves happen," Mr. Rumsfeld told survivors. "Weather is untidy. Sometimes you have to make do with the weather you get instead of the weather you want."

Mr. Rumsfeld also criticized the news coverage of the disaster. "They just keep showing the same wave over and over again," he said.

The opening nominations are in for the third annual Koufax blogging awards. This is the semi-final round. TalkLeft is nominated in two categories, "best expert blog" and "best single issues blog." We won the award for "best single issues" blog in 2002 and 2003.

The Koufax Awards are named for Sandy Koufax, one of the greatest left handed pitchers of all time. They are intended to honor the best of the left of blogtopia (ysitp). At its core, the Koufax Awards are meant to be an opportunity to say nice things about your favorite bloggers and to provide a bit of recognition for the folks who provide us with information, insight, and entertainment usually for little or no renumeration.

It feels a little greedy to seek to win again, but this past year, TChris also has been blogging at Talkleft, and I'd like to see him get some recognition as well as me. (Although I can tell you he will say he doesn't want any. That's just his nature.)

There is so much fine competition this year that it will be an achievement just to get to the finals in both categories. You can vote here for best expert blog and here for best single issues blog. Just scroll down and leave your vote in a comment. You can vote once in both categories. If you'd rather email your vote, you can do that here: Email Mary Beth or Email Dwight.

Major thanks are due TChris again for keeping readers up to date while I've been in court the past two days...it's over now and after a long nap, I'll be back. Feel free to use the comments to fill me or each other in on the big stories of the past two days.

Say hello to DUIblog---"Bad DUI Laws, False Evidence and the New Prohibition...It is the responsibility of the patriot to protect his country from its government."

The blog is written by DUI guru Lawrence Taylor, attorney, Fulbright professor and author of the authoritative textbooks on DUI laws.

Check out the entry "MADD, DUI and the New Prohibition."

...where are we headed with MADD in apparent control? A federal .05% DUI standard is on the horizon and, in fact, has already been adopted to some extent in a few states. "Zero tolerance" for adult drivers is clearly on MADD’s agenda. And then?

In 1999, MADD’s National Board of Directors unanimously voted to change the organization’s mission statement to include the prevention of underage drinking. Not underage drinking and driving -- just drinking. Let me say that again: MADD has now formally shifted its focus away from "drunk driving" and towards the broader "problem" of drinking. Can a new era of prohibition be far behind?

Other good entries: DUI Marijuana and DUI Entrapment.

The DUI police were out in force New Year's weekend. Even if you weren't one of the ones stopped and arrested, there's a lot of information on this site you should know about.

Jeff Jarvis smells a New York Times editor with a grudge against blogs. The paper ran an article on tsunami blogs and trashed them today. [Via Instapundit.]

Meanwhile, Dan Gillmor reports that a new Pew study shows that while blogs are increasing, their readership is increasing at an even greater rate. Dan has just begun a new weblog on grassroots journalism...about the future of journalism, "by the people and for the people."

Lots of bloggers are back at their keyboards. A few, like Avedon Carol at Sideshow, never left. In addition to her own insights on a wide variety of topics (today she rails against those who said we would make the women of Afganistan Iraq more free when in many ways the opposite has occurred), she is an excellent chronicler of what others are writing about.

Jerome at MyDD writes about the upcoming Iraqi elections. So does Steve Gilliard, who also covers Fallujans trying to return home.

Patridiot Watch writes about U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan.

Matt Yglesias names some underappreciated blogs on national security and foreign policy.

TBogg has another installment of America's Worst Mother.

Markos of Daily Kos hits the Republicans trying to ease ethical guidelines. Digby writes of his fear of tidal waves, which leads to....

For more of what the blogosphere is writing about today, check out the Daou Report and Memeorandum.