I included this in the Valentine's Day card a bit late, so I hoped a few others would see it if I posted in a diary.

Happy Valentine's Day, Ms. Thomas.  I wish I could say your breed of journalists committed to getting at the real story is not dying, but I am not sure.  I saw a very interesting piece on Frontline tonight which provided some hope, but was also dismaying in what it revealed about the attitudes of the modern press corps.  

More after the flip...

Tonight I cannot sleep.  I was not paying especially close attention to the violence unfolding in Lebanon until a terrifying thought occurred to me suddenly tonight.  I do hope someone more knowledgeable than I can shed some light on the conflict and reassure me that a massive new war with major, direct U.S. troop involvement has not just begun.

Please flip.

All of the recent revelations of abuses of our constitutionally guaranteed rights have resulted in a maelstrom for which the perfect metaphor was the crumbling towers on 9/11.

Remember when intercepts of al Qaeda communications after the attacks revealed they were thrilled with the results beyond anyone's expectations?  They expected severe damage to the towers, not unlike what happened to the Pentagon, but they did not expect both towers to collapse.

...

Rice Chides Europeans on Detention Center Complaints
http://www.nytimes.com/...

This is absolutely the most outrageous thing that has come out of Condi's mouth since the drumbeat for war in Iraq.

"WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chastised Europe leaders today, saying that before they complain about secret jails for terror suspects in European nations, they should realize that interrogations of these suspects have produced information that helped "save European lives."

Let's start with the Senate.  Dems hold 44 seats, plus Jeffords (who will hopefully be succeeded by Fightin' Bernie Sanders in '06). With Cheney's (or whoever plays Gerald Ford to Cheney's Agnew) vote, the bad guys have 56.

So we must take 6 seats to retake the Senate.  There are 7 states we can realistically steal, and we must hold every seat we currently have.  This is a tall order.  But it must be done.

The fight must come now, or the Dems are useless and toothless and deserve to go the way of the Whigs (that would be the 19th Century party, not the chumps in Cheney's cabal). If we cannot muster any real unity during the biggest opportunity to win a fight on principle since W. took office, we never will and are not worthy to call ourselves the Loyal Opposition.

We have a shot at taking back the Senate next year. If the bad guys want to take away the filibuster, they do so at their own risk.