I never thought the ascension of Katie Couric to the CBS anchor desk was going to be a particularly good thing for the MSM. Not to knock Katie or this career move. It's a huge get, and typically, interviewing the President of the United States is a coup that few anchors achieve. But soft-tossing questions to this president is precisely NOT what the press needs to be doing now, and Ms. Couric needs to get with the program. This ain't "Good Morning America" any more, honey. Spoon- feeding answers to this thug instead of holding him accountable is what's got us into the mess we're in. It could be that she wanted to show the Office of the President the proper respect. One could argue that I suppose, if the officeholder treated it with the proper respect. This one does not and has not. Giving him a pass at this point on the various crimes he's committed doesn't sound at all like "asking the hard questions" I've heard Katie can do. I don't think she's distinguished herself in the annals of journalism so far. But hey, Walter Kronkite's shoes are big ones to fill. As are Dan Rather's. One could argue that she's feeling her way along here. One might be right except for the fact that she's a seasoned journalist. She's been at this a LONG time. Fawning over an unpopular lame-duck president like some star-struck rookie at this point in her career seems to me a major fumble by someone who ought to know better.

Thank Jesus for Keith Olbermann!

I remember his snarky commentary as being a big reason to watch SportsCenter during baseball season and ESPN2 when it first launched some 12 years ago. I wondered what the hell was going on when he joined MSNBC, but now I see what's going on. Incrementally over time, he's become one more voice for sanity and reason on the airwaves along with Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Al Franken, Joan Walsh, etc. They are all beginning to amplify what most of us feel especially on this day, 5 years after that awful day. The mainstream is finding its voice thanks to people like Keith. Now we can say, "We're the USA and we're better than this animal shit our leaders are feeding us. We're better than these fools who are trying to keep us afraid for their own purposes. To line their own pockets and keep their stupid war going. We're the USA, and the buck stops here. We're done with the bullshit."

Keep telling the truth, Keith. We're ready to hear it now. Thank you again!

There was a time when I thought like most of us that President Bush was just twisted and evil. Or just colossally stupid. Now I believe he is all of these and now, something much worse: completely mad. The desperation is beginning to literally show in everything he does and says. This argument for the legal right to torture detainees is tantamount to madness and arguing its legitimacy in the war on terror is madder yet. And the third (or so) of the country that still believes this nonsense about Iraq and al-Qaeda, or Iraq and WMD, or Iraq and the terror attacks has gotten desperate right along with him. Our "fearless leader" has officially gone bye-bye, folks. He was never right to begin with, obviously. But I think we're seeing a fundamental breakdown brought on by years of trying to destroy people and benefit himself at the expense of everyone else. If he loses this fight, he may have a nervous breakdown or something very like it. The same could be said for the wing of the Republican party that has allied itself with Bush and the religious right.

Now I'm no prophet, but I think a meltdown is coming.

That's what this is.

Democrats and progressives can capitalize on this by saying, and it would be the truth, that while the president and his Republican cohorts in Congress are busy showing who's got the bigger balls on this, let's be honest. Not a single thing has actually been done to improve security here at home but giving us really invasive screening at airports. The larger issue is, what has actually been done to prevent another attack? And the answer is, "Not much". This is our plan. We can ACTUALLY GET THE JOB DONE. Republicans are very good at spending yours and my tax dollars and not having a hell of a lot to show for it. And for all the rhetoric about who's "soft on terror"(oxymoron), they aren't willing at the end of the day to put their money where their mouths are. So there's no real leadership here. Just a lot of tough talk and stupid ideas that they'll never fund anyway. If you want a real plan, we have one.

Wouldn't that be refreshing to hear?

Dick Durbin of IL is only acknowledging reality when he says they'll find a way to blame Democrats anyway. So what else is new? It might be a good idea if Democrats in the House and Senate got up in front of the C-SPAN cameras and started talking in tough terms about what their plan is for defeating terrorism and keeping the country safe. Enough of the shouting matches. Let's talk about ideas and solutions. THAT'S the debate we should be having. Not this "I've got big balls" BULLSHIT coming from the GOP. And if you want a sound bite, how's this? When it comes to terrorism, the GOP is all tough talk and no results.