A few random thoughts (and I apologize that there is no over-arching theme that pulls this together neatly; sorry, Glenn):

o) I am glad you (and Dan Froomkin and a very few others) have been hammering on this issue. It was Richard Wolffe's utterly shameful dismissal of blogs and blogging--without which we probably never would have heard of the U.S. Attorney mess--and his cozying up to that lying sack of merde Tony Snow that really hammered this point home that the media elite only wants to sit at the feet of power. It is so much like High School, it makes me ill.

o) I am pleased that there are a few--a very few--politicians who have both the courage of their convictions, the support of their constituencies, and are not totally tone-deaf to what Americans are really saying to help move things forward. Barbara Boxer holding up the gavel at Al Gore's hearings to shut off Sen. "Global Warming is a Hoax" Inhofe was a moment to treasure. Sen. Feingold has, of course, been right for so long he must feel as Cassandra did in ancient Illium. And Chuck Schumer has been bypassing the "traditional" media very effectively to get his message out--using Bill Maher and Keith Olbermann, for example, rather than relying on the questionable filtering of the New York Times or the Washington Post.

Back in the day, reporters wanted to be the next Woodward and Bernstein; nicotine-stained laborers who listened in back rooms, followed the money, and brought down the powerful. Now it appears that these clowns just graduate from journalism school and only want to put on suits and be interviewed on T.V. Now if you ask divisive questions and (heaven forbid!) badger the President's press secretary, Richard Wolffe tells you that you are being too antagonistic, and that doing so is not part of your job, you barbarian! (Perhaps he spent too much time at Oxford.) Tony Snow is our pal; how can you be mean to him?

And they wonder why "regular Americans" are so angry. Pfft.

Hm. Well, these discussions are generally silly, but I'm game.

For one, I'm surprised that "My Generation," by The Who isn't on there. And for the Ramones, I think "I Wanna Be Sedated" would be a better choice.

I also question the lack of a Talking Heads or Peter Gabriel song, as both artists were out in front of the World Music movement. And one might also consider something like Paul Simon's "Graceland," for the same reason.

And there's no question that Bowie had a profound impact, but was it "Ziggy Stardust" that had that impact? I dunno.

And can we really leave off R.E.M.? I mean, when we're talking impact, R.E.M. is hard to ignore. I may not have understood "Radio Free Europe," but I listened to it like 1000 times. And I can't speak for anyone else, obviously, but The Police had a lot more influence on *me* than Black Flag. Not to mention The (English) Beat.

Just a few random thoughts.

Perhaps it is simply because, as Charles Taylor so succinctly put it, "There has been no other period in my life . . . when picking up a morning newspaper seemed like such an invitation to begin your day in a state of crippling rage," but every time I read one of these articles on the Bush Administration and torture, I think of the same things:

I remember that these Bushies, almost to a man (or woman), did not serve in combat. I remember that they are classic bullies, bemoaning "trial lawyers," but quick to sue you (or simply declare you an "enemy combatant" and slap you in jail) if you badmouth them; growling at "rogue regimes," but quick to send in the Marines simply to prove their muscle; fast at accusing you of treason for questioning their motives, but perfectly happy to question yours.

And then my thoughts turn dark, and I wonder just what would happen if John Yoo were held in a cell for several weeks, subjected to hypothermia, and forced to endure physical pain in intensity up to but not including organ failure? Would he consider it "quaint?" Would Dick Cheney be tough under a beating of rubber hoses filled with ball bearings, which don't break the skin, but do pulp the bones underneath, but certainly don't bring you to "organ failure" nor do they kill you? Would Alberto Gonzales hold out long stripped to his underwear, tied to a chair, with snarling dogs snapping at his genitalia after having been kept in solitary for several weeks? Or would he consider that "obsolete?"

Perhaps it is uncharitable of me. Perhaps it is my residual anger at having these people hijack my constitution and my country and the laws that I live by and the principals that have governed my country--and indeed Western civilization--for hundreds of years. Perhaps it is simply the desire for revenge. I don't know. But every time I read an article like Mr. Blumenthal's, I wonder how "vague" President Bush would find Article 3 if he were put it in a hood with electrodes on his hands and forced to stand barefoot on a metal plate, at the mercy of Shiite militants. Somehow, I don't think he would find it "vague" at all.