"These are the times that try men's souls," wrote Thomas Paine, the Glenn Greenwald of the 1700's, "The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."

I know that many of us are upset in the wake of Jane's news earlier today.  It seems particularly cruel that this is happening just as the Libby trial is kicking off, but I know that together we can ride it out.  We will stand by our Fearless Leader, Captain Hamsher, unblinking in the face of adversity, strong and proud together through the storm.

We've all worked very hard to get to this point, but none so hard as Jane and Christy.  They made this blog what it is, and a large part of that, especially early on, was their A-plus coverage of all things Plame-related.  Now, Firedoglake has arrived, y'all!  Courtroom access, boy howdy!

You know, I'm still kind of trying to figure out what my role in all of this will be.  I'm pretty well-informed on the Libby case, but next to emptywheel, looseheadprop, Jane, Christy, and the others, I'm just a well-scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste, and from what I understand, Judge Watson has a firm No-60ft.-Carnivores-in-the-Courtroom policy.  Still, if in fact it turns out to be my job to be chief cook and bottle washer at the Plame House while I'm there in February, riding the train in from my Dad's place in the suburbs to fix coffee, wash the dishes, and put on a pot of chili, then so be it.  I will be honored to be Cap'n Hamsher's gopher and cabin-boy. Ahoy!  Avast, ye scurvy dogs!!

Being kind of generally highly-strung and sensitive, I was pretty pole-axed by the news of Jane's diagnosis.  (And you know, that's kind of pitiful, when someone tells you they have cancer and then spends the entire rest of the phone call talking YOU down off the ledge...)  But I'll tell you all pretty much what she told me.

We're going to make it through this.  Take a deep breath, say a prayer, and have a little faith.  We're going to rock this motherf*cker down. 

Frankly, I'm not sure who I am more afraid for, Scooter or the cancer cells.

Like Annie Lennox says, "Hold your head up, movin' on...Keep your head up, come on, come on...Hold your head up...Keep your head up!"

God bless you all and good night.

Much love,
T.Rex, Esq.