Marcy hardly needs me to defend her, so I won’t, but that’s not to say Marc Ambinder’s kinda-sorta-pology for saying that folks who thought the Bushites were manipulating the color-coded “terror alert” system for crass political gain were motivated by “gut hatred” of George W. Bush isn’t in and of itself a remarkable document worth exploring.

Maybe I’m just getting tired of Ambinder’s concern trolling. But his recent post excusing himself for being a chump on terrorist alerts really encapsulates what is wrong with journalism.

Senator Kennedy may already hold the keys to preventing a 5 month gap in Senate representation form Massachusetts. The power may already be in his hands.

I do not understand Marcy’s post on SEIU. Misunderstanding among friends is to be expected when external forces are working very hard to undermine the solidarity of groups that otherwise have a common goal and should remain united against far more important concerns.

Scahill argues that the Blackwater revelations mean Blackwater had a more integral part in building the Bush era counterterrorism strategy than did Congress.

Barack Obama is bad and he’s nationwide. And he’s got a new ride. NASCAR was at the White House today; Obama could learn some lessons from them.

Virginia blogger Ben Tribbett of NotLarrySabato reports that Terry McAuliffe believes it’s time to “insist” on having a public plan in any health care bill. McAuliffe is the former head of the DNC and a fund-raiser extraordinaire, so this offer should be attractive to Democratic Reps from Virginia:

Terry’s agreed to host a fundraiser with Virginia and national bloggers who are insisting on a public option for the first Virginia Congressman who will take our pledge!

The public plan whip count. . . it’s not just for bloggers any more.

Cash for Clunkers will, on Monday at 8 PM, have silica liquid injected in its engine and stopped.

The U.S. government will shut down its cash-for-clunkers program at 8 p.m. Monday, in a bid to avoid car dealers and shoppers from claiming more than the $3 billion set aside for the program.The decision means that the program originally expected to generate 250,000 vehicle sales over three months will have likely triggered more than 700,000.

Today, it’s my honor to turn this space to Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) General President Mike Sullivan, leader of one of the first unions to publicly state the union is pulling all support from the Blue Dogs because of their efforts to kill real health care reform.

Remember last November? I still do.

I remember the pride I felt watching President-elect Obama and his family standing on that stage in Chicago, bolstered by the hopes and dreams of millions of Americans and the promise of change finally coming to our nation.

What was I supposed to say to this?

Last week, I attended a town hall meeting in Virginia. I sought out a couple that looked kinda grumpy and started talking with them. Our discussion was pretty far-ranging, and, in the end, I left thinking that these folks were people I wouldn’t mind having as neighbors, regardless of how much we disagree about politics.