While I was observing a moment of silence yesterday for the tragedy of Iraq, Lieberman was shooting his mouth off with Norah O’Donnell on his opposition to withdrawal timetables. I think most of us see this issue as a choice between two highly undesirable positions, so I think the guy is certainly entitled to his opinion. Yet feigning flexibility while assigning unattainable conditions is hollow politicking both unworthy and insulting to the messy reality from which we must extricate ourselves. Willful ignorance is no substitute for a plan, no matter how many times he may wish upon a star.

Oh, and don’t forget to stick it out until the end where, despite vehement campaign promises to the contrary, Lieberman refuses to rule out switching to the GOP and/or endorsing a Republican for president in 2008. But then again, I suppose he owes this entire term to his republican support. 

Al Gore is within a hair’s width of delivering half a million signatures to congress. Please take a minute and go add yourself to the list.

The RIAA issued a statement defending their targeting of college students in file-sharing lawsuits:

Yet this is about far more than the size of a particular slice of the pie. This is about a generation of music fans. College students used to be the music industry’s best customers. Now, finding a record store still in business anywhere near a campus is a difficult assignment at best. It’s not just the loss of current sales that concerns us, but the habits formed in college that will stay with these students for a lifetime. This is a teachable moment — an opportunity to educate these particular students about the importance of music in their lives and the importance of respecting and valuing music as intellectual property. 

Yes, of course.  This has nothing to do with a once-powerful industry lashing out against its own mortality and failure to adapt.  No, this is about preserving and protecting the morality of our impressionable youth.  From the organization who made billions off Gansta Rap. 

On a related note, David Byrnes (arguably one of the greatest musical artists of his generation) gave a presentation at SXSW (oh Austin, I heart you!) on the future of record labels.  Or perhaps I should say the lack thereof.

As my misery oozes into its third week, I'm afraid cutting and insightful commentary continues to prove elusive.  In the meantime, here are some stories which have caught my attention this morning: 

Forwarded, in the spirit of St. Paddy's, from my friend Erin: "Israel has recalled its ambassador to El Salvador, after the ambassador was found drunk and naked in the yard of his residence. Today, Israel announced that he's their new  ambassador to Ireland." -Conan O'Brien

Whenever John McCain has a question, he picks up the phone and calls (some of) our very own war criminals. 

The AIPAC convention holds surprises for clueless admin conservatives.

Purgegate goes back a bit further than originally thought, with Team Bush firing a U.S. attorney hours after he subpoenaed - Jack Abramoff !  You know, the guy Bush never really knew.

Finally, it's time to take back the parking lots from over-compensatory phallus-mobiles. 

Bush impressionists don’t typically make it onto the site – the guy is just so easy to make fun of that I normally don’t bother.  But I have to admit that this gave my ulcer-ridden throat a good, albeit premature, stretching:

BooMan Tribune contributor, clammyc, has a word of advice for the Bush admin – “Don’t you dare pardon Libby”! Also, Steven D puts the smack down on post-trial exultation with a reminder that with nearly two years to go, there is no limit to the potential damage ahead.

TalkLeft’s Jeralyn gives us the non-lawyer explanation of federal sentencing guidelines along with a prediction of what Libby may realistically be facing.

With the White House refusing to discount the possibility of pardon, John Aravosis from AmericaBlog finds little to celebrate in the verdict.

Over at Hullabaloo, digby has a response for jurors wondering about Rove’s whereabouts.

Hillary Rosen recounts a chance Startbucks meeting with Joe Wilson and offers some regret for the impact this has had on their family. Also at The Huffington post, Arianna provides a preemptive strike against the coming GOP spin.

Posting at the TPM Café, Larry Johnson tasks congress to pick up where the trial left off.

DoubleSpeak sees little hope in Libby’s appellate chances and reminds naysayers that Bush could still pardon Libby after election day has long passed.

At TAP, Jeff Lomonaco sifts through some of the right-wing reactions to the verdict as a process of blaming the jury.

Finally, John at C&L has the audio clip on Limbaugh’s “poking the bear” remark. Also, is this a veiled reference to Libby’s sex scene?

Well, I appear to be slowly clawing my way back into some semblance of my old self.  Ironically, the surgery went fine and I would have likely recovered within a few days.  But before leaving the hospital I contracted a series of nickel-sized ulcers on the roof of my mouth, uvula, both tonsils, and my upper esophagus which made breathing/talking/eating/drinking/sleeping nearly impossible.  But on the plus side I managed to lose a dozen pounds! 

Anyway, after three more hospital visits, I am up and around for the most part and will start posting new (non-Libby) content shortly, though it may be next week before I am back to 100%.  Big thanks to everyone who sent emails during my absence!

With the verdict (finally) in, we should expect a torrent of posts over the next couple of days. In the meantime, here are standouts from the past few days:

Over at TalkLeft, Jeralyn offers a couple of posts pondering the significance of the jury’s clarification request on reasonable doubt.

Melissa Lafsky at The Huffington Post explores whether perhaps Libby’s attorney’s botched his chances for acquittal.

And at FDL, emptywheel follows the “breadcrumbs” of jury questions while Jane Hamsher smells an imminent verdict.

Stop by tomorrow for a roundup of post-verdict analysis.

Many apologies for the belated posting - my surgical recovery time has been longer than expected. Pain meds and blogging make poor lovers. Here is the roundup from last Friday:

Posting at My Left Wing, Josh Langdon isn’t buying into the blog-o-rumors – including from many on the left – that Fitzgerald’s investigation will end with the Libby verdict.

After finally graduating into the courtroom, emptywheel shares some impressions of the respective moods of Team Libby and Team USA.

Also at FDL, Scarecrow explores Plame’s role in this trial amidst recent, possibly irresponsible, editorializing from the mainstream media.

Shifting over to The Next Hurrah, emptywheel compiles a chronological update to her original post on Indicting Dick.

Jeff Lomonaco explores the question of whether Fitzgerald is using his closing, in part, to legitimate the idea that Cheney is indictable.

Finally, BooMan finds himself salivating over the big fish fry to come.