....or more accurately, the fever swamp.

Diaries like this are usually reserved for those brave souls courageous enough to dive in to threads on LGF or FreeRepublic, come up gasping for air, then dive right back in to bring us little nuggets of idiocy from the right blogosphere.

Unfortunately, this diary is dealing with the left blogosphere's equivalent of such a site, and the rabid, rancid bile that has been spewing out of it this entire campaign.  

No, the venom has not been directed at the deserving folks of the GOP, the Neocons, the McCain campaign, or even Mr. 19%.

Well I'm dead tired after being on my feet for about 5 hours, but I'm still pumped from the electrifying rally in Boston this evening.

I'll just give you a few impressions I had from the experience.

The most striking thing that was absolutely unavoidable was the overwhelming youth of the crowd.  I was with a group of 4 friends, all of us in our late twenties, and my 70 something father was also with us.  When I arrived there with my father and girlfriend, we were stunned by the length of the line.

I think [McCain is] the strongest Republican candidate. I am strongly for Mitt Romney, I'd like to join with Mary [Matalin] in hoping he pulls a big upset on Tuesday because I don't want to run against McCain.

Bob Shrum
Meet the Press
One hour ago

About six months ago, John McCain's presidential ambitions appeared to be dead.  He had no money (he still doesn't), and his support hovered in the single digits.  

It appears that the implementation of the Real ID, or the National Identification Card, is being pushed forward by the Department of Homeland Security after progress on the National ID stalled several times.

Homeland Security to press ahead with Real ID

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday plans to take the next step in getting its controversial Real ID plan off the ground, despite opposition from numerous states and privacy groups.

Hello all, this diary is really specific to any Democrat in the Metro Boston area who's interested in seeing John Edwards this afternoon (you can even buy him a beer).

The event is taking place @ the  Lir, which is a pretty good Irish pub located on Boylston St. in the Back Bay.

Here is a brief description of the event which starts at 5:00 pm:

It's difficult to reach out to individual voters all the way across the nation. Fundraisers are usually open only to those ready to write huge checks. But this campaign is built on reaching out to everyone. Tickets for this Thursday's event are just $15 each.

I don't know exactly what the Bush administration has to do before people in this country (present company excluded of course) WAKE UP.  I won't list the litany of offenses perpetrated by this band of thugs already, as most here are all too aware of them.

But I read this article and my stomach just turned.  I don't know how many times I have said "I just don't recognize this country anymore" over the past four years, and I wonder how many more times I will say it during the next four.

I personally hope and wish that some good will eventually rise out of this mess that we call the Iraq War.  But check out the amount of violence being perpetrated in one or two days in Iraq.  It seems that flattening Fallujah did little more than disperse the insurgency throughout the entire country, although this may have been the insurgency's plan all along.

Keep in mind that after yesterday's violence, we have now lost over 1400 US soldiers.  Meanwhile, the estimate of 100,000 dead Iraqis, a figure I initially felt was high, now seems ever more possible.

"BAGHDAD, Iraq - Eleven Iraqis and one U.S. Marine were killed Thursday as insurgents clashed with U.S. troops and blew up a school slated to serve as a polling center, pre-election violence that followed the deadliest day for U.S. troops since the war's start. Another U.S. soldier died in an accident.

Below is an edited transcript of Dubya's latest dictat to the Washington Press Corps.  I cut some things out to try and keep the diary down to a manageable level.

The interesting points, I thought, were his comments on Payolagate,

In a recent discussion, Dood Abides suggested a 'preemptive strike' by the democrats the night of the State of the Union.  Though this would be a break with tradition, I think it is an idea that merits discussion.

There would be numerous advantages to speaking first, and landing some body blows before Bush has a chance to frame the debate.  We all know what Bush is going to say, don't we?  

He will tout the advantages of personal accounts for Social Security, of course without mentioning the 2 trillion required to pay for them.  Imagine the Dems coming out before his speech, calling them what they are: private accounts, and reminding the public how much it will cost to create them.  Also remind the citizens that there is no crisis, and that this plan benefits Wall Street and no one else.  

By speaking first, the democrats can set the frame of the debate, instead of reacting to the Frank luntz poll tested language after Bush makes his speech.

The snow is just beginning to fall outside here in Massachusetts, and we're hunkering down for a good ol' Nor'easter.  I've taken solace in the fact that with every passing minute, we draw closer to the end of Dubya Dubya II. Only 3 years, 364 days, eight hours left!

Via the Nation whose readers have compiled a handy list of republican terms and their meaning.  Modify and/or add your own, Enjoy.

Washington Post's Babington reports that on Monday Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Sam Brownback (R-KAN) will sit on the Senate Judiciary Commitee chaired by Arlen Specter.  This commitee will have a say into who makes it onto the Supreme court and lower courts as well.  These two are both hard Right and vehemently opposed to abortion rights.  Coburn actually advocated the death penalty for doctors who performed abortions, so you can use your imagination in figuring out that the next member of the Supreme Court will in no way be pro choice and could very well tip the balance aginst Roe v. Wade.   Sorry I am link challenged and you need to register at WaPo

Well it's the holiday season again, and the annual battle between theocrats and secularists over Christmas decorations in the public sphere has been joined yet again. Immoral crusaders such as Bill Oreilly make quite a lot of noise (and quite a lot of profit) by defending the persecuted Christian majority, and extolling America as a "Christian Nation."  The conventional wisdom these days seems to be that since the founding fathers were Christians, and since the majority of the country is Christian, that the government or it's representatives have every right to teach creationism, have school prayer, display the ten commandments in court houses and on judicial robes, or display manger scenes on the town commons.

But is this what the founding fathers intended?