Photos from around the world, media bits, videos, and more below the fold and in the comments...

The Lineup

• MTP: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)
• FTN: Mike Huckabee (R-AR); Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
• This Week: Sec. of State Condi Rice; Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT); roundtable of Sam Donaldson, Cokie Roberts and George Will; architect Maya Lin on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
• FNS: Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM); Sen. John McCain (R-AZ); WH Social Sec. Amy Zantzinger
• Late Edition: ex-Dep. SoS Richard Armitage; ex-US Amb. to UN John Bolton; ex-US Amb to UN Richard Holbrooke; Army Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin Hill and Command Sgt. Maj. Neil Ciotola; Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE); roundtable of Suzanne Malveaux, Jessica Yellin, and Joe Johns

Diaries up for rescue tonight:

• Sentido’s Why the "Save Act" must fail... and why it will offers an initial close take on the detailed provisions of the newest proposed immigration bill.
• markthshark’s Exculpatory Evidence Hidden From Gitmo Lawyers provides an excellent critique of the implications and ramifications of the procedures being used for judging the Gitmo detainees.
• Kal’s My Political Discussion Pet Peeves is a great, insightful piece kicking off discussion about misconceptions about politics and government that permeate national discourse.
• Geminal3’s Delete my f*cking neighborhood, Kos! is a haunting on-the-ground report from ground zero of a neighborhood feeling the effects of the mortgage meltdown.
• Duke1676’s A progressive plan for immigration reform provides an excellent, serious policy proposal to serve as a kick-off for progressive discussion about a complicated and often divisive subject.
• Mishima’s Fun News From Asia brings an intriguing round-up of news stories from the region.
• Lib Dem FoP’s When Remembering Is Not Enough is a touching and timely tribute to the fallen as we approach Veteran’s Day.
• BOHICA’s The War To End All Wars reflects on World War I and what we owe to today’s veterans.
• renaissance grrrl’s Dude, where'd my tires go? is a superb example of research and analysis that can come out of asking one simple question and following where it leads.
• exlrrp’s Once I was a Soldier is an exceptional personal memoir about time spent in Vietnam.
• Lenny Flank’s ah, the carefree days of my youth . . . brings to life memories of labor organizing in the heart of the Rust Belt.
• juliewolf’s The Long View pt 4 is a truly remarkable reflection on activism, creativity, illness and feeding the inner fire to find meaning in life.

carolita brings Top Comments.

Add your favorites from the past 24 hours and use as an open thread.

This is fun.  Apparently the eleventh commandment is going by the wayside in the battle for Republican presidential nomination.

Following the indictment of Bernard Kerik, Rudy Giuliani's longtime associate and friend, John McCain:

...cited Kerik's relationship with his Republican presidential foe as a reason to doubt Giuliani's judgment.

Giuliani's campaign spokeswoman fired back, saying:

Is this what desperation looks like...Best as I can tell, it's just John McCain's pure desperation in the face of a failing and flailing campaign trumping his so-called straight talk. It is truly a shame that John McCain has chosen to stoop this low.

And from Giuliani himself?  Mr. "A noun and a verb and 9/11" took a different approach:

I'd be very surprised if John did that," he said. "John is a very good friend. I probably have about 20 quotes from John since all of this became public ... [describing] me as a hero

Yes, send your spokeswoman out to call McCain desperate, failing and flailing, while you remind people that you're a true-blue 9/11 hero.  Pretty slick, Rudy.

And by the way, about McCain's belief that Giuliani's relationship with Kerik casts doubt on his judgement?

A jury convicted state Rep. Bob Allen on Friday of soliciting a sex act from an undercover male police officer...

The highly publicized case drew national attention not only for its tawdriness, but because Allen briefly held an honorary title in Sen. John McCain's Florida campaign for president. He resigned after the arrest.

Of course it's doubtful if Giuliani will bring that up, since McCain can trump him with the priestly child molester. And which campaign was employing the drug dealer?  It's so hard to keep up.  

Good times.

During the past week in Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf has replaced Supreme Court justices, arrested thousands of his opponents, detained his main political rival, charged critics with treason, shut down all independent media, and violently crushed any opposition to his imposition of martial law.

And after spending most of that week sitting on his hands while delegating crisis-control to his ever-incompetent Secretary of State, George Bush finally jumped in and made a phone call where he had a, "very frank discussion."  And the apparent result of this high level diplomacy by Bush was a vague promise that Musharraf would:

...give up his military uniform before taking the oath of office if he is reelected.

There was no word on what happens if he's not reelected, assuming that elections are even held.  In the meantime, the arrests, the violence and the media crackdown continues.  

Now with all that in mind, let's look at what the White House had to say about Pakistan yesterday, where they issued a statement expressing their concern over the situation, calling on everyone to refrain from violence and to quickly return to the, "path to democracy."  Oddly enough, Musharraf's name was never mentioned.  Why was that?

Well, we call on all Pakistan authorities. We have talked about this with President Musharraf. He made some comments that we noted yesterday; it's good that he clarified those for the people of Pakistan, that elections will be held early next year and that he will remove his uniform.

Please take a moment to reread my opening paragraph.  And in the meantime, what is the United States doing?

Ultimately, at the end of the day this is for the people of Pakistan to decide. President Musharraf and the people of Pakistan know where we stand. We've made that position clear.

Do you hear that, people of Pakistan?  It's up to you.  So get out there and face down a tank, knowing that we're behind you 100%.   And as you're being dragged off by the military to God knows what fate, don't blame Musharraf, because after all:

...there are a lot more people involved on the ground than just one person, and the point is that all of these people need to work together. There needs to be a dialogue among all the various political parties, and that is the best way to end this situation.

Work with him, people, work with him, because don't forget, people have tried to kill him, so you can trust him.  And remember:    

...We've -- we don't want -- we want the protests to be peaceful. We don't want people to be beaten. We want people who have been detained or had their freedom of movement curtailed, we want that lifted. But we are going to hold him to his commitments, but more importantly, I think the people of Pakistan will hold him to his commitments to have elections and take off the uniform.

Ignoring the recent obsession by the administration for Musharraf to take his clothes off, isn't it comforting to know that he will be held to his commitments?  Because as the world already knows, our commitments are not open-ended.   And besides, if he doesn't we'll cut off that billion dollars a year in aid.  The administration has been looking into that all week, so the review must be complete by now, right?

No, the review is still ongoing....

But let me make the larger point, though, with regards to U.S. assistance to Pakistan. It's designed to help the people of Pakistan, the aid that flows from the State Department. I mean, it's to help with democracy-building. It's to help with education. It's to help with health issues and basic services...to fight the war on terror and to counter extremism, which is absolutely in the best interest of the United States.

And that would be great if that was where the money was going.  Unfortunately the Bush administration seems to be doing the same kind of oversight and accounting in Pakistan as they are doing in Iraq.  But hey, Musharraf is our friend and ally, so chances are Bush will just use that presidential waiver and keep the money flowing.  After all, things will work themselves out in Pakistan because:

I think the people of Pakistan will make their views clear.

...and as everyone knows, there is nothing George Bush believes in more strongly than respecting the will of the people, so it follows that the man that he "likes and appreciates," will feel the same way. Right?    

• Think Progress notes one of the latest right-wing Hail Mary Bright Ideas ... Lieberman for vice president. On the GOP ticket. Oh, that embraceable Joe ... his bashing a few days ago of the supposed paranoid, hyperpartisan, conspiracy-driven left-wing blogs has got Bill Kristol and the Kristol-Lites all aswoon.
• Another myth bites the dust as experts debunk the likelihood of the dreaded suitcase nuke:

  "The suitcase nuke is an exciting topic that really lends itself to movies," said Vahid Majidi, the assistant director of the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. "No one has been able to truly identify the existence of these devices."

• A few days ago we learned 2007 was the deadliest year yet for American troops in Iraq. Today Afghanistan claims the same tragic milestone.
• The Washington Post takes a look at how our dependence on oil is creating "one of the biggest transfers of wealth in history"--and not in our favor, mind you.

  In the United States, the rising bill for imported petroleum lowers already anemic consumer savings rates, adds to inflation, worsens the trade deficit, undermines the dollar and makes it more difficult for the Federal Reserve to balance its competing goals of fighting inflation and sustaining growth.

  All that and a climate crisis as well! Woo-hoo!

• Yeah, right.  I don't think Bush knows what "diplomacy with Iran" really means.  I'm willing to maybe, kinda, sorta, cautiously extend the benefit of the doubt to Merkel, but never to Bush. [Plutonium Page]
• Broadway stagehands go on strike. [DavidNYC]

It's impossible to put forward any energy plan, no matter how mild, without facing a deafening chorus of "it'll cost too much!"  That's the ultimate tool of the burn-everything status quo, the idea that any attempt to limit the damage we're doing to the world would be so costly that it would sink our economic ship.

But even ignoring the fact that conservative policies celebrating unregulated greed have now brought us to the edge of the biggest economic abyss in a hundred years, there's something left out of all those dire warnings about the cost of going green.  It's the enormous cost of not going green.

High oil prices are fueling one of the biggest transfers of wealth in history. Oil consumers are paying $4 billion to $5 billion more for crude oil every day than they did just five years ago, pumping more than $2 trillion into the coffers of oil companies and oil-producing nations this year alone.

The total US national debt just hit the $9 trillion mark this week -- a value that seems so large as to be incomprehensible.  It will take generations to repay even if logical fiscal policies are restored.  Yet it's less than five years worth of what we're pumping out of our country to preserve the oil industry.  $2 trillion is a year is the price we pay for utter cowardice in changing our relationship to energy.

We shy away from changing how we make cars, because we're concerned about jobs in the auto industry.  We hesitate to halt destructive energy extraction, because we worry about trickle of revenue it generates.  We never acknowledge that the price of preserving the status quo far exceeds what it would take to break free of the current paradigm.  Faced with eminent starvation, we can't stop fighting over the last can of beans long enough to plant a garden.

Here's the deal.  Terrorism is not the challenge of our lifetimes.  Changing our relationship with energy is the challenge we have to face right now.

In the United States, the rising bill for imported petroleum lowers already anemic consumer savings rates, adds to inflation, worsens the trade deficit, undermines the dollar and makes it more difficult for the Federal Reserve to balance its competing goals of fighting inflation and sustaining growth.

As always, I'd urge you to get involved in Energize America, the ever-evolving energy plan that originated right here on Daily Kos.  Energy is not becoming a worldwide emergency, it's been there for a decade.  

Thirty five years ago, energy companies campaigned that we would all "freeze in the dark" if the Clean Air Act was passed.  They were wrong.  Now they want to tell you that we'll all be broke if we try to sever their control over our lives.  They're wrong again.  Unless we shake our timidity, twenty years from now they'll be looking down at a ruined world from the top of their mile-high skyscrapers in Dubai.  And they'll be thinking "Lord, what suckers they were to fall for that."

In case you thought the school of advertising that morphed Max Cleland into Bin Laden had taken a nap, here's the ad a coal company is running against Kathleen Sebelius for blocking a permit on a new coal-fired power plant.

How much natural gas does Kansas import from Russia, Venezuela, and Iran?  That would be none.

The economy, this nation, science, energy, our very global civilization; they all sit precariously atop a framework of applied analysis and practical engineering. The applications that flow from research make our modern culture possible. They provide the only real hope of continued progress and offer solutions to existing and future crises, any one of which could snow ball without warning, and cause our inextricably interdependent world to collapse like a house of cards. So, doesn’t it make at least a little bit of sense to have some official representation of those critical concepts in the highest halls of power? There are a few political challengers and incumbents who bring with them exactly those qualities. Brian Keeler introduces us to one such extraordinary candidate:

Last week, history was made in American politics when 19 Nobel prize winners endorsed a candidate for Congress. Bill Foster, a Fermilab scientist and successful businessman, is running in Dennis Hastert’s seat in Illinois. You don't see many people with resumes like Bill's running for Congress, so I thought I'd introduce you to Bill and tell you about his unique background and what electing him could mean to the war, science policy and the direction of his country ...

So, serious trivia question for the political junkies among us: how many sitting elected officials or serious national challengers, House or Senate, are there who are scientists, or have science degrees, or in some way hold a substantially better than average understanding of science compared to their peers?

• PZ Myers has the skinny on an upcoming new documentary on the Dover decision -- The case where the proponents of Intelligent Design Creationism got ripped to itty-bitty bloody shreds by a judge appointed, with delicious irony, by George Bush.
• Despite the fact that Comet Holmes unexpectedly grew a million times brighter and larger, and began breaking up as some material within likely vaporized, ignore any suicidal whack-job who promises you there‘s a divine gateway in the coma waiting to whisk you away to Heaven. STAY in your container .
• I realize there is a legit Constitutional issue here. But even as a science oriented religious skeptic, I’m ambivalent about forced school prayer. It’s just another useless Neo-GOP distraction. But my old friend Brent Rasmussen is exactly right: if they’re going to do it, don’t insult our intelligence and call it a ’wink wink, nod nod’ moment of silence.

Fred Thompson puts a toe on the third rail:

Fred D. Thompson, venturing into the treacherous political territory of changing Social Security, called yesterday for slowing the growth of benefits for future retirees by using a different yardstick on which to calculate the monthly payouts.

Mr. Thompson said that annual increases in benefits for future retirees should be based on the cost-of-living index, not the wage index, as is done now. Since the price index typically rises more slowly then the wage index, this would likely slow the growth of benefits. The change would not apply to current retirees. ...

To keep Social Security solvent over the long run, Mr. Thompson proposed a sharp break with the current policy of having the system financed entirely by payroll taxes on workers and their employers. He said he would use general tax revenues to help bolster the system.

The LAPD thinks inside the box:

The LAPD's plan to map Muslim communities in an effort to identify potential hotbeds of extremism departs from the way law enforcement has dealt with local anti-terrorism since 9/11 and prompted widespread skepticism Friday.

In a document reviewed Friday by The Times, the LAPD's Los Angeles Police Department's counter-terrorism bureau proposed using U.S. census data and other demographic information to pinpoint various Muslim communities and then reach out to them through social service agencies.

LAPD officials said that it is crucial for them to gain a better understanding of isolated parts of the Muslim community. Those groups can potentially breed violent extremism, the LAPD said in its plan. ...

But the effort sparked an outcry from civil libertarians and some Muslim activists, who compared the program to religious profiling.

Gareth Porter at Asia Times notes:

The US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran has been held up for more than a year in an effort to force the intelligence community to remove dissenting judgments on the Iranian nuclear program. The aim is to make the document more supportive of Vice President Dick Cheney's militarily aggressive policy toward Iran, according to accounts provided by participants in the NIE process to two former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers.

But this pressure on intelligence analysts, obviously instigated by Cheney himself, has not produced a draft estimate without those dissenting views, these sources say. The White House has now apparently decided to release the "unsatisfactory" draft NIE, but without making its key findings public. ...

A former CIA intelligence officer who has asked not to be identified told Inter Press Service (IPS) that an official involved in the NIE process says the Iran estimate was ready to be published a year ago but has been delayed because the director of national intelligence wanted a draft reflecting a consensus on key conclusions - particularly on Iran's nuclear program.

Well, it looks like the Iraqi government is going to finally pass a law:

The government of Iraq has notified private security firms their immunity from Iraqi law is about to end...

The title of a letter sent by the interior ministry - and obtained exclusively CBS News - says it all: "Removing the legal immunity." Until now, security firms like Blackwater have operated under a grant of immunity issued in 2004 by the then-top American in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer.

Naturally this news is not welcomed by the contractors:

"There’s no question it’s a disaster if this got passed," said Carter Andress...He is not willing to let his employees be subject to arrest by an Iraqi police force he believes is riddled with corruption and infiltrated by enemy fighters.

Can you imagine?  Trying to go about your day-to-day life, knowing that at any moment this group could detain or even kill you with impunity.  Oh, wait a minute...

And of course this news puts administration apologists in an awkward position.  They must argue that this law cannot be allowed because the corrupt, enemy-infiltrated Iraqi police cannot be trusted, knowing that the United States has spent billions of dollars creating them and that George Bush is still defending them.  What a conundrum.      

(Tonight's selections are brought to you courtesy of the Rescue Rangers. SusanG)

This evening's Rescue Rangers are Cordelia Lear, hhex65, joyful, Rippen Kitten, vcmvo2, and watercarrier4diogenes, with srkp23 as editor.

• juliewolf continues her series on successful activism in this nicely written diary, The Long View pt 3: Creativity, and rewards us with a spectacular photo. (joyful and jlms qkw)
• In Meet Your US Military "Government Paid Missionaries", dkos diarist, Troutfishing details an extensive effort at converting the US military to Christian fundamentalism. (vcmvo2)
• Jay Elias pens an eloquent letter regarding the Mukasey vote in On Dying Free: An Open Letter to Sen. Charles Schumer. (taylormattd)
• testvet6778 blows holes in the Department of Defense's claims of relatively few wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in DOD's claim of 30,000 wounded in Iraq , why have 202,000 vets filed claims. (taylormattd)
• It's deja vu all over again: Cheney Stovepipping the NIE - Once More with Feeling with details and evidence by Vyan. (Cordelia Lear)
• In Pentagon blocking a Congressional investigation again, smintheus shines another flashlight on our wonderfully politicized Pentagon. (watercarrier4diogenes)
• Full-time care provider Shadan7 offers poignant insight on what millions go through each day in "Thank you, son." (Alzheimer's & care-giving). (Cordelia Lear)
• Katrina survivor nolalily wonders what it will take to finally come HOME? (joyful)
• Johnny E notes that Bush's abstinence only program has failed to affect teenage sexual behavior in Don't Have Sex. Please. (vcmvo2)
• Robinswing stands up and declares, Fanny Lou Hamer I'm with you... and other neglected victims of violence. (joyful and jlms qkw)
• Avenging Angel reports that the religious right, despite its initial qualms, is going to support Giuliani's presidential bid in Just Win Baby: Religious Right Rallies Around Rudy. (vcmvo2)
• ChicagoLife touchingly writes about potential ethnic annihilation in our world, which will make all of us poorer, in COUNTDOWN TO ZERO: Assyrian Extinction, Part II (jlms qkw)
• WattHead is true to his name in Time to Keep Up the Power Shift: Legislative Shenanigans Underway on Congressional Energy Bill. (watercarrier4diogenes)

cskendrick has Top Comments - Love and Hope Edition.

Enjoy and please promote your own favorite diaries in this open thread.

Coming Up on Sunday Kos ...

• DemFromCT will continue his Disaster Prep series with a "contrast and compare" look at privatization (think Blackwater) vs grass roots (i.e, your average concerned mom) efforts.
• Hunter will write about ... Things That Are Not Torture.
• DHinMI plans two pieces. One will follow up on The Whys and Whats of Union Endorsements. The second will to look at possible parallels between the elections of 1932 and 2008. one a "lay of the land" overview for labor endorsements, and one on the 1932 election.
• Meteor Blades will examine how a Washington Post article on Libya violated a plethora of good journalism practice and thus got half the story wrong in the process.

From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...

This just in...

Bush Proud U.S. Economic Woes Can Still Depress World Markets

While speaking to a group of White House reporters, President Bush fended off questions about the weak state of the dollar, the expected long-term deficit caused by Social Security and Medicare payments, and a faltering housing market by assuring reporters that the U.S. economy's ability to have such a widespread negative impact on the world only further proves it is "easily the best."

"Our recent credit crisis alone has been enough to depress share prices in Japan, Rome, China, and Brazil," a smirking Bush said during a press conference Thursday.

"Sounds to me like our economy is still pretty powerful." Bush later added that he was equally proud of the impact U.S. foreign policy has had over the past six years, adding that only a truly great president could be capable of fostering so much hatred across the globe.

---The Onion

And coming up at 11: Due to a freak accident while turning back the clocks at the U.S. Naval Observatory, this weekend will be a repeat of last weekend, only with more locusts.  Your west coast-friendly edition of Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

The Senate falls into ever deeper levels of absurdity.

Every time Congressional Democrats failed this year to stop the Bush administration (i.e., every time they "tried"), the excuse they gave was that they "need 60 votes in the Senate" in order to get anything done. Each time Senate Republicans blocked Democratic legislation, the media helpfully explained not that Republicans were obstructing via filibuster, but rather that, in the Senate, there is a general "60-vote requirement" for everything.

How, then, can this be explained?

The Senate confirmed Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general Thursday night, approving him despite Democratic criticism that he had failed to take an unequivocal stance against the torture of terrorism detainees.

The 53-to-40 vote made Mr. Mukasey, a former federal judge, the third person to head the Justice Department during the tenure of President Bush . . . Thirty-nine Democrats and one independent [Bernie Sanders] opposed him.

The so-called "60-vote requirement" applies only when it is time to do something to limit the Bush administration. It is merely the excuse Senate Democrats use to explain away their chronic failure/unwillingness to limit the President, and it is what the media uses to depict the GOP filibuster as something normal and benign. There obviously is no "60-vote requirement" when it comes to having the Senate comply with the President's demands, as the 53-vote confirmation of Michael Mukasey amply demonstrates. But as Mukasey is sworn in as the highest law enforcement officer in America, the Democrats want you to know that they most certainly did stand firm and "registered their displeasure."

Funny, huh?