Unlike other progressive bloggers, I wasn't the least bit surprised when Senate Democrats let Joe Lieberman keep his Homeland Security chair. Why? Because the last eight years of blogging have painfully taught me that all Senate Democrats are worthless. (My only real surprise was that 13 Democratic "mavericks" voted against Joltin' Joe.)

Our friend Nicole Sandler is filling in on Air America all this week while some of the regulars go on a cruise. Be sure to let Air America know if you like what you hear. Nicole is on tonight 6-9 pm ET, Thursday 7-9, Friday 8-9, and I will be on with her on Thursday in the 7-8 hour to talk about pardons and prosecutions. Tune in!

And I'm on The Urban Journal today discussing Cheney's indictment. Take a listen.

By David Swanson

Former judge Andrew Napolitano appeared on Fox News to claim falsely that a president can pardon himself but to assert, interestingly, that a president cannot issue blanket pardons, that each person pardoned has to be named. This would seem to go against precedent. President Carter pardoned Vietnam war resisters, but his pardon referred to indictments and investigations, etc., each of which -- Napolitano argues -- would have named someone. Here's the video. But what about Lincoln's and Johnson's blanket pardons of confederates? And President Washington's blanket pardon after whiskey rebellion? What about the possibility that there might be an appropriate and legitimate use of blanket pardons in the future?

Here's another take on this:

Will somebody ask the DSCC to stop having Cleland send out Emails claiming that Chambliss legitimately beat him and that therefore we should donate money?

Can everyone focus on election protection in Georgia, for the purpose of getting the Democrats 60 seats and denying them any more excuses not to enact the will of the public?

MSNBC has called it:

WASHINGTON - Convicted Sen. Ted Stevens lost his re-election bid to Democrat Mark Begich after the last large batch of votes was counted Tuesday.

The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trailed Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by 3,724 votes after Tuesday's count.

That's an insurmountable lead with only about 2,500 overseas ballots left to be counted.

Jon Stewart did a great segment explaining why it took so long to count Alaska's votes, even though its population is tiny.

Congratulations Senator Mark Begich!!

Wow!! Breaking news from South Texas (h/t Faiz Shakir):

Vice President Cheney indicted by Willacy County grand jury
By Emma Perez-Trevino, The Brownsville Herald

A Willacy County grand jury under District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra returned multi-count indictments Monday against Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, plus several other public officials.

Obama wants Eric Holder to be his Attorney General. The only objection is his role in the Marc Rich pardon:

Although there is no evidence that Holder actively pushed the pardon, he was criticized for not raising with the White House the strong objections that some Justice Department lawyers and federal prosecutors in New York had to pardoning somebody who had fled the country.

The Marc Rich pardon was regarded by the Washington Press Corpse as the Worst Thing Ever way back in January 2001. But it was absolutely nothing compared to Bush's expected pardons of everyone in his administration, including Cheney and himself, for crimes (including war crimes) ordered or authorized by Bush himself.

Steny Hoyer outlined his agenda to the National Press Club today:

In the next Congress, our first focus must be on efforts to restore the health of our economy. They will include funding to create jobs by rebuilding our worn-down infrastructure, for roads, bridges, pipes, tracks that serve our communities and our commerce.

In addition, we must ensure that all of our people have access to broadband.

Economic recovery will also mean helping hard-pressed states with federal Medicaid assistance so that workers who have lost their jobs and their health insurance will still have access to health care.

By David Swanson

Half the story has been told. On Tuesday the Washington Post reported that Bush is creating civil service positions for loyal appointees, in order to make it hard for Obama to get rid of them.

Bush has also, for some time now, been terminating large numbers of employees in the federal government, people known as whistleblowers, people suspected of disloyalty. Some of the higher profile cases are well known.

Breaking: Iraq Oil Report has the original English version of the US-Iraq agreement, which is entitled:

Agreement
Between the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq
On the Withdrawal of United States Forces from Iraq and the Organization of Their Activities during Their Temporary Presence in Iraq

The agreement sets a firm deadline of December 31, 2011 for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops. Of course, in May 2007 Bush declared:

By David Swanson

Not only is President Elect Obama talking about keeping on key Bushies like Robert Gates.

Not only is Bush transforming appointees into career civil servants, in order to prevent Obama from bringing in new people. (Read the WaPo story.)

But -- and this has not, as far as I know, yet been reported -- Bush is firing dozens of employees in various departments who have been whistleblowers or are known to lean left politically, and replacing them with loyal Bushies. Or so I'm told by a very good source. More info coming soon.

Citing Administration’s Failure and Unwillingness to use funds to Prevent Foreclosures, as Congress Intended

Washington D.C. (November 17, 2008) – Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today sent a letter to Representative Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, recommending that Congress inform the White House that it will not authorize the second $350 billion tranche of the bailout funds to the Treasury Department. The Financial Services Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing tomorrow examining oversight of the implementation of the bailout and of government lending and insurance facilities.

The data is in, and young voters had an incredible impact on the Presidential race:

This is change we can believe in!

"I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that America doesn't torture, and I'm going to make sure that we don't torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world."

Of course the torturers and their neocon bosses will fight Obama tooth and nail, so he'll need our support. We're here for you, President-Elect Obama!

In May 2007, Bush declared (h/t Ryan Powers)

"I believe setting a deadline for withdrawal would demoralize the Iraqi people, would encourage killers across the broader Middle East, and send a signal that America will not keep its commitments. Setting a deadline for withdrawal is setting a date for failure -- and that would be irresponsible."

Earlier this month, Bush 'irresponsibly' set a 'date for failure' - actually two dates: