There was great disappointment the other day when Alberto Gonzales and Patrick Fitzgerald shared the same stage but did not enter into dialogue about the firing of USAs, the ranking of Fitz as an average prosecutor, etc. However, the NYT reports that after Gonzo's fast exit from a subsequent press conference, he attended a closed door session, hosted by Fitz, at which the AG got an earful from several US attorneys.

We don't yet know which term historians will give to this administration's autocratic policies and practices , but given the pattern of Bush's abuses and their long-term effects, this period of US history will no doubt earn its own name.

I'd like to nominate "Bushism," which would function like "Stalinism" and "McCarthyism" to define both a political system and a historical era. I realize "Bushism" currently refers to Bush's speaking errors, but this usage will fade, while the sense I am talking about will not: indeed, if "Bushism" doesn't become the name for this malevolent system of government, another term will need to be invented.

To define "Bushism" in such a manner, one needs both a concise definition, and longer, detailed analyses. The latter will someday fill many books and has already filled countless blog entries. My purpose here is to begin defining "Bushism" concisely, rehearsing its usage for historians, political scientists, and everyday people.

Given the egregious corruption and criminality of the Bush administration and the Republican party at large; given the ideological infiltration of US courts, Justice Department, and law enforcement agencies, of the military, CIA, and NSA; given the corporate takeover of our government, natural resources, and airwaves; given the general non- or dysfunctionality of both government and the press; and given the "return from the dead" capacity of the Republican monster machine,

The next US President should consider this 10-step modest proposal:

Yesterday, I diaried about Ann Coulter appearing at the University of Florida, just days after the Gators won the NCAA basketball championship. She spoke last night, as reported here and here, repeating her call to invade Muslim countries and kill their leaders.

The juxtaposition of Coulter at UF and the Gator team is sickening: center Joakim Noah's father, Yannick Noah, was the first black man to win the French Open. Three other starters are black, two with fathers who played pro ball. They were all highlighted by CBS Sports on game day. Three nights later, the UF Student Government speaker bureau Accent sponsors Coulter, paying her $32,000, nearly 10% of its annual budget.

There is a potential wedge issue here between colleges' sports and speakers programs. More below the fold.

The battle against racist wingnuts should extend to other venues besides tv and radio. The bread and butter of big-ticket wingnuts are their speaking gigs, which bring in the big bucks.

My brother just sent me a letter (below the fold) he's sent to the Univ. of Florida Alumni Assoc. protesting the upcoming visit of Ann Coulter to our alma mater.

As the Univ. of Florida is receiving so much publicity over winning the men's NCAA basketball championship, it's an excellent good time for any and all dKos Gators to let the UF alumni association and administration know we don't think paying racists to spew their hatred is something a research university should be doing. Email addresses atop my brother's letter. Such letters, of course, could be directed to other schools where Coulter and fellow racists are scheduled to speak.

Juicy: Raw Story is reporting that Scanlon's "thirtysomething" former fiancee, Emily J. Miller, was the person who turned him in to the FBI after he left her for another woman. At the time, both Miller and Scanlon worked for Tom Delay, she as a spokeswoman, he as communications director.

Miller went on to work with the State Dept, where she was responsible for Colin Powell's infamous interview with Press the Meat, wherein she tried to stop Powell's interview in mid-sentence, directing the cameraperson to stop filming him.

Raw Story's Jason Leopold reports: "What many people didn't realize at the time, however, is that during the Powell interview Miller was upset because her fiancee, Michael Scanlon, had broken off their engagement, two of Miller's former State Department co-workers said. While still engaged to Miller, Scanlon had started an affair with a manicurist and broke up with Miller because he planned to marry the other woman, three of Scanlon's former associates at DeLay's office said. They added that the two had numerous public arguments." Like I said: juicy!

Friday night I had a revelation as I read stories and insights here in the left blogosphere while also watching MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, CNN's Nancy Grace, and the "perspectival" battles between Fox News' on-the-ground reporters Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera and their top-tier studio pundits O'Reilly and Hannity. I've been away, so someone may have already posted something similar.

The revelation: the Katrina/Bush disaster threatens the GOP's decades-long "Southern strategy" and poses a very real opportunity for Democrats to reconnect with Southerners. The wrath shown by Mayor Nagin and the Times Picayune over the destruction of New Orleans may very well be just the tip of an iceberg of regional rage, akin to that felt over Sherman's burning of Atlanta, a defining event of the South.

This is not a opportunistic tactical "opening," but a profound and multi-dimensional opportunity with national and global implications. More below the fold:

As much as we dKossacks deride the MSM, often rightfully so, we should step back and connect some dots, including: Dan Rather's forced resignation, the recent Newsweek apology, the renewed attempts to cut back NPR's news reporting. Whatever their suspect merits, these events are a setback for journalism; at the same time, the rightwing media has suffered no such setbacks, which shows that the right is continuing to win the media war. We cheer when a long-ignored story makes it into the MSM: they cheer when they've driven an anchor or network or news magazine into almost total submission.

My point: We need to assess our role in criticizing the MSM (yes, I know some folks hate this acronym, but this is where I'm heading: we do so at our own peril) and ask ourselves whether we are not unwittingly assisting the right's efforts to take apart what remains of respectable news organizations.

It appears the worm is turning more tightly for the GOP, as the major news outlets are full of anti-Rovean stories.

Delayed satisfaction: The House plans to reverse its rule changes in the Ethics Committee, paving the way for Delay's demise.

Revoltin' Bolton: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee opens the doors to some two dozen witnesses to Bolton's fitfullness to be UN Ambassador.

SS crackin' GOP: Two-month Bamboozlepalooza Tour has been cracking us up via TPM: now it's cracking apart the GOP.

Terrible war on terra: Bushco's War on the World has tripled the number of terrorist attacks in the past year. (ok, yesterday's story).

The hits just keep on coming . . .

The NYT has put up an article about the children at Abu Ghraib, a story that Sy Hersch has mentioned several times in the past, but which now has been officially substantiated due to ACLU actions to have Army records released to the public.

I have mixed feelings about the SCLM taking so long to get around to this story. On the one hand, it's ridiculous, as the Times and other news organizations could have been investigating and reporting on this story, linking it to other outrageous, immoral, and illegal actions that have trickled down from Abu Gonzales' memos on the quaintness of the Geneva Convention.

On the other hand, having stories about Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, and other sites of abuse trickle out over months and months may actually help outrage different portions of the American public at different times (eg, "My God, Marge, now it's kids! What else has been going on that we didn't know about?"), thereby possibly contributing to an erosion of support for our Dear Leader.

Tom Friedman ends his Sunday NYT op ed piece on the Middle East, titled "The Tipping Points", with this upbeat conclusion: "tipping points are sometimes more like teeter-totters: one moment you're riding high and the next minute you're slammed to the ground. Nevertheless, what's happened in the last four weeks is not just important, it's remarkable. And if we can keep all three tipping points tipped, it will be incredible."

Teeter-totter, neater-natter, reading Friedman, I was reminded of a recent THIS MODERN WORLD cartoon about turning points by the always on-point Tom Tomorrow.

"Tipping point," "turning point," "turning the corner," well, you'll get the point below the fold.

Fascism makes strange bedfellows. Nazi German fascism brought capitalists and communists together in WWII. Now it appears that an incipient Neocon American fascism may start bringing together liberals and conservatives. Delaware Dem's Conservative diary highlights the growing criticism of BushCo in conservative blogs. One thing I found interesting in the citation was the positive use of the term "liberalism." This could signal the beginning of a watershed event as important as the capitalist/communist alliance.

Granted, such conservatives aren't embracing liberal positions, but some recognize the legitimacy of liberal concerns, the importance of our criticisms, and, perhaps implicitly, the need to form a tactical alliance to counter BushCo's economic and foreign policies, his embrace of torture, and his PR campaign of smears, lies, and propaganda. I will call such conservatives "liberal conservative," if only to signal their willingness to embrace an old but core notion of "liberalism": the belief in liberty.

In parallel fashion, I think we need to consider dimensions of "conservative liberal." (more below)

The Washington Post reports that the Bush Administration proposes reforming the way the Department of Homeland Security hires, promotes, and fires employees, effectively ending long-standing Civil Service criteria and introducing a "pay-for-performance" program.

Significantly, the WaPo states that the Administration plans to extend such reform to other Federal agencies. Neoconsolidation, anyone?

Performance management techniques have been used by the US government for decades, with VP Al Gore's National Performance Review being one of the most recent and highly publicized examples. The crucial question now is whether the Bush Administration's performance reform is not only aimed at reducing the power of labor unions and decreasing workers' rights (as the WaPo article suggests--see below), but also at instituting a top-to-bottom ideological overhaul of the Federal government.

Inspired by the report that the President thinks "there was no reason to hold any administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the violent aftermath;" by the impending confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as US Attorney General; by the selection of Michael Chertoff to head the Homeland Security Administration; and by Tom Ridge's belief that the US "should not rule out torture," here's an image to commemorate the inauguration of George W. Bush for a second term as President of the United States of America.

It's good to see Bush stand behind something.

First the Pistons-Pacers' brawl. Then the South Carolina-Clemson brawl.

And now, at the APEC conference in Chile, Bush's own security guards get into a fracas with Chilean security. Reportedly, Chilean TV is showing the incident.

But let's back up: White House lawyers writing memos "legitimating" torture, an illegal war in Iraq, US GIs and intelligence agents torturing detainees at sites around the world, and now sports brawls and security guards fighting on national TV networks: trickle-down violence: welcome to Bush World. I guess maybe the US should ban the use of stun-guns on our children, wadda ya think?

Just performed Mosh, holding up a simple handwritten sign at the end with the word "VOTE." The audience was ecstatic from what I could tell, but hey, it's a TV crowd.

The song, for me, is much stronger with the animation but having him sing it live(?) on national TV just before the election adds to its effect as a GOTV effort.

Have folks been watching the rest of the show? Have they played off the Mosh video in other segments?

The BBC online is reporting that folks outside the US cannot access Bush's reelection web site. Further, they write that:

The blocking does not appear to be due to an attack by vandals or malicious hackers, but as a result of a policy decision by the Bush camp.

If this is a policy decision (and not a hackjob), any ideas on the motivation: suppress access to some incriminating info? protect "secret appeal" of BushCo? blame it on furrin terraists? or "whoops, we meant to block Kerry's site!"?

Tonight's Nightline will feature a performance by actor and performance artist Anna Deavere Smith based on the recent Presidential debates. Smith appears as Nancy McNally on West Wing but is perhaps best known for her solo performances, including Twilight: Los Angeles and Fires in Brooklyn, based on the riots in LA and Crown Heights, Brooklyn, respectively.

Smith's method of working often involves interviewing scores of people relating to a given social incident or controversy, developing distinct characters based on them, and then weaving together a performance in which she portrays an extraordinary range of perspectives and identities. Smith also teaches at NYU, where she holds a joint position in the School of Law and Tisch's Dept. of Performance Studies.

Tonight's performance should be interesting: tune in after Jon Stewart.