"After a brief hiatus, Blogcritics interviews are back. We are looking for your questions to ask Billy Martin of Medeski Martin and Wood, who has a cool new beats and scratches CD under the name "illy B Eats," entitled Drop the Needle on his own Amulet Records, as well as a deeply grooving recent MMW disc. Ask your questions in the comments section below."

Cool!  If you have any questions, follow the link.

The Post's endorsement of incumbent Republican Wayne Allard in 1996 urged him "to seek compromise and moderation to keep the country moving." We've been deeply disappointed on both counts. Allard has chosen strict party-line voting rather than the Colorado-style moderation we sought - and the country, far from moving forward, is in a serious economic downturn. Traditionally, The Post has continued to stand by incumbents we have supported in the past. Our endorsement is, quite frankly, theirs to lose. To our sorrow, Sen. Allard, by failing to show any instinct for centrism, conciliation or independence, has lost our support. Indeed, on almost every major issue, challenger Strickland's positions and ideas are markedly more attuned to Colorado than those of his opponent.

Allard (R) vs Strickland (D) is one of the key races for control of the Senate this year.  Thankfully, the Post has realized the mistake of its ways back in 1996 and endorsed Allards challenger.  Tom Strickland is no great shakes -I'm not a big fan of lobbyists - but at least he seems to think for himself, although there's no solid evidence that this will be the case should he be elected.  In Allard's case however, his voting record speaks directly to the problem:

Year	Voting Participation	Party Support	Presidential Support
2001	99%	98%	97%
2000	100%	98%	35%
1999	99%	97%	23%

[via Joe Conason's Journal]

Ok, I can't help it.  I'm a game-playing nerd.  This is hilarious.

"So how about using the same shock-value tactics the administration uses in the drug war to confront the public with the ultimate -- and much more linearly linked -- consequences of their energy wastefulness? Imagine a soccer mom in a Ford Excursion (11 mpg city, 15 mpg highway) saying, "I'm building a nuclear bomb for Saddam Hussein." Or a mob of solo drivers toodling down the freeway at 75 mph shouting in unison, "We're buying weapons that will kill American soldiers, Marines and sailors! Yahoo!" "

Good Arianna Huffington column on Salon today.  She asks why it's so unreasonable to crank back our oil usage a bit.

"Would it be so painful for us to slow down the intravenous drip of oil that keeps these hideously anti-American regimes alive? There are car companies with electric and hybrid cars already on the market. And a little pressure on our wasteful ways could unleash a new wave of good old American inventiveness."