I wish to cash out my influence at this mighty blog and use the proceeds to promote a worthwhile experiment being run by my buddy Lloyd, he of the Year of Coffee Blog. I urge all of you, dear readers, to give a visit to 50,000 Monkeys Blogging. Nay, I urge you, more than to visit, to participate, for that’s what the blog is about. We’re all of us now endowed with the ability to contribute to the ultimate social blogging experiment. Simply send your latest random thought—that’s any random thought—to 50000monkeys@thecoolkids.us. Take a sip of coffee. Then, load the site into your browser. Voila! Instant blogging. Completely anonymous. No one ever has to know that it was you. What could be easier?

The site has already taken on a kind of Dada-esque quality. It didn’t take long for the spammers to find the email address, but to me, that’s part of the fun. Random blog postings mixed with random spam emails. Where does one end and the other begin?

The New Year has been about letting go. The following are links I’ve been saving up until I could write really smart, persuasive, in-depth blog posts about each one. Not going to happen, so I’m just going to move them out of here and let you do as you will. Enjoy…

• The Poor Man posits a hypothetical for those of you who call yourselves Libertarian. He also scratches his head over our so-called War President.
• Breaking the Daou Cycle: Conservative opposition to Bush’s law-breaking – by Glenn Greenwald
• Fear destroys what bin Laden could not. I’m with Robert Steinback on this one. If the terrorists hate our freedoms, are we just trying to get rid of them so they won’t hate us? “Don’t hurt us! We don’t have freedoms anymore. Go attack some free people.” WTF?
• NTodd tears it up on the same topic.
• And Digby, of course, has still more.
• Like my friend Sid the Fish, I’m kind of cool on Hillary, too. I think she’d be the wrong candidate for 2008 for a lot of reasons, but mostly because she will be a lightning rod, galvanizing the right into rallying around whatever morally bankrupt candidate the Republicans nominate.
• This ‘bout sums up the Bush record of achievement.
• Bob Geiger has a few questions for those who still support Bush.
• The invaluable Bruce Schneir on The Security Threat of Unchecked Presidential Power.
• Also, see this at Eschaton on the Imperial President. Who is ably abetted by John Yoo, as ReddHedd explains.