Can somebody please, please, please shut Carville up--especially about Plamegate. His takes on the scandal are utterly compromised by his marriage to Mary Matalin.

With the bird flu virus popping up in Europe, I think we need to pull out the first-term playbook and go with what got us that 77-percent approval rating: I say it's time to declare war on the bird flu! After spending a few more months scaring Congress and the American people with details of the gathering threat (quick, what is the poultry equivalent of aluminum tubes?), we should ask for a few hundred billion dollars and authorization to preemptively and forcibly vaccinate all of Europe in an effort to "take the fight to the enemy over there, so we won't have to fight them here."  That's right, it's Flypaper II.  And this time it could actually work!

In the wake of the Libby indictment, this week President Bush tried to change the subject to Alito and avian flu, while Harry Reid and the Senate Dems finally located their spines and kept the spotlight on Plamegate and the war. Check out some of this week's best blogs below, as well as Jane Hamsher, Jeralyn Merritt, Stephen Kaus and Alan Gerson on Plamegate, Flavia Colgan and Bill Scher facing off on Alito, and Patt Morrison learning to love the bird flu. Plus don't miss the latest satiric offerings from Danielle Crittenden and Jerry and Joe Long.

Getting ready to take my 14 year old to school this morning, I turned on C-SPAN 2. "Oh, no, not C-SPAN 2 again," she said. I was about to concede and switch over to Katie and Matt when I was suddenly captured by the power and passion of what I was hearing. Sen. Dick Durbin was fuming with outrage over Ahmed Chalabi's arrival in Washington today:...

Chalabi’s got a very busy schedule planned, including meetings with Condi Rice, John Snow, and Stephen Hadley. There is also talk of a private meeting with his longtime champion, Dick Cheney. So he's pretty booked up. But, with all due respect, I’d like to suggest some additions to Mr. Chalabi’s D.C. itinerary. How about starting with a visit to FBI Headquarters? Chalabi is currently under investigation, suspected of telling the Iranian government that America had broken the code it used for secret communications. But close to a year-and-a-half after Condi Rice promised a criminal investigation into the charges, the FBI has still not questioned Chalabi. Now seems like a perfect time. Condi can walk him over to the Hoover Building after their meeting and make all the necessary introductions. READ MORE

DICK DURBIN TEES OFF

Today will be a red letter day for fans of discredited neocon idols. This afternoon, Ahmad Chalabi will be in Washington, giving a speech at the American Enterprise Institute. And in the evening, Judy Miller will be in New York, taking part in a panel discussion on reporters’ privilege at the Sheraton Hotel. READ MORE

Ahmad Does D.C.: An Alternative Chalabi Itinerary What do you say, Ahmad? You up for a little detour from your planned comeback tour? I’ve got a feeling it would prove very educational -- if not for you, then certainly for the American public. READ MORE

DICK DURBIN TEES OFF

Watching Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s quasi-concession speech last night, I was struck by the contrite, conciliatory, “can’t we all just get along?” tone. There he was tossing verbal bouquets to foes like state Senate leader Don Perata, and pledging to find “common ground” with the folks he’d just spent the better part of the last year attacking, trashing, and lambasting as “girlie-men”. And it struck me, isn’t this exactly the way an abuser operates? Bully, browbeat, name-call -- to say nothing of spend millions on attack ads -- and then desperately try to kiss and make up… READ MORE

AHMAD DOES D.C.: AN ALTERNATIVE CHALABI ITINERARY

RUB ELBOWS WITH JUDY MILLER, JUST $375!

November 9th marked the six month anniversary of the launch of the Huffington Post and, apparently, the news cycle remembered because it showered us with a bounty of gifts. Among my favorites: Election Night ’05, the fact that Iraq is back on the media front burner, and the day’s unexpected bauble, the “retirement” of Judy Miller. This one is the gift that keeps on giving, producing both merriment and nausea… READ MORE JUDY IS OUT; WANTS IT MADE CLEAR SHE DIDN’T SCREW LIBBY (JUST THE AMERICAN PUBLIC) TiVo Alert: Tonight, Judy Miller on Larry King and Arthur Sulzberger on Charlie Rose. Let the rehab spin begin!

So Judy Miller is finally gone. But only from the New York Times. Indeed, she has turned her considerable energies to the web (welcome, Judy!). How is...

I've just come out of hearing Ahmad Chalabi speak at the Council on Foreign Relations. My main takeaway from the speech was the dissonance between Iraq's reality and Chalabi's presentation. A half-hour after leaving the speech, I got a surprising message through the Council from Chalabi's office asking if I could meet him for breakfast tomorrow morning at 8:15 at his hotel. I really would have loved to but my flight for L.A. leaves at 7 a.m. Too bad. It would have been great to blog about "My Breakfast with Chalabi."

Update: My Dinner with Chalabi But that was not the end. Since breakfast was not possible, I was invited to dinner at Megu, a Japanese restaurant in TriBeCa with his daughter and members of his entourage. More about my surreal evening chilling with Chalabi on Monday (I'm off to San Diego to board the M.S. Oosterdam for a weekend on The Nation magazine seminar cruise to Mexico). Oh yes, but before I sign off, Chalabi did tell me he was meeting with Cheney on Monday and that he had met with Judy Miller on Thursday.

It’s hard to say who had a worse week, Arnold Schwarzenegger (0-for-4), Judy Miller (out the door), Terrell Owens (fatal foot-in-mouth disease), or President Bush (tough to lead when 57% of the public doesn’t think you’re honest). But it was a good week here at the HuffPost, as we celebrated our six-month anniversary with much gratitude to all our bloggers -- and our HuffPost regulars. Be sure and check out some of this week's best blogs below as well as Harry Shearer’s memorable multi-part series on Goin’ Back to New Orleans. And don't miss Marty Kaplan's Russert Watch.

I've had a great weekend on board the M. S. Oosterdam, taking part in the 8th annual "Seminar Cruise" sponsored by The Nation Magazine. It was great sharing the high seas with Victor Navasky, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Bob Scheer, Calvin Trillin, Amy Wilentz, and close to 500 progressive friends. Call it the Liberal Love Boat. The only things missing were Julie, Gopher, Isaac and Captain Stubing (more on the cruise later). I sadly have to leave the cruise early, getting off at Cabo today to get back to the kids -- and the HuffPost (not much Internet access aboard the Oosterdam). No Meet the Press, either -- so many thanks to Marty Kaplan for stepping in to do Russert Watch. Check out his spot-on takedown of Russert's interviews with Ken Mehlman and Howard Dean. Land ho!

Ahmad Chalabi's Washington visit hit the top floor Monday, as he met with Don Rumsfeld in the morning and Dick Cheney in the afternoon. No official word on what they discussed -- but I got a sneak peek Friday night over the course of a surrealistic four-hour dinner with Chalabi at Megu, a Japanese restaurant in Tribeca... READ MORE

Bill Frist Gets Nailed on "The Today Show"