THE REAL STORY IN FLORIDA IS NOT ABOUT FOUL-MOUTHED TRAITOR BOB NOVAK GETTING A TIME OUT FROM CNN

If you use AOL and you signed on this morning the first thing you would have been likely to see is the breathtaking news (complete with video) "Pundit Swears, Walks Off Live Show-- CNN Suspends Robert Novak After 'Inexcusable' Outburst." (There is also a poll that, as of this minute, shows 63% of respondents think CNN was correct in suspending Novak. The poll also shows that 46% have a mostly negative impression of him and 28% have a mostly positive impression; 27% are neutral.)

But all this Novak stuff is so tangential to two real news stories-- the Novak-as-treasonous-pawn-of-the-Right-wing-operatives-inside-the-Bush-Regime story and the U.S. Senate race in Florida story. I want to see what Fitzgerald comes up with in his investigation of the Rove/Novak treason conspiracy before I start ranting about what a lowlife slime Novak is (and has always been). The Florida story is very simple. Conservative Democratic incumbent, Senator Bill Nelson, is up for re-election. With Republican seats in Pennsylvania, Montana, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Nevada, Virginia and Missouri coming under increasing pressure, the GOP is hoping to retain their hold on the Senate (in order to prevent investigations of the Bush Regime's myriad crimes) by picking off a couple of Democratic seats. Nelson is a weak link in Democratic defense. On most issues he's about as far to the Right as you can be and still call yourself a Democrat and, to put it mildly, he isn't admired by progressives who can't be counted on to do more than hold their noses and vote for him against someone even more reactionary. Unfortunately for the GOP hopes, they took the concept "reactionary" to such extreme lengths that even the Bush Brothers are making a fuss. Katherine Harris (the vampire-looking ex-Secretary of State who stole the 2000 election for Bush) has declared she wants Nelson's senate seat. Of all the Florida politicians considering the run, she is the weakest against Nelson. But she is strongest in a GOP primary matchup. The Bush Brothers recruited Florida House Speaker Allan Bense to challenge Harris. The big brouhaha that got Novak in a tizzy was a discussion of Bense pulling out of the race this week and, ostensibly, leaving Harris unchallenged for the Republican nomination. (Conventional wisdom is that Nelson will beat her easily because her negatives among independents are so high.)

CNN and AOL and most of the mainstream media find it a lot easier to talk about Novak using a cuss word and storming off the set like a flustered teenage girl than to present a substantive discussion of the Florida race or the significance of the Bushes trying-- and failing-- to get Bense, or any mainstream credible conservative, to run against Harris. The Bushes know that if the Democrats take the House, impeachment charges will be filed against George in January. If they take the Senate, he could be found guilty. The Florida seat is crucial to them and Katherine Harris, as popular she is among brain-dead neo-fascists, is not a credible candidate statewide. She will inadvertently mobilize Democrats and independents (who might not be all that enthusiastic about Nelson) and she will turn off whatever moderate Republicans remain in the state.