May 2007 - Posts
Alison Stewart in for Keith tonight...
Shades of Success At least 123-Americans have been killed in Iraq this May, making it the third-deadliest month since the war began. Our fifth story on the Countdown: Soldiers still stationed in Iraq, now asking the question, quote: "When are we going to get out of here?"... Amid new questions tonight, that President Bush envisions keeping a military presence in that country for the long haul. Decision 2008 Tonight, the 2008 campaign officially enters the "You know" stage. Number four in our countdown, you know Al Gore is not running, at least not now. But you know why he might be tempted. ODDBALL High Speed Chases If you've seen a police car chase on t-v lately, there's a reason why, more likely than not, it's low-speed. In our third story on the Countdown, the risks of the high-speed chases . Depending on the crime, it would seem police are better off letting a speeding vehicle escape than weaving through heavy traffic to catch the culprit. There are some people in the DC area who no doubt think this. TB Cause no longer TBD?: So, you know that nightmare where your fiance's Dad works in a federal tuberculosis lab, and then during your honeymoon you expose her to one of the scariest forms of tuberculosis there is? In our second story tonight, it turns out that the man who flew internationally... and snuck back into the U-S... knowing he carried an often-deadly form of T-B... is the son-in-law of a longtime tuberculosis researcher who works at... the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Conspiracy theorists, start your engines.
Bacon or Fakin'?
If you haven't seen this thing on the internets, then you haven't been on the internets. It's Monster Pig, and it's more porky than a house transportation bill. But is it real ...or fake ?
Tonight...a Countdown investigation with the only man America can trust during this mutant hog scandal, America's Zookeeper, Jungle Jack Hanna. It's gonna be good.
Some of what we're working on for tonight... How many times have we heard that line from President Bush over the last few years? Why then, should the American people ever have to read a story about his administration actually going to court to
stop to a company from testing its cattle herd for Mad Cow Disease?
You read that right, the administration wasn't arguing against
expansion of testing, it was arguing that one premium beef company should not be allowed to test its entire herd and advertise its product as "mad cow safe", because that might force the larger beef companies (the ones with all the lobbyists and influence) to begin testing
their herds.
WASHINGTON: The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.
The Agriculture Department tests fewer than 1 percent of slaughtered
cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted
beef. A beef producer in the western state of Kansas, Creekstone Farms
Premium Beef, wants to test all of its cows.
Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone should
test its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the
expensive tests on their larger herds as well.
Thankfully, U.S. District Judge James Robertson said the government lacked
the authority to restrict the company from testing, and threw the bums out of court.
(bushcow image lifted from baseface )
CONTINUED >>
from
The Boston Globe :
We knew the popular nighttime MSNBC anchor, a former ESPN host and WCVB sportscaster, was a fan of lists. So we asked Olbermann, in Boston on Thursday night to speak at an ACLU-Massachusetts banquet, to give us five quick answers to the following. Here are his responses .
Alison Stewart in for Keith tonight...
Right Said Fred Hollywood actor turned Republican politician -- (in this case, turned Hollywood actor again) -- about to make a run for the White House. It's far from official yet... but new reports say Senator Thompson is planning to enter the presidential race in early July... hoping to take advantage of the Fourth of July holiday. The "Law and Order" star... annoucing this week that has already raised several million dollars and is launching an exploratory committee. If you thought the stage was crowded at the **first** Republican debate... now imagine making room for one more podium. Little Girl Lost Unfortunately, stories about missing children are all too common. Most we don't ever hear about, while others dominate the 24 hour newcycle. There's often a lot of discussion about which sad tales of lost children get coverage and which don't, but when the pope gets involved--there's no doubt you'll hear about it on the news. Number four in our countdown, the search for a British four year old has captivated most of Europe for the past 27 days. Her parent's desperate quest has millionaires, celebrities and even benedict the xvi reaching out to the family today. ODDBALL Slipping Through In our number-three story tonight... one of the administration's first responders when it comes to biological warfare... which can include the use of infectious diseases... has been put to the test. Specifically... could the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention... in conjunction with the rest of the US government... stop one man carrying a deadly disease... from entering the country? The answer was no... and today was the day for excuses... his for why he did it... and the government's for why it failed to stop him... even though it knew exactly who he was. Try...try...try again! A man survives a skydiving accident... slamming into the earth at 100 miles an hour... and now he's jumping again...we'll take you along for the ride. Your Cheatin' Heart : Renaissance man Mo Rocca joins Alison to break down some major hypocrosy on the part of Tom Delay and some dirty cheating by American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. This segment will knock your socks on your rear!
Some of what we're working on for tonight...
It looks like President Bush has
chosen Robert Zoellick , another member of his inner circle and, yes, another neo-con as his choice to head the World Bank.
Expect a formal announcement today, as well as eventual confirmation of Mr. Zoellick by the bank itself. Perhaps they, like Countdown -- with fresh visions of Bill Frist -- are filing Mr. Zoellick under "coulda been worse."
...in case you were wondering, Tom DeLay believes God is talking to him, or he's just
hearing voices. For what it's worth, fellow Delay followers will be reminded that when he smiled for his mugshot he claimed to be projecting the image of Jesus (and not an indicted ex-congressman and roach exterminator.)
CONTINUED >>
Bloody Monday In his Rose Garden news conference last week... President Bush, having told Americans to expect heavy fighting in Iraq in the months ahead... warning of a quote: "bloody ... very difficult August" The month Mister Bush should have been warning about, perhaps: The one we are in right now. Our fifth story on the Countdown: Ten American soldiers dying in Iraq on Memorial Day... making May, with three days yet to go, already the deadliest month of the year for U-S troops... as well as the deadliest month since November, 2004. An Inconvenient Question Our conversation with Al Gore continues. About the conversation: the national political conversation. And the inevitable conversation about whether or not he's going to... you know. ODDBALL Decision 2008 Again we turn to politics and two of the latest surprises in the 2008 campaign. Our third story tonight... Funny, wasn't it, that Vice President Gore knew it was "500 or so days" to the election. The correct figure is... 515 if you count today. Meantime, good news for a Democrat not undecided...And a seismic shift for conservatives that some might call, "Power Over Principle." Outbreak?: The last time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quarantined an individual carrying a dangerous disease was 1963. The disease was smallpox. In our number-two story tonight... 44 years later, it's a man with a rare, drug-resistant form of tuberculosis is in quarantine. And this time, there are two planeloads of people who may have been exposed. The C-D-C is now tracking down the passengers who flew with him when he traveled to Europe... and then back to Canada. WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD Li-Lo Uh Oh : Lindsay Lohan is in re-rehab after some Hollywood tomfoolery this weekend. Paul F. Tompkins joins Keith to explain how all of this drunk driving business could have been avoided if Lohan hadn't parted ways with Herbie the Lovebug.
Some of what we're working of for tonight... leaked word to the N.Y. Times over the weekend of Iraqi militants leaving that country to carry out attacks elsewhere.
PEACE OUT Cindy Sheehan used this Memorial Day to announce that giving up her role as the face of the nation’s anti-war movement. 21-months after her son Casey was killed in Iraq, Ms. Sheehan posted in a resignation letter on Daily Kos that she has had enough with being smeared and ridiculed, and that she is calling it quits. Can you blame her? Quoting Ms. Sheehan:“I am going to take whatever I have left and go home. I am going to go home and be a mother to my surviving children and try to regain some of what I have lost.”
CONTINUED >>
Signing of the Times : This weekend President Bush will mark his sixth Memorial Day as a wartime president. This nation, to mark the more than 34-hundred Americans that have been killed for his war in Iraq. And any talk of supporting the 162,000 troops still serving in Iraq -- by bringing them home -- is on indefinite hold with tonight's signing of the war funding bill by President Bush. The Intelligence : So much for his having credibility because he "reads the intelligence". A newly-released report : almost everything that happened in Iraq after we invaded -- the insurgency, the economic chaos, the rise of Al Qaeda -- was predicted by the CIA before the war...and the President knew it.ODDBALL : a shocking theft, committed by an elderly woman on a motorized scooter -- caught on tape! ... Plus, when stage diving goes bad and the newest coolest gadget of the week."A Mighty Heart" : Countdown brings you NBC's Ann Curry's exclusive interview with Angelina Jolie, who is playing the role of Marianne Pearl, the widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl.Out with a Bang: live shows even after they've announced they're leaving. Rosie O'Donnell's tenure on "The View" comes to an end, three weeks early. WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : Senator John McCain has missed more votes than anyone other than Tim Johnson, who is recovering from a brain hemmorage... Fred Thompson is the possible new face in the '08 campaign, too bad he's using the same old fear tactics as everyone else... and former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith did not just use bad intel in the march to war with Iraq, he's now accused of simply making some of it up.One Shining Moment
: Is our long National nightmare over? Not yet. It's time for the season recap of American Idol, Our retrospective on the finest that this season of Idol had to offer. It's a very short retrospective.
READ THE REPORTS FOR YOURSELF HERE
This should probably come as no shock to anyone, (with the possible exception of the use of the word "Newshole" ), but is it any wonder that Fox Noise viewers seem less informed about the reality on the ground in Iraq?.
Some of what we're working on for tonight... National Security Presidential Directive NSPD 51 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive HSPD-20 that Mr. Bush signed in secret on May 9.
CONTINUED >>
We must have missed Part I of this contest, but we have to say Hillary Clinton and her peeps seem to get the whole YouTube thing a little better than the rest...Senator Dodd, have you been arrested? Are you being held hostage somewhere, forced to do this video against your will? Hint: Get a plant or something. Congressman Tancredo, kudos for trying to mix it up a bit. But could you stop the car please ? We'll hitch a ride with someone less obsessed with illegal immigrants. John Edwards, getting a big star was a good call. Might have picked one without a Hugo Chavez issue at the moment, but hey... Senator Joe Biden wins for sheer volume : 83 videos and counting! This one's 13 minutes long . Not bad, but think about editing it down a tad for the average YouTuber's shorter attention-span. And maybe show a kid getting hurt on a skateboard or something. Oh, we take that back -- Mitt Romney's got 144. Of course, the whole point of YouTube video is to actually have video , but when you're this good looking, we guess it's ok to go with still photos over lousy audio about radical Islam. Mister Giuliani, the whole "they hate us for our freedom " thing is actually pretty much univerally mocked on the internets. Highlighting it as a campaign position will get you that one-star rating everytime. Ron Paul, we sorta hoped the big "internet candidate" would have more than one lone YouTube videothat guy who teaches you how to use your computer. Update: Ok, we missed Ron Paul's current crop of video, including a nice one called "Educating Rudy". Mister Kucinich? Mister Kucinich? Can I go to the bathroom? (Please don't let our good natured ribbing prevent you from actually hearing today's lesson . There should be a test on this stuff.) Finally, Mike Gravel teaches us about the "fair tax". Nothing terribly wrong with his video , except that we keep expecting him to offer us a hard candy from the dish next to the sofa.
Press Conference Bird Bombed : Mister Bush, crapped upon both literally and figuratively in the Rose Garden this morning. First by an hour of hard questions, second by the bird that pooped on his suit. But the message of the day: If the people of this country, through their votes, tell President Bush to get us out of Iraq, they are ignored. If the Democratic representatives of this country, through their legislation, tell President Bush to get us out of Iraq, they are ignored. But, if his remarks at a news conference today are to be believed -- always a dicey proposition with him -- if members of the Iraqi Government tell President Bush to get us out of Iraq -- we're out. Credibility : One minute we're safer -- the next they're coming to get us. The president says Congress is stretching out the Gonzales investigation -- yet it's his White House that's stonewalling. He was asked today if he has any credibility left -- and it wasn't much of an answer. John Dean joins us.ODDBALL : The wild scrable up a 50 tower of Hong Kong buns and the little toddler who ruined the artwork of Tibetan Monks in a Kansas City train station.Gonzo & Monica : First he told Congress that the meeting with Monica Goodling never took place. Now he's said it did but it wasn't how she described it. That'd be... lying to Congress... right? Fortunately they have Alberto Gonzales's successor ready.Mom is 60:
Science and Life. A 60-year-old woman giving birth to twins. The new mother defends her position... a move even her own daughter doesn't support. WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : The police officer who demonstrated his Taser on a willing participant's...special place -- the package store with a drive-thru window that also sells cups of ice for the ride home -- and the Pentaton needs Arabic language experts in the worst way... but not if they're gay. Can't have that.Bury the Idol
: It's over, it's finally over. After a two-hour spectacular, full of song, self-congratulation and kitsch, the latest winner was finally anointed. Princess Maria is here too tell us how many albums what's-her-name is going to sell.
Some of what we're working on for tonight... President Bush's press conference today, we'll try to sort through the spin and bring something to you later in the day (like around 8pm...on the air).children .strengthen sanctions on Iran after new report showed Tehran
is accelerating its uranium enrichment program.
CONTINUED >>
Full Transcript
Fear We Go Again : The President has a secret. He claims Osama Bin Laden was setting up a terror cell in Iraq, from which to strike America. Of course this was in 2005, two years after Mr. Bush kindly opened up Iraq so terrorists could go there. Plus, the Democrats reeling after their Congressional leadership gives away the Iraq store to the President. What do the actual anti-war Democrats do now? And why did Senator Clinton remain silent today?Enter Monica : Accusations of inaccuracy and a lack of candor in sworn testimony. Admissions of inappropriate political litmus tests for prosecutors, and an unusual qualification to be White House liaison for the Department of Justice... she was class president. Monica Goodling goes to the Hill.ODDBALL : An orangutan rampage in Taiwan and the world's oldest wrestler in India, it's a crazy video edition of Oddball tonight.Operation Provocation : With all the real war in the mid-east, today war games were added. U.S. policy-makers again struggling to confront and understand yet another mid-east adversary, and one that really does have nuclear material. A show of force off the coast of Iran.Feud With A View: Rosie O'Donnell and Elizabeth Hasselbeck
finally slug it out live on The View, providing five minutes of the most uncomfortable television in broadcasting history.WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : A convicted murderer gives a shout-out to his favorite football team -- as his last words before execution... the baseball player who threatened his wife by text-messaging a phyoto of his handgun... and the State of Virginia, which welcomes the grandson of the Vice President of the United States into the world with a big stop sign.A Special Comment : The Democrats' Neville Chamberlain Moment, the President's political triumph on the backs of the service men and women in Iraq, and the political earthquake most of the politicians can't even hear, because they are too busy congratulating themselves... too loudly. VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT
Keith Olbermann will deliver a Special Comment tonight on the "compromise" struck between the Democratic leadership and the White House over the latest troop funding bill... "The Democratic leadership has, in sum, claimed a compromise with the Administration, in which the only things truly compromised are the trust of the voters, the ethics of the Democrats, and the lives of our brave, and doomed, friends, and family, in Iraq. You, the men and women elected with the simplest of directions - Stop The War - have traded your strength, your bargaining position, and the uniform support of those who elected you… for a handful of magic beans." Countdown tonight, 8pm ET/5pm PT VIDEO/TRANSCRIPT
Some of what we're working on for tonight...
WATCH THE LIVE VIDEO HERE . That said, exactly how willing the former Justice Department aide is going to be to turn on her colleagues remains to be seen, immunity or no. Countdown is perhaps most curious to see if she'll be wearing that same Ralph Lauren polo t-shirt she had on in the only photograph we've had of her, until now.
CONTINUED >>
Compromise & Second Surge : Iraq Funding Compromise. The Democrats get benchmarks...The President gets the right to waive the benchmarks. What the hell kind of benchmarks are they if the President can just waive them? Plus, In the interim, the Pentagon to reportedly overlap troops exiting Iraq, and troops reaching Iraq to create a kind of "second surge."George Bush's Monica : A Congressional committee threatens to subpoena Karl Rove, the Justice Department dumps more documents -- but some are repeats...and on deck, for testimony tomorrow: Monica Goodling.ODDBALL : The second best sporting event at Pimlico race track over the weekend, and the little cat at Shea Stadium who thought he had a great hiding place.Meet the Bickersons : Is anything actually wrong with a Senator swearing, in private, at another Senator? Is it another matter though, if the same Senator suggests another presidential candidate should threaten Guatamalans with a Varmint Gun? The road to the White House is beginning to look like a Mad Max movie.Child Attacked by Pit Bulls: WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : The jewel thief who leaves behind his resume, Bill O'Reilly admits to being an extremist right-wing "talk show nut", and the pressure is beginning to get to Shock Jock Rush Limbaugh.First Church of Paris
: Paris Hilton lays it on thick, being photographed with a Holy Bible and "The Power of Now" under her arm as she prepares for her stay in the Big House. Jeffrey Ross is here to... analyze.
A couple of things we're looking at for tonight... willing to cave on submitting an Iraq spending bill without any benchmarks or timetables. Bloomberg news , saying "I hope the moment doesn't come that I feel so separated from the caucus"
that he decides to shift allegiance to the Republicans. CONTINUED >>
Monica Novotny is in for Keith tonight... Worst in History ? Former President Jimmy Carter lashes out at the Bush Administration, calling Bush's foreign policy "the worst in history". The White House fires back, calling Carter "irrelevant", and now the Georgia Democrat says his comments were careless, while the current President shrugs them off. But was Carter right? That discussion won't be taking place. No Full Confidence: The Senate might have a vote of no-confidence on the Attorney General. The House might do the same thing. The Texas Bar Association looking into possible punishments for Alberto Gonzales. The President... not fazed in the slightest... He's doing Tammy Wynette real proud.ODDBALL : Stunts in fire and water, animals run amok and the most dangerous idea in the history of television!The Page Six Deep Six : As Rupert Murdoch moves to try to buy the Wall Street Journal... damaging headlines on exactly how he does business as a so-called "news" man. You're Fired / I Quit:
It's official, according to "The Donald", after six seasons of "The Apprentice"... he's done. He told T-V Guide that N-B-C wanted to do another one "but I just don't have the time." Which is interesting, considering that "The Apprentice" was nowhere to be seen on NBC's fall schedule. Broken Idol News : On the eve of the finale... will the ratings slide continue and is there anything Idol can do to top last year's final results show? All that... and Paula breaks her nose. The Princess is here.
Some of what we're working on for tonight... hard proof as to why Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee wanted to delay Phase II of its report on pre-war intelligence, shall we say, indefinitely. As part of that report, we are now learning that "Two intelligence assessments from January 2003 predicted that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and subsequent U.S. occupation of Iraq could lead to internal violence and provide a boost to Islamic extremists and terrorists in the region."CONTINUED >>
King Cheney It was thirty years ago tomorrow that Richard Nixon, the disgraced former president, appeared on television and told interviewer David Frost, quote, "When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal. Tonight, in the fifth story on our Countdown... Nixon's former intern... Vice President Dick Cheney... has provided the nation with this administration's equivalent of that claim... his lawyer telling a judge Mr. Cheney can not be held legally responsible for anything that he says, true or false and, furthermore, that Cheney, because he holds the vice presidency... an office meant to serve the people... has absolute immunity against any lawsuit brought by any of the people. Under Armored The quest to give our troops the best protection possible. As Congress and the White House negotiate over war funds... Lisa Myers investigates whether we're using the best body armor possible. ODDBALL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrCqPaSm8TA This does not absolve you from completing your civic duty and actually watching the show. Carry on.Feeling the Heat : While lately having confirmed the existence of the problem...The Bush administration is again emphasizing it will not support any limits, targets or plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming. Polls show a majority of democrats, independents, even republicans, consider global warming a crisis and favor immediate action, due in no small part to the efforts of Al Gore and his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," a phenomonon that's pushed the issue to center stage. Our third story on the Countdown, is this the climate Al Gore needs, to recycle himself back into politics in 2008? As the Wheel Turns: Just when you thought the world of fast paced bike racing couldn't get any more interesting...Greg Le Mond, Floyd Landis and Floyd Landis' manager take it to a whole new level. They Invented a three man bicycle!! Actually, it's something far more disturbing. WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
"D.C. Idol"
Gonzo's No Confidence Vote, Wolfowitz Hits the Bricks You heard it here first: Alberto Gonzales could quite possibly be the next president of the World Bank. Hey, in this administration, it could happen. Our fifth story on the Countdown: As one Bush administration scandal reaches a conclusion another still on its ascent to a boiling point. NBC News learning tonight that an agreement for Paul Wolfowitz to resign from the World Bank has been reached, just as Senate Democrats reach concensus to seek a no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. .5% Too Much Congress wants to give our fighting men and women a three-and-a-half percent pay raise. But the White House says... that's too much. We'll examine if this administration really supports our military. ODDBALL Air Traffic Poison Our third story on the Countdown is the kind of thing that, if you aren't already slightly afraid of flying, will make you slightly afraid of it. Air Traffic controllers the very people responsible for keeping your plane safely in the air and safely back to earth possibly poisoned by a deadly gas while trying to do their jobs. And then told, through their dizziness, to keep doing their jobs.
Back to the Grassy Knoll: Lone gunman or multiple shooters. In our number two story on the Countdown: the debate has flared up again... this time predicated on the idea that forensic science gets better with every passing decade, and the last word of 1977, may only be the preamble of 2007. WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD Melanie Morgan, sister of Pat, Bay Buchanan, and Comedian Rush Limbaugh duking it out for the top honor tonight. Doolittle Downer
With George Bush & Tony Blair sharing a
final walk through the Rose Garden this afternoon, we thought it might be nice to reminisce a bit with this oldie but goodie...
The Washington Post is once again assisting the memory-challenged Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, by
uncovering that the Justice Department had designs on firing far more U.S. Attorneys than Gonzo could apparently recall during testimony.
Justice Weighed Firing 1 in 4 The Justice Department considered dismissing many more U.S. attorneys than officials have previously acknowledged, with at least 26 prosecutors suggested for termination between February 2005 and December 2006, according to sources familiar with documents withheld from the public.
Senate Vote on the War, Does the Czar Get a Vote?: It's the Senate version of Goldilocks and the three bears. Our fifth story on the Countdown: the Senate, today defeating a Democrat Amendment that in terms of ending the war was deemed to be too hot, then defeating a Republican Bill, that was deemed to be too cold. No clue when the guy with the room temperature porridge shows up... But the President has been able to find a so-called "War Czar" who -- it turns out -- was against the escalation of U-S troops in Iraq. Gonzo & The Wolf : A top Republican Senator calls on the Attorney General to resign...Four Democratic Senators say yesterday's story of the trip to John Ashcroft's hospital bed may mean Mr. Gonzales **lied** to the Senate. And you can fire me, but only if first you say I've done nothing to deserve getting fired. Wolfowitz and the World Bank -- Continued.
ODDBALL : The ancient English tradition od political checks and balances puts emphasis on the 'balances', and the driver-less mini-van is finally here, driving itself in circles around a German parking lot. Whoo hoo. GOP Deal or No Deal : Hip waders and flip-flops handed out in South Carolina for last night's second in the nation GOP debate. Who served up the baloney and who got called out for chameleon-like behavior? A full disection of last night's GOP Debate as the contestants/candidates, threw down on what looked like a gameshow stage.
No Place for a Prince: His very namesake is one of the most famous soldiers in British royal history. Henry the Fifth, the boy King, who led the English to victory against the French in Agincourt in 1415. And in doing so, was immortalized by Shakespeare as a great patriot and mighty warrior, rallying his troops to charge into the breach once more with the exhortation "'Cry God for Harry, England and St. George". But in our number two story on the Countdown: that all works less well in 2007 than it did in 1415, where, among other things, you needed members of the royal family to leed the fight because you couldn't trust any other general to not turn the troops around and shoot at the royal family. The current Prince Harry is not going to Iraq after all.
WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : Little "Bubba" from Illinois has a gun permit -- even though he's only 10 months old...a man in Minnesota is upset that he can't get a gun permit -- just because he's blind ...and a Republican Congressman from Virginia whose aide has been indicted says he's the target of a political smear campaign , by a fellow Republican.
American I-Dull : The one-time hit TV show has apparently lacked some of its previous punch in recent weeks. If the ratings are any indication, it appears that American Idol may pulled an Arthur Fonzarelli and waterskiied over some killer fish. Our American Idol Princess Maria Milito discusses.
Washington Post today sums up the testimony of James Comey on Tuesday, and the amazing story of Gonzales and Andrew Card's trip to the bedside of John AshcroftJAMES B. COMEY, the straight-as-an-arrow former No. 2 official at the
Justice Department, yesterday offered the Senate Judiciary Committee an
account of Bush administration lawlessness so shocking it would have
been unbelievable coming from a less reputable source. If you haven't read the accounts of Comey's testimony - David Shuster's report on Hardball is a MUST SEE .CLICK HERE TO WATCH IT NOW .
No, not from Iraq , you silly goose! From the World Bank! ABC is reporting Paul Wolfowitz will resign this afternoon from the organization, quoting bank officials saying they're finalizing an 'exit strategy' allowing Wolfowitz to leave today and 'still save some face'. Wolfowitz' attorney says that reports of his
resignation are "premature," but it does appear he is negotiating an exit from the World Bank. NBC can report the two sides are involved in what appear
to be final conference calls on language of a likely resignation - so
all of this is changing rapidly. "Mr. Wolfowitz will not resign under this cloud - and he is awaiting the decision of the full board which has heard from him last night and seen all the evidence. If the full board does not clear his name and exonerate him - he will not resign." So Wolfie's position is: fire me, but I won't quit until you say I did nothing wrong.CONTINUED >>
"Thrown Under the Bus" : The etymology is unclear, but the phrase is politically apt, especially tonight. We're checking for tire treads on the just resigned Deputy Attorney General, Paul McNulty, after he got rolled under the wheels by his erstwhile boss Alberto Gonzales. The White House today indicating it might be willing to give Paul Wolfowitz a glimpse of the pavement and the oncoming vehicle. Mr. Wolfowitz himself has evidently given his girlfriend at the World Bank the up-close view of the underside of the old Greyhound.Jerry Falwell 1933-2007 : The death of Jerry Falwell, the Reverend who brought the Religious Right into prominence in the Republican Party.ODDBALL : The Countdown Bear Chase of the Week, the Rosie Ruiz of dog track racing and the Chinese manage to make the sport of soccer even more boring - through technology.What Oversight? : The one word that might sum up the Bush Administration is "relentless." Though a lot of the wheels have fallen off with deafening retorts and booming salvos, only these guys would have thought to take a federally mandated, presidentially appointed board of watchdogs designed to protect the muzzling of Civil Liberties... and try to muzzle their report hinting at the deterioration of Civil Liberties.Assault & Cowardice: WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : Glenn Beck sees a vast left-wing conspiracy in the spate of recent radio firings and suspensions... a guy in Arkansas makes a quick 15 bucks - selling his neighbor's dog at his tag sale... and Dr. Laura tells the wives of U.S. soldiers to stop "whining."D.C. Idol : It's a battle of the bands--- Washington style. Tony Snow on the jazz flute versus Bob Schieffer singing country. We here at Countdown have come to expect more from our politicians when they take the stage. Hence we've decided to hold the first ever competition of D-C Idol. We've picked five of the best political musical performers in modern memory. All you have to do is vote for your favorite .
Some of what we're working on for tonight... Today Paul Wolfowitz finds out whether he gets to keep
his job at the World Bank. In a final bid of
unchivalrous, legal maneuvering, Mr. Wolfowitz is now
blaming his girlfriend for the series of events that
led to his having given her a raise and a promotion at
the bank. Mr. Wolfowitz now claiming that he was
forced to oversee his longtime companion's transfer to
a different job at the bank, because the ethics panel
was afraid to confront her, seeing as its members knew
she was "extremely angry and upset." Women:
"Its members did not want to deal with a very angry
Ms. Riza, whose career was being damaged as a result
of their decision," Wolfowitz said in his response to
the investigating committee's report. "It would only
be human nature for them to want to steer clear of
her."
the Guardian , where it is testified that an angry Wolfowitz threatened retaliations if his indiscretions came to light. Wolfowitz was quoted by one witness: "If they f--- with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to f--- them too!"CONTINUED >>
It's apparently quite difficult to find small family farmers to use as "death tax" campaign props, when small family farmers aren't really effected by the "death tax" in the first place. 'The
Official Newspaper of Anamosa, located in Jones County, Iowa' tells the story of Deb and Jerry VonSprecken, who were invited by the Giuliani campaign to host a rally at their small, 80-acre farm. “Tony (Delgado, Guiliani campaign worker) said, ‘I’m sorry, you aren’t worth a million dollars and he is
campaigning on the Death Tax right now.’ then he said they weren’t
going to be able to come,” Deb VonSprecken said.
“I invited him into my home,” Deb said of Giuliani, fighting back tears.CONTINUED >>
Breaking Gonzales-Gate News : For the fourth time in three months, a central figure in the U-S attorneys scandal is resigning. And for the fourth time in three months, it is not Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. It is instead, the highest-ranking figure to go so far in this scandal, Gonzales's number-two man at the Department of Justice, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty.Iraq'ing the Boat : The Vice President rattles the sabres against Iran, at the same time the Secretary of State tries to convince them to open up dialogue. Dick Cheney also decides - four years into the war - he's not sure how things will end in Iraq.ODDBALL : Running a marathon is tough enough without dressing in a wacky costume with your facial pores painted shut, and the most hilarious group of Indian cops you ever did see.Eyes on '08 : Hillary Clinton, pulls out perhaps her biggest gun - her husband, the former president, using YouTube to sell her candidacy, and the ten-deep GOP presidential field, may be about to get even deeper.L Ron Hubbub:
They claim he had an agenda. He claims they were trying to brainwash him... just another day in Scientology-land. A BBC reporter filming a documentary on the Church of Scientology starts screaming at one of its spokesmen. The whole thing caught on not one, but two cameras - the BBC's and the Church's. WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : The elementary school faculty that decided it would be a good idea to stage a fake gun attack on the students, Ann Coulter pulls some mighty big strings to get out of her Florida legal trouble... and Bill O'Reilly is back with his own brand of thug-journalism.Dear Paris : As Paris Hilton gets ready to spend some quantity time in the pokey - she's getting unsolicited advice from unlikely sources... enter, Patty Hearst.
The photos are back from the developers and we've got a couple to share from both Dick Cheney's and George Bush's trips last week.this : Vice President Dick Cheney gestures during a meeting with Egyptian Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Sunday, May 13, 2007, at the Presidential Palace in Cairo. White House photo by David Bohrer this :President George W. Bush stands with an actor in period garb Sunday during a tour of the Jamestown Settlement, in Jamestown, Va. The President and Mrs. Bush joined the celebration honoring the 400th anniversary of the settlement, receiving lessons in sail making and visiting the archaeological dig. White House photo by Eric DraperCONTINUED >>
Alison Stewart is in for Keith tonight.. Choice Politics : Allegations of flipping -- not to mention charges of flopping -- may have hurt Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 race for president, but so far in the 2008 campaign at least two Republican candidates would seem to be the ones spending the most time doing front somersaults in the Pike position. Emails are Forever : A lavish vacation, thousands of dollars changing hands, and someone was dumb enough to put the details in an email. All part of the corruption allegations swirling around Nevada's governor. The FBI is now on the case, and so is NBC's Lisa Myersw ith exclusive details.ODDBALL : A cat with braces, two dorks with sunglasses, and a Russian river goes green, literally. Chubby on the Inside : Do you count yourself lucky when you see the fat file footage on TV and think... 'thank god that's not me'? Well, a new study is turning the weightloss debate on its head. No gut, no love handles... guess what... you can still be fat on the inside! Great.The Flying Imams Sue: passengers .
Over Exposed : What do Britney Spears, Donald Trump and Sanjaya possibly have in common? Aside from making you want to run screaming into traffic. According to Forbes, they've all worn out their welcome with John Q Public. Micahel Q. Musto is here.
have second thoughts. Mr.
Cheney today used the hangar bay of the U.S.S. Stennis - stationed just 150
miles off the coast of Iran - to warn that country that the U.S. is prepared to
strike.
from TVNewser TVNewser said the graphic only appeared on screen for 12 seconds before it was taken off, too late to stop the parades, unfortunately.
Some of what we're working on for tonight... confronted two of
the attendees yesterday . This is definitely not what his permanent
Republican majority was supposed to look like:
"Sources said that Dan Meyer, Bush's liaison to the House, confronted LaHood
while White House political strategist Karl Rove rebuked Kirk. It is unclear
if LaHood or Kirk were the originial sources for the stories, but LaHood was
quoted in one of the articles.CONTINUED >>
In LA Times Op-Ed, O'Reilly Producer Misrepresented Indiana University Study to Defend Host explanation of IU's methodology. There's going to be a test next week.
Benchmarks Press : There are, justifiably, suspicions that we know about the visit of "The Gang Of Eleven" to the White House, because the visit was more about making those eleven Republican Congressmen look good, than actually doing anything about the war in Iraq. But at minimum, it does look like one of the Bubble Boy's Bubbles... has burst. But at least one of the messages from the group led by Pennsylvania representative Charlie Dent appears to have gotten through, that the Commander in Chief no longer has any credibility, and that any word about the war and/or its purported progress would need to come only from General David Petraeus.Major General John Batiste (ret) : The General's first television interview since participating in a scathing campaign ad against President Bush and his handling of the war in Iraq. CBS has since removed Batiste from its payroll. The general's reaction to that, and the war news.ODDBALL : It's "Oddball's Scariest Parents", Episode II Don't Recall This Time Either : Alberto Gonzales returns to Capitol Hill with very few answers in tow. Meanwhile, senior officials in Washington say the attorney general is deliberately avoiding telling the truth. Before Congress today, was he dumb, or just playing dumb?Terror Mouse: WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : The NewsHour has some crazy idea that Melanie Morgan is someone who can speak credibly about the war in Iraq...Don't go digging in the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, you might accidentally find some deadly chemical weapons... and "Three Dollar" Bill O'Reilly has announced an end to the least successful boycott in the history of boycotts.Animated Politcs
: The politics of fear, 'Family Guy' style. The voice of Lois, and writer of this week's remarkable episode, Alex Borstein joins us for a sneak peak of the 'Family Guy', featuring a cameo performance by Keith Olbermann.
Yesterday we told you about the advertisements cut by retired Major Generals John Batiste and Paul Eaton, criticizing President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. Countdown tonight, 8pm ET / 5pm PT CONTINUED >>
our fault that photo reminds us so much of this guy ?CONTINUED >>
If you're not watching the Alberto Gonzales testimony on the hill , you're missing some good stuff. MSNBC.com is streaming live video, so be sure to check out the afternoon session...Talk about denial . TPM Muckraker point out , he answered another query with "I think I may be aware of that." Meanwhile, the number of fired prosecutors is now up to nine , for those of us keeping count.
test(the blog team was supposed to delete this post, but we forgot - and now the comments sorta make us laugh so, we're stickin' with it!)
Crumbling Support : As Dick Cheney glad-hands the Iraqi government and tries to spin "progress" once again, and while Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, fresh back from Iraq - proposes a new plan for withdrawal, we find out about an extraordinary meeting at the White House . Not necessarily Hugh Scott and Barry Goldwater taking their tough love to Richard Nixon... but the possible watershed so many have awaited. Eleven congressional Republicans - telling the President in almost unprecedented openness - that they are about to lose their districts - and that he has no credibility on Iraq.Gonzo, Take 2 : Things have gone from bad to worse for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales since he last appeared before Congress. He's back tomorrow, and his prepared statement is a virtual carbon copy of the last car wreck . Compare and contrast for yourself. Storm Season : President Bush tours the tornado ravaged town of Greensburg, Kansas. The governor there critical of lack of resources because of the Iraq War... how did she handle the dispute today with the Commander-In-Chief present? And the start of summer...cue the return of the wildfires. Hundreds fleeing their homes from coast to coast.R2 Me Too: into robots, but on to robots.
WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : Dick Morriss sees a vast leftwing conspiarcy at work in the MSNBC debate coverage... the Washington Times is now serving as Bill O'Reilly's personal echo chamber... and another nominee for a government post with skeletons in the closet.The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
: Who knew? Sanjaya is voted off and suddenly the American Idol finalists are... worse than he was? And still headed to Broadway? Mo Rocca, himself a star of the stage, joins us.
"What's your hidden talent?"
Hillary Clinton gets the NYT for the crossword puzzles, Sam Brownback is an amateur auctioneer, John Edwards puts the biscuit in the basket and the biggest talent shocker: Duncan Hunter is really good at making scabbards out of leather.
To see the master list of what each candidate does when their not kissing babies, and to find out what the hell a scabbard is, click on through.
CONTINUED >>
Bill Richardson's campaign is floating a couple of ads trying to some get "viewer feedback." Or maybe they're just saying that so we'll all watch them. Beh, whatever. We're suckers for anything mildly amusing or different.
AAN ) announced today that MSNBC news anchor Keith Olbermann is the winner of its first annual Molly Ivins Award. Olbermann's achievement will be recognized in a ceremony to be held this afternoon in New York City.CONTINUED >>
Some of what we're working on for tonight... Retired Major Generals John Batiste and Paul Eaton are appearing in new
television commercials critical of President George W. Bush’s handling
of the war . The ads, to begin airing Wednesday, take aim at key
Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate.The commercials are timed to coincide with congressional debate over the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
The Politics of War : One part has the echo of a layaway plan at a furniture store or a financing offer from a car dealership: "Half now, half later." The other part sounds like the warning from a repo-man: pony up, or we'll see you in September. Neither seems particularly appropriate, to the life-and-death issue of stopping the war. Our fifth story on the Countdown: House democrats are now offering the President fifty percent of his requested funding for the Iraq war now -- and the rest when he proves whether his strategy is actually working or not. Congressional Republicans, meantime, again implying even their patience could be at an end, before summer is. Wolfowitz at the Door : Paul Wolfowitz uses his position at the World Bank to get his girlfriend a big raise. Now he's digging in his heels and won't go, and the White House won't make him go. And now the World Bank may be pulling our country's power to pick the head of the World Bank because President Bush is standing by yet another friend.ODDBALL : Sheep racing for fun and gambling... and Two hearts, eight stomachs: the wonderful wedding of two cows in India.Champagne Supernova : A distant star blows up... blows up real good. A hundred times more powerful than your typical supernova, and frought with meaning for life in outer space. Mr. Science, Derrick Pitts, of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, joins us to track the kaboom, and the astronomers' insomnia.Shaming Shoplifters: WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : Why do the same people who have no problem sending "terror suspects" to Gitmo believe they should still be able to buy a gun? ... The Congressman who quoted a former Grand Wizard of the KKK on the floor of the House of Representatives... and Dick Morris has a previously unhead of - for a reason - rationale for keeping troops in harm's way: It's the "better them than us" doctrine.I Beg Your Pardon? The push to pardon Paris Hilton...Practical, pathetic? And who would have to pardon her? The governator! Michael Musto is back, for a special 'Heirs Behind Beirs' edition.
Paris Business Review ").
Now, because the country recently elected a pro-American government, O'Reilly has decided France has suffered enough and has magnamimously lifted his boycott .
Funny thing though.... CONTINUED >>
Disaster Waiting to Happen : Since Katrina the President had been warned, the administration had been screamed at...and now it's happening in Kansas. Twelve percent of the Kansas National Guard is still in Iraq... tours, newly extended. Thus after the urgent recovery missue in the tornado devastated town of Greensburg, Kansas, one more emergency, and Kansas will not be able to handle it. Also, the hauling away of the debris that is Iraq might be done by the Republicans. House Minority Leader Boehner says if the surge still hasn't worked by September: "What's Plan B?"Electile D ysfunction : It was at first a disturbing story about political servitude violating the sanctity of the offices of federal prosecutors. Then it was a story about employees in those offices being hired only if they were political adherents, something that rang of the old Soviet Politburo. But the Alberto Gonzales/U.S. Attorney Firings scandal has now re-shaped itself, like some governmental Andromeda Strain, into what looks like an attempt to deprive Democrats of the right to vote.ODDBALL : The new generation of "smash&grab" robberies doesn't work if your vehicle gets stuck on the booty itself, plus Tony Blair uses YouTube to send a message to the new French President, and it has nothing to do with a cat playing the piano.Return of the Rocket : Is Roger Clemens impersonating an $18 million a year pitcher? Returning to the Yankees sure was dramatic, but was it worth it for a 44 year-old pitcher who last year won 7 games and lost six?The Simple Mind: WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : The doctor who told man he had a year to live, then took it back -- after the man had spent the year blowing his life savings... Lou Dobbs sticks to his story, even when it is totally wrong and he's told about it... and Bill O'Reilly is scared to death of George Soros, or at least he wants you to be. The Queen who Came to Dinner
: A formal dinner with the Queen of England. Hide the pretzels. He already had a day-time faux pas...can the President make it through tonight's State Dinner with Queen Elizabeth without any more?
Hello again -- it's been an extremely busy day for the blog team, so apologies all aroung for not being there for you. But we're back, and bearing gifts:It apprears that Mister Sticky Bear is 'at your service '. It does make you wonder just how this product got out of development without someone saying, "Um, Phil? Could you take a look at this for a minute?" Then again, maybe there's something wrong with us for thinking that looks like anything other than an extremely happy little bear.
The War of Words : 1,666 days after President Bush got official authorization from Congress to go to war in Iraq, he could lose it. Hillary Clinton's push to cancel that authority, the latest salvo from congressional democrats in an effort to end the war without cutting off funding for the troops. Plus, a look back at the winners and losers, 24 hours after the first GOP debate.Rove's Cover Story : The firing of U.S. attorneys. Was the operation run from the Justice department... or the White House? New reports today that put Karl Rove at the center of damage control efforts, but some allege he may also have been trying to mislead Congress.ODDBALL : It's an Oddball Circus of the Weird, including an amazing high-wire act, cool moped stunts and a tiny little catapult hurling tiny little pies at tiny little bugs.LAPD Under Fire : The city of Los Angeles, wrestling with the fallout and the questions raised by Tuesday's violent dispersal of pro-immigration demonstrations by the Los Angeles Police Department. That clash now elevated to the status of a federal case, and even an international incident.The Simple Mind: Breaking tabloid Paris Hilton news... she's going to jail for 45 days for driving under the influence, and with a suspended license. In the court she tried to blame her publicist . WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : The politician who slept over at an intern's house because he was too drunk to drive (taxi anyone?)... the Veterans Affairs Department may have had a billion dollar shortfall, but that didn't stop the guys at the top from getting huge bonuses... and the English department store managers who found the worst way to lay-off the entire staff...ever.The Plays of the Month : The very best and the very worst of the very strange and the slightly funny Oddballs of the month of March. Yay!
Crooks&Liars has done our job for us, isolating the video clip of the show of hands to the question "Who here does not believe in evolution?"They must not be Guinness drinkers either. CONTINUED >>
Click for LIVE VIDEO
Live from Simi Valley, California, it's the longest named event in MSNBC history:
"The MSNBC, Politico.com, Reagan Library GOP Presidential Candidates Debate"
Let's get it on!
live blogging and discussion ---> CONTINUED >>
No Countdown tonight at 8, but Keith Olbermann will be hosting a Countdown to the Debate, beginning at 6:57pm ET (long story, don't ask ) live from California.live-blogging thing again here in TheNewshole.
TheNewsHole takes no position on the Rudy Giuliani vesus the 'Ferret Guy' controvery , other than to say it is a completely strange piece of AUDIO and you really are missing out if you don't hear it. The clip seems to be provided by the rabid pro-ferret community (better them than the pro-rabid-ferret community, or the pro-rabbit community) and it is interrupted by commentary from a guy who actually sounds like a ferret, but even that can't ruin this classic.
Memo to politicians: You want to make bunch of friends on the internet? This would be a terrible way to do that.
Is MySpace always mine or can it belong to someone else? At the cost of losing 160,000 friends, Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign has taken over control of the MySpace page listed under his name on the popular social networking site.
For the past 2 1/2 years, the Obama MySpace page has been run by an Obama supporter from Los Angeles named Joe Anthony. At first, that arrangement was fine with the Obama team, which worked with Anthony on the content, promoted the link and even had the password to make changes.
But as the site exploded in popularity in recent months, the campaign became concerned about an outsider controlling the content and responses going out under Obama's name. It told Anthony it wanted him to turn it over.
Anthony tells his story on his own MySpace :
5.01.01 What happened to the Obama profile?
Friends,
Post Veto Politics : In the five years and nearly eight months since 9/11, the hinted, implied, nuanced, whispered link between Iraq and those who attacked us has been repeatedly and emphatically debunked by everyone and everything from the 9/11 Commission, to the former head of the C-I-A George Tenet. And today the President, sixteen hours after vetoing funding, and ending, the war there, not only raised that non-existant link anew, but framed it in language, as definitve and certain, as any used by anyone still harboring the delusion of a connection.
Prosecution Wrests : Not just politics any more, but potential crime. Monica Goodling being investigated on charges she broke federal law by hiring people based on their political ideology. And the Senate subpoenas Karl Rove's emails...not subpoenaing him ... but the people he sent them to.
ODDBALL : Cats and kittens and chickens living together, oh, it's so wacky... and one Indian inventors plan to harvest enery from giant metal speed bumps.Suits & Pants : Just when the Imus controversy was going away he sets it ablaze anew, preparing to sue CBS radio over breaking a clause in his contract that stiplulated he be given one warning before being fired for "off color humor". That, and the crazy $65 million lawsuit over a pair of pants ruined at the dry-cleaners.
May Day Mayhem: The police say they told a crowd of immigration activists to disperse, then charged them. The witnesses and the local Spanish and English reporters -- and the videotape -- say there was no warning, just the LAPD out of control. The police chief is investigating.
WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : "Three Dollar" Bill O'Reilly insults people at a rate of once every 7 seconds. And that's clocked? ... Is the Chase Bank using 9/11 imagry in its advertisements?... and Paul Harvey believes there are no civilian casualties in a time of war - the "women and children" are simply part of the enemy.
Idol Chatter: America's president shows up on American Idol, and Fox doesn't even give out a number so you can call and give a show of support. And another bizarre TV appearance for Paula Abdul you can't miss. The Princess Maria Milito is here.
who pops up on screen but "He Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken" himself.say "Olbermann", so he'll probably keep his job. Indiana University study reportedly concludes that Bill O'Reilly calls “a person or a group a derogatory name once every 6.8 seconds, on
average, or nearly nine times every minute during the editorials that
open his program each night.”Update: Cavuto screengrab courtesy of the people that hate us via ICN ...thought bubble created by TheNewsHole's trained MS-Paint technicians.
from TMZ.com
They both went to the same high school, played on the soccer team together, graduated together... and one might argue that each went on to (blank ) the country in his own way.
The man on the left is George Tenet, the man on the right... Ron Jeremy.
The Anniversary Veto : Four years after Mission Accomplished, it's blame-transmission, accomplished. The President vetoes spend-and-end, the troops don't get funding... and it's not his fault, of course. As the war slogs onward, Countdown takes a look at the evolution of the selling of the war, from "Mission Accomplished", to "Stay the Course", to... wherever the Hell we are now. Our special guest is Frank Rich of the New York Times.Beyond the Veto : After weeks of buildup the president has invoked his veto, turning down the war funding, for which he has been begging Congress. And now the focus seems to be on September. A report from the new General and expected defections from the old Republicans. Howard Fineman joins us. ODDBALL : It's always funny when it's Bed Race time, and the future of automotive travel on the planety Earth is here, and we have the video to prove it.Docu-Drama: Another tentacle reaches out from Gonzales-Gate, how Kyle Smapson and Monica Goodling wound up with hiring-and-firing power. Is this the memo that sinks Gonzales?
D.C. Prostitution 101 : The D-C sex scandal gets even weirder with news of performance memos and helpful tips. Monica Novotny is here with the do's and don'ts of the D.C. Madam.
WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD :Senator James Inhofe doesn't just have selective memory, he seems to just make stuff up as he goes along... Plus, Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck battle it out for the title of king of unfortunate Nazi comparisons.Macho Man : Four years and counting since the declaration of Mission Accomplished in Iraq. What was he going for here? Tom Cruise in "Top Gun"? Bill Pullman in "Independence Day"? George Bush in "No, Seriously, I'm a War President"? An anatomy of a Photo-Op with Rachael Maddow.
Update: Bush will Veto the Iraq funding bill today . from White House Counsel Dan Bartlett "We've been given assurances by Congress the Supplemental will arrive at the WH within the hour. Based on that, POTUS, upon return from Central Command, will veto the bill privately and will come out to make a STATEMENT at 6:10pm." The White House has requested time from the television and cable networks at 6:10 p.m.to address the nation on his veto.
"The whole idea of weapons of mass destruction was never the issue, yet they keep trying to bring this up... The media made that the issue because they knew Saddam Hussein had
used weapons of mass destruction. So we knew that they were there. But
that was incidental to the fact we were going after terrorist camps." Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) claiming last week that it was the media that invented the WMD rationale for war with Iraq.
Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) in August 2002, inventing the WMD rationale for war with Iraq.h/t: thinkprogress
