Countdown Tuesday: The Plot Thickens
Posted: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 8:05 PM by Countdown
Gonzo Gate:
What has looked like a flat-footed lie by the Attorney General to the Senate, was explained by the Administration -- until dinner-time tonight -- by its catch-all phrase, "sorry, it's classified." Our fifth story on the Countdown: suddenly, tonight, it isn't classified. In a ritual as old as the Bush Presidency itself, it has been declassified. This, after former judges and prosecutors... including former Justice Department staff... all of whom now serve in Congress... unveiled a resolution calling for the House to begin investigating the impeachment of Alberto Gonzales for abuses of the FISA surveillance laws, the "Thursday Night Massacre" of US attorneys, and for lying to Congress. But fortunately we have the explanation for that apparent lie. Fortunately and suddenly. And conveniently. The dispute concerns whether Mr. Gonzales lied when he repeatedly denied any internal disagreements about the government's warrantless, i-e, illegal, surveillance program. This morning, Tony Snow backed Mr. Gonzales-- with perhaps a subconscious caveat.
Investigating Stevens: Only in our Legislative Branch. Same day they pass new ethics rules the longest-serving Republican Senator ever is questioned, after the F-B-I raids his home. Going so far as to photograph his wine rack.
ODDBALL: A senior citizen flashes his rear, and a kid swallows his grill.
Murdoch is Jonesin': At some point, fear of Rupert Murdoch's reputation may overcome the lure of his money, but in our third story on the Countdown, not yet. Murdoch will now add to his media empire, a newspaper with the second-highest circulation in the United States. The deal is pretty much done: for Murdoch's News Corp. to buy Dow Jones and Company, publishers of the Wall Street Journal.
Strippers on the Links: If it is an epedemic of lawlessness and lewdness at least it's going to be an entertaining one. Our number two story on the Countdown: first the Poconos, now Metropolitan Philadelphia, rocked by a story of strippers on a golf course. I know, I know, why would you need anything besides golf to make a golf course interesting? And how many bad jokes could you make about a sport that includes the familiar terms: "hole in one," "you're hooking to the left," and of course "i had trouble with my putts all day"? From our NBC station in Philadelphia, WCAU, our correspondent is Harry Hairston.
WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Rudolph the former mayor, a woman who works for New York City's current mayor, and the Department of Homeland Security vie for tonight's top honors.
Sexy Time: To the top of the Countdown and our number one story tonight. Sex. Not how people get it, or how people have it...but why people do it. Apparently it's not just biology or chemistry, there are 237 other reasons too.
