Countdown Wednesday: Storm of Controversy
Posted: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 8:50 PM by Countdown
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Blogging the Countdown
Two Years Later: President Bush, who did not even mention Hurricane Katrina in his most recent State of the Union address this past January, today declaring in a visit to New Orleans that "better days are ahead" for that city. Given that independent studies reveal that only about a fifth of the money supposed to be spent on levees, has been spent (just a third of the money supposedly already spent on homes), it is notable the President did not say how many years or decades ahead those "better days" are.
More Money: He got $120 billion for Iraq on the promise that Iraq would fulfill political promises. It didn't. Now President Bush is back, with another reckoning. $50 billion, or else.
ODDBALL: La Tomatina time, and the fastest fan in the CFL.
"I am not Gay": Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig last night endured a fate politically worse than becoming a convict. He became a punch line. But while Senator Craig became a household name overnight, in the same time span, among his fellow Republicans, he became better known as "Senator Who From the What Now?"
Going to the Dog: On the anniversary of the Katrina disaster, let it be noted that the late Leona Helmsley once gave $5 million to hurricane relief and will end up giving billions more to charity. That pretty much sums up the good stuff. The woman who famously said "only the little people pay taxes," decided that a little dog gets the largest single bequest from her inheritance.
WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Glenn Beck squares off against the MSHA and Fidel Castro for top honors.
Dragnet: Larry Craig: When the magazine Roll Call broke the news Monday night that Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig had pleaded guilty two weeks ago to a misdemeanor, what captured the public, and political, attention, was not so much the charge of disorderly conduct itself. No, as the old saying goes, God is in the details. And the details are divine. We offer a dramatization, utilizing the actual, unaltered text of the Craig incident report. Embellished only with a Dragnet-style introduction and wrap-up.