Olbermann Vs. The Democrats

Some of you probably won’t believe that headline, but it’s accurate.  The man the right loves to chastise for his anti-Bush Administration stance on most issues is turning the tables tonight.  I, for one, am glad to see him show a bit of a bipartisan side.

Special Comment Tonight: Compromised

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…Here’s a preview…"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 [...]

Video to follow, when I can find some…

UPDATE:  Video and comments from two perspectives:

Thursday Open Thread Pro-Keith site with links to full text and vido

Countdown with Keith Olbermann – May 23, 2007 Our friends over at Olbermannwatch – where they don’t like Keith

Tags: Olbermann, Iraq War, War Funding, Countdown With Keith Olbermann

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The British Assessment

Ask them how the U.S. is doing in Iraq and they’ll tell you this:

US Surge Is Failing, Says UK’s Iraq Envoy

In a pessimistic assessment of the strategy designed to pull Iraq back from all-out civil war, Alastair Campbell, the outgoing defense attache of the British embassy in Baghdad, claimed that extra US forces were not achieving the desired drop in [...]

Tags: Defense Attache, Iraq War, U.S. Forces

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The Edwards Speech

AJ at AmericaBlog says it was impressive.  Why?

Edwards speech at CFR

The Edwards speech outlined proposals for the future of the military, both in terms of structure and use, and mentioned the foreign policy goals he feels are associated with such policies. I have long wondered exactly what kind of lessons prominent Democrats, especially Clinton and Edwards, took from the debacle in Iraq. I’m not alone in that curiosity, and today’s speech was tremendously encouraging. The speech was perhaps most notable for [...]

Tags: John Edwards

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Goodling’s Testimony

Nothing earthshaking.  Just more icing on the cake…

Monica Goofling: I’ts Not A Crime If You Don’t Mean It To Be

So the much anticipated testimony of former Justice Department flack Monica Goofling (The “GOP’s Monica” as HuffPo puts it) was revealing if for only she basically admitted she “crossed the line” with her behavior in Attorney-gate, but doesn’t think it was illegal because she didn’t “intend to commit a crime.” Get a load of this exchange [...]

Leahy says it was still important stuff, because:

Leahy: Goodling Testimony "Confirms Our Worst Fears"

Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) reacts to Goodling’s testimony today: “It is curious that yet another senior Justice Department official claims to have limited involvement in compiling the list that led to the firings of several well-performing federal prosecutors [....]

Tags: Goodling, DOJ, U.S. Attorneys

Tags: Leahy

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The Defections Begin

It’s looking like quite a few Democrats may vote against the Iraq War Funding Bill, because they’re upset that the party leadership agreed to remove all timetables from the plan.

Defections Now Likely on Iraq bill

Liberal Democrats who reluctantly have backed House leaders on the Iraq spending bill may defect due to the leadership’s decision to eliminate any timeline for withdrawal from the legislation. Funding the troops means more troops [...]

Tags: Iraq, War Funding

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Looking To The Future

There’s much yelling and shouting going on today (on both sides) about the War Funding Bill in Congress.  Over at The Left Coaster, Steve Soto has some well-modulated thoughts about what the future needs to hold…

Plan Now For The Fall Budget Battle Over Iraq

A day after the funding deal was reached, it is now time to figure out what to do next. There is a short term and mid-term course of action. For the short term, as others have noted, Democrats in each house should vote against the supplemental to demonstrate that they are against the GOP’s auto-pilot rubber stamping of this war. Let Mitch McConnell and John Boehner worry about assembling the majorities for their blank checks. Some would say that this is wrong because [...]

Tags: Iraq, War Funding, Federal Budget

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Pesky Emails

Greg Palast understands self-promotion and he handles it quite well.  This is really a push for his new book, but it contains some information germane to the Goodling testimony today in Congress. Interesting stuff.  Read on…

Journalist with BBC Has Rove Office Emails

Goodling/Sampson Obstruction of Justice evidence? For immediate release Wednesday 23 May BBC Television’s Newsnight has 500 “missing” Rove office emails, including a series of self-incriminating notes which provide “the keys to the kingdom” behind the prosecutor firings. In the opening to today’s testimony before Congress, Monica Goodling, former Department of Justice White House Liaison, testified that Deputy Attorney [...]

Tags: Palast, Goodling, Sampson, DOJ

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The Numbers Game

If you’re a seriously intense political geek, you probably soak up all the polls you can find.  I tend to shy away from the 2008 election numbers until we get closer to the caucuses and primaries. However, I stumbled on a couple of sets of numbers today that deserve a mention:

Wave Of New Iowa Polls Shakes Things Up

Iowa, the state which decided it all back in 2004, is getting really, really interesting right now. With four polls conducted in Heaven in the last week, trends completely different from the national picture are emerging: [...]

Tags: Iowa, Polls, 2008 Elections

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Altering The Truth

It didn’t take long for a Dem to jump on this one.  It ain’t about solving the Iraq War,. but it IS something that needs to be investigated.

House investigating Smithsonian global warming exhibit.

Earlier in the week, AP reported that the “Smithsonian Institution toned down an exhibit on climate change in the Arctic for fear of angering Congress and the Bush administration.” House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) has sent the Smithsonian a letter notifying the institution that he is starting [...]

Tags: Global Warning, Smithsonian, Markey

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Dinner Time

Hungry soldiers aren’t happy soldiers. The bad guys have found an efficient way to get right to the core of our troops.

We’re Hurting Our Troops

Some brave soul in the U.S. military sent Pat Lang a memo issued Monday that shows the U.S. ability to support its troops is collapsing and very vulnerable to disruption…The memo states: "Due to a theater-wide delay in food delivery, menu selections will be limited for the near future.  While every effort will be made to provide balanced meals, it may not be possible to offer the dishes you are used to seeing at each meal.  Fresh fruits and salad bar items will also be severely limited or [...]

Tags: Iraq, MRE’s

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Out Before He Was In

Another one bites the dust.

Lobbyist-turned-Bush nominee withdraws.

“President Bush’s pick to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission withdrew his nomination Wednesday amid strong opposition from some Senate Democrats.” Michael Baroody, a senior lobbyist at the National Association of Manufacturers, was set to receive an [...]

Tags: Consumer Product Safety Commission, Baroody, National Association of Manufacturers, CPSC

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ABC’s Iran Report

There’s a sizable glogosphere blowup today over ABC’s report last night on covert CIA operations in Iran. Lots of shouts of "treason" from conservative commenters. But, it gets worse from that point.  Carpetbagger sorts through the chaf…

With an eye on Iran

ABC News reported yesterday that the Bush administration’s interest in regime change in Iran continues unabated. The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert “black” operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com. The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because [...]

Over at Pandagon, Amanda Marcotte analyzes some of the "better" comments on the ABC blog..

Bush’s ratings will never drop below 25% for a reason

Jonathan suggested, in this post about ABC reporting that the Bush administration has authorized the CIA to take covert actions to destabilize the Iranian government, not to read the comments at ABC. But because everyone was joking at Drinking Liberally last night at the fact that Bush’s poll ratings stubbornly stay between 25-30%, I [...]

Any connection?

Navy Stages Latest Show Of Force Off Iran Coast

The U.S. Navy staged its latest show of military force off the Iranian coastline on Wednesday, sending two aircraft carriers and landing ships packed with 17,000 U.S. Marines and sailors to carry out unannounced exercises in the Persian Gulf. The carrier strike groups led by the USS John C. Stennis and USS Nimitz were joined by [...]

Tags: Iran, CIA, Covert Operation

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Funding The War

There are dozens of posts about the Iraq War funding proposal proposal approved by Congressional Democrats.  The general concensus from both sides? The Democrats caved and gave President Bush a huge victory.  Many of the comments are long-winded.  Rachel Maddow summed it all up in just a few lines.

Dear Congressional Democrats: Are you freaking kidding me?

Dear Congressional Democrats: Are you freaking kidding me?  Why do you guys think you won the elections in November?  Because the American people were clamoring for reconstruction funds for Iraq to be linked to optional benchmarks?  Bullpucky.  You were put in power because [...]

Some of the conservative bloggers are trying to hold down the celebrating, but many commenters aren’t buying it:

The job’s not done until the last cow is in the barn.

Now’s not the time for gloating. Remember the end game. Our troops continue to need their support, however antagonistic it may be, to successfully complete their mission. Now’s the time to keep on reminding our democrat legislators, kicking and screaming [...]

Tags: Iraq War, War Funding, Appropriations

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