Special Comment

Great work by Keith tonight. Obviously, losing an appendix didn’t slow down his brain.  Good thing.  Although, he might have crossed a line tonight, talking about a military junta…maybe.  Here’s the transcript. 

UPDATE: Transcript AND video, via Crooks and Liars:

Countdown Special Comment: The President Of Hypocrisy

In light of President Bush’s disgraceful presser today, Keith Olbermann decided to make a Special Comment on tonight’s Countdown and wow, did he make the most of it. Olbermann blasts the president for his cowardly and un-American behavior of pimping General Petraeus as a political hack and hiding behind him to deflect criticism. To say [...]

Tags: Olbermann, Special Comment

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Thank Goodness

It’s Thursday.  Friday will be here and not a moment too soon!  My daily reminder – make sure you scroll down to find all of the fresh posts.  I upload to blogger in reverse order, so each day’s "welcome" post will be at, or near, the top!  It’s not all serious stuff, either.  Do a site search for "Classic TV" and enjoy some fun clips from the 1950’s through the 1980’s.  Also, I’ve lowered the number of posts displayed on the home page, to make things a little better for folks with slower connections.  So, you’ll want to click the "older posts" link at the bottom of the page and keep reading.

Tonight, we’re kicking things off with a story that really nails the sometimes stupidity of government.  Do you find yourself wondering, "why are we having so many toy recalls these days?"  The answer, my friends, is quite remarkably simple -

Self regulation fails again, Consumer Product Safety Commission requests funding

Listening to Mattel CEO Robert A. Eckert cry about his problems and the problems his company has inflicted on small children would almost be amusing if the problems were not so serious. While it’s nice to see business think about consumers instead of their profits and luxurious compensation plans, the greed factor is why we are here in the first place. China deserves plenty of blame for selling tainted products but let’s not kid ourselves and pile on China because the businesses who were purchasing this rubbish should have had quality systems in place and the government could have also shown a little interest in [...]

Tags: Mattel, Toy Recall, CPSC, Consumer Product Safety Commission, China

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On The Wrong Side

For quite a while, I respected Jack Murtha as one of the few members of Congress willing to speak out, forefully, against the Iraq War.  Critics on the Right have long complained that Murtha had a lot of "baggage" and was going to give the war opposition folks problems.  They may have a point. When Murtha showed up on CREW’s list of "The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress", you had to think the critics may have a point.

Jack Murtha is Still Corrupt

The leopard can’t change his spots – from Roll Call: Every private entity that Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) favored with an earmark in this year’s defense bill recently has given political money to the lawmaker, according to an analysis of [...]

Tags: Murtha, C.R.E.W., Corrupt Congress

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Hmmmm…

Tinfoil hat time, my friends.  Grab the "supersized" one for this exercise. It all has to do with that B-52 that carried live nukes from North Dakota to Louisiana. Trust me, it’ll make you go "hmmmm".  via Brilliant at Breakfast, were Jill says simply -

I report, you decide

Conspiracy? Or coincidence? You decide.

Rob at "Say Anything" blog (based in North Dakota), does a good job of discounting the allegations -

Air Force Personnel Involved With Nuke Mishap In Minot Being Murdered?

Oh, as long as we’re playing the conspiracy game, think of the potential mis-use of this little gadget..

Raytheon’s New ‘Silent Guardian’ Brings the Pain

Reporting on cutting-edge new military gadgetry gives this UK journalist, the Daily Mail’s Michael Hanlon, an unpleasant dose of the reality of modern warfare—and leads him to wonder about the significance, and possible uses of, Raytheon’s new “Silent Guardian” mega-zapper [...].

Tags: B-52’s, Nuclear Bombs

Tags: Silent Guardian, Tear Gas

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The Cost of War

Danger Room Blog has run the numbers to stay in Iraq, long-term, and the bottom line is ugly.  REALLY ugly..

Staying in Iraq: $25 Billion per Year… Forever

The White House is once again talking about the half-century-long U.S. involvement in Korea as a model for Iraq’s future. Such an approach would be brutally expensive — costing as much as $25 billion per year for decades to come, [...]

Even the government’s own numbers are staggering -

CBO: Iraq Will Cost U.S. Trillions

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost of a long-term U.S. occupation of Iraq in the trillions of dollars in a new report released this morning. The study appears to make some pretty conservative assumptions in calculating cost estimates [....]

And, incredibly, conservative!

CBO’s Estimate on Long-Term Iraq Presence Appears Conservative

The Congressional Budget Office’s cost-analysis of a U.S. presence in Iraq following the Korea model — stationing 55,000 troops there indefinitely, in CBO’s reckoning — allows for the crunching of [...]

Tags: Iraq War Costs, War Funding

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Out With the Dollar

In with the Euro. Seems the United States isn’t quite as dominant as it once was.  At least not in financial circles…

$1.40

Atrios points out that the Euro has just pushed past $1.40. Let’s see. In the last two days, the Fed has cut interest rates by half a point, making what is probably a futile attempt to staunch the [...]

Tags: Euro, Dollar, World Financial Markets

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Congress Gets A Poll Bounce

But, it’s not from the Dems…

Why are Republicans happier with Congress?

Congress’s free fall in public approval has apparently stopped, for now. Gallup reported today that Congress has recovered from a low of 18 percent public approval to 24 percent in its most recent survey. But for Democrats, it’s far from "Happy Days are Here Again." Gallup found that much of the increase came from Republican respondents who said were [...]

Tags: Congress’ Approval, Gallup

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Bush News Conference

I know he’s just trying to joke around with the reporters, but this kind of comment doesn’t help with the old image, does it?

Bush: Don’t Ask Me About The Economy, I Got A ‘B In Econ 101′

Today in his press conference, a reporter asked President Bush whether there was a “risk of a recession.” Bush declined to answer, pointing out that he’s never been very good at “Econ 101″: QUESTION: Do you think there’s a risk of a recession? How do you rate that? BUSH: You know, you need to talk to [...]

Also from the newser:

Bush: GOP has ‘good record to run on’ with blacks

Forget Hurricane Katrina. Forget Jena, Louisiana. Forget that the four top Republican candidates for president are snubbing a debate on minority issues next week at historically black Morgan State University in Baltimore. President Bush said today that his Republican Party has a "good record" on issues of importance to minority voters, and that his party’s candidates should [...]

Tags: Bush News Conference, Economy

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Presidential Visit

Iran’s President is coming to New York City. He had a simply request that’s been turned down.  That move could mean trouble.  From a number of fronts. And, nobody who said "No" figured the Iranian Prez might just thumb his nose at the decision?

Asking for Trouble

This week Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was denied a visit to Ground Zero. Ahmadinejad asked that he be allowed to lay a wreath at the site while he visits New York next week. Today ABC News reports that Ahmadinejad may go anyway, permission or no permission, and has even announced when. I can see all [...]

Tags: Ground Zero, Ahmadinejad

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Rather And The Memos

For a while, I was thinking the Rather vs CBS/Viacom lawsuit could be a lot of fun, since it would pull the White House into the mix.  However, I’m a bit concerned after reading a statement from Rather’s attorney today. Rob has the same concerns over at his blog, Say Anything.  If they’re just now feeling that those memos were real, what the heck was old Dan reporting on?  Something they hadn’t confirmed?  Something ain’t right here.

Rather’s Lawyers: Nobody Ever Proved Memos Were Fake

Well, from a legal standpoint, I guess he’s technically correct.  I mean, nobody has ever challenged the veracity of the memos in court so the matter has never been settled in a legal setting.  But implying that the memos are real in the process of suing a big corporation like CBS for tens of millions of dollars in a high-profile lawsuit is just begging for that to happen. Is Rather really so stupid as to [...]

Tags: Rather Lawsuit, National Guard Memos

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Red Tape

Can you believe it?  Red tape is hampering some of our high tech war efforts in Iraq. What?!?!, you say.  Red tape?  US?!

Red Tape Grounds Iraq’s Robo-Planes

The Defense Department’s unmanned air force has grown exponentially; there are now more than 3200 mil-drones in the fleet, up from about 200 in 2002. But after spending some time in Iraq, I’m starting to get the feeling that a [...]

Tags: Robo-Planes, Mil-Drones, Iraq War

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Another Deadline

Out the window.  As Jack Cafferty says, "It’s Getting Ugly Out There!"

Pentagon delays security handover in Iraq.

For the second time this year, “the target date for putting Iraqi authorities in charge of security in all 18 provinces has slipped yet again, to at least next July.” The delay highlights “the difficulties in developing Iraqi police forces and the slow pace of [...]

Tags: Iraq Security

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Addicted

I spend a lot of time staring at this little screen, but I’m not THIS bad. Honestly. I’m not…

Report: One In Three Americans Would Give Up Sex, Friends For Web

Surfing the net has become an obsession for many Americans with the majority of U.S. adults feeling they cannot go for a week without going online and one in three giving up friends and sex for the Web. A survey asked 1,011 American adults how long they would feel OK without [...]

Tags: Internet

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My, How Times Have Changed

I grew up in Iowa. Immigration would not have been a major political issue. Even this year, it looks like it kind of snuck up on some of the big campaigns..

Fineman: An Explosive Issue in Iowa

The issue is emerging as a big one in Iowa—and it could wind up pulling the GOP contenders far enough to the right to cause problems next November [...]

Tags: Immigration, Iowa Politics, Iowa Caucuses.

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The Ultimate Snooty Neighbors

Oh, come on people.  Wanting a nice neighborhood is one thing.  Being absolutely, fanatically, stupid about it, is another. We have an ugly war, an ugly economy, a mortgage crisis and they’re worried about a…. oh, just go and read it and be dismayed…

Fight to Legalize what some Consider An Illegal Solar Device

It was a sunny, 70-degree day here in Awbrey Butte, an exclusive neighborhood of big, modern houses surrounded by native pines. To Susan Taylor, it was a perfect time to hang her [...]

Tags: Clothesline, Illegal Solar Device

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Blackwater Today

Blackwater appears to be quite well positioned to ignore Iraq’s demands that it get out.  Quite well, indeed.

Blackwater Well-Positioned to Stymie Official Inquiries, Regulation

Blackwater doesn’t just operate in a legal black hole in Iraq. The private-security firm has grown expert in protecting itself from oversight and regulation in Washington as well. Over at POGO, Nick [...]

Tags: Blackwater

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Expanding Spy Powers

No, it does NOT have to be extended and expanded.  Quite the opposite.

Bush calls for expansion of spy law

FORT MEADE, Md.-President Bush said Wednesday that a law hastily passed in August to temporarily give the government more power to eavesdrop without warrants on foreign terror suspects must be made permanent and expanded.. . The 30-year [...]

Tags: Spy Law, Protect America Act

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Today’s Must-Read Post

Absolutely on target.  From the Mahablog, a marvelous post about the differences between then and now.  "Then" – for the purposes of the blogger and a newspaper columnist, just happens to parallel my youth – the early 1950’s.  If your youth was different, adjust accordingly, but still read this one.

Losing Ground

The New York Times has dismantled the evil Times Select firewall (yay). It’s also given Paul Krugman a blog, called “The Conscience of a Liberal.” Here’s the first post. It begins: “I was born in 1953. Like the rest of my generation, I took the America I grew up in for granted – in fact, like [...]

Tags: New York Times, Paul Krugman, Taxes, Economy

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This Will Be Fun To Follow

Dan Rather sues CBS.  Wants millions from his former bosses. And, he throwing the White House into the mix, too.

Rather Sues CBS For 70 Million: Network Made Me "A Scapegoat"…"To Pacify The White House"

Dan Rather, whose career at CBS News ground to an inglorious end 15 months ago over his role in an unsubstantiated report questioning President Bush’s Vietnam-era National Guard service, filed a $70 million lawsuit this afternoon against the network, its corporate parent and three of his former superiors. Mr. Rather, 75, asserts that the network violated his contract by [...]

Tags: CBS News, Dan Rather, White House

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Willing To Break Ranks

I’ll give Gates credit for being outspoken, but it’s a pretty sad commentary when your Secretary of Defense isn’t really sure we did the right thing by invading Iraq.  Wouldn’t you love to hear the conversations between Gates and the White House now?

Gates: ‘I don’t know’ whether Iraq war was a ‘good idea.’

In an interview with New York Times columnist David Brooks published today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was hesitant to endorse several cornerstones of President Bush’s foreign policy: “I don’t think you invade Iraq to bring liberty. You do it to eliminate an unstable regime and because sanctions are breaking down and you get liberty as a [...]

Tags: Robert Gates, Iraq War

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