TNN – Headline News
Posted by TheDon
Since the Don Imus firing, I’ve been watching MSNBC in the morning. I tried watching when he was still on the air but just couldn’t take more than a few minutes of the cranky old drunk routine. Although I don’t like the reasons they used to pull him off the air, I always wondered why they didn’t get someone on in the mornings who was watchable. It seemed like there was a real opportunity to grab the audience of people who wanted a serious news show in the morning. Nobody else has.

During the interview process they tried some really good people as well as some really bad ones. Sadly, they settled on Joey the Scar, but he has a good supporting cast, and the format is great. Long interviews with people who matter, long news segments when needed, less fluff than most (although it is there). This morning’s headlines have so many notable stories that I had to grab the keyboard.

In the NYT, MaDo says that W has turned the Republicans in her family into Democrats. I think there are two factors at work. First, the goalposts have been moved so far to the right that Nixon would have to run as a liberal today. They have finally become too obnoxious for all but the true believers. Second, there’s Bush. Who would want to be associated with him? He can’t be defended in any debate or argument, only in the safe harbor of incestuous television discussions and printed screeds.

Fort Lewis Washington joins other military bases in eliminating individual memorials for fallen soldiers, opting for once-a-month Memorial Days. I’ve written about this before, and it really makes me angry. Whether you support the current wars or not (and I don’t), you can’t support the destruction of our army and the disrespect towards people who died after they volunteered to fight for us. Where is the outrage from the “Support The Troops” crowd?

The Pentagon is now targeting Summer 2009 to bring stability to Iraq. “The plan is in keeping with President Bush’s surge strategy.” Ummmmm… That would be the brief surge which would last a couple of months? The one which would bring us “a bloody Summer”? The one we would be able to judge very quickly? The one which continues to make Al-Qaeda stronger? That one? Dammit. ITMFA to stop these wars.

The Pentagon is going for some quick, easy bandaids to fix the VA medical system. Here’s my fix – universal health care! You don’t need a separate health care system when it’s free for everyone.

Gonzo lied repeatedly to Congress, and in easily provable ways. Impeach that clown, and his bosses.

The Arab League is offering full recognition of Israel in a plan which involves returning to pre-1967 borders. Call me a starry-eyed optimist, but this sounds like a pretty good way to go. If enough people are finally tired of the bloodshed, and if the Arab League governments will really commit to enforcing the plan, it could be the solution we’ve been looking for.

The TSA is trying to scare us some more, with stories of terrorist dry runs. I see that support for the Iraq war is inching up, and I’m guessing that the loyal Bushies believe that the current strategy of referring to every man, woman and child that we torture or kill in Iraq as Al Qaeda is responsible. So bring on the fear! It’s working, boys!

What a morning of headlines! More shows like this, please!

A local station is reporting that two-sport star Michael Vick is about to take a leave of absence. Nobody is sure if the leave will be paid or unpaid, or who forced the issue, but they are reporting it as a done deal. I have been predicting that Vick will never play for the Falcons again, and this is probably the first step towards kicking him off the team. The image of Vick throwing puppies to the ground as hard as he can to kill them has completed the fall from grace for this athlete who was embraced by the whole city 6 years ago.

He won’t be missed. This story, with the revelations about the extensive involvment of professional athletes and musicians in this vicious gutter sport, has made me rethink my attitude towards professional sports. I have been able to smother my concern over the upside-down societal priorities which make people who can throw and hit balls fabulously wealthy, but keep the people who teach our children in poverty. It’s the whole modern gladiator thing, where we cheer for our local heroes – I get that. But I think I’ve reached the tipping point. At least for now, I’m through with the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, etc. I’m sending them packing from my house, and asking them to not come back.

Meat The Press

The NIE on the terrorist threat to the “homeland”. Director of National Intelligence Admiral Mike McConnell.

Admiral Mike says the most serious threat facing our country is that plotters who are being observed will be successful penetrating our defenses and completing an attack. Either chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear. WOW! That really narrows it down. Thanks Mike! We don’t face suiciders here because we have erected barriers. Or our erections have barriers. Or something. He seems quitely proud.

Daaaaaamn! He just mentioned Al-Qaeda plotting against us “in their safe haven in Pakistan”. Was he supposed to say that? The “Bush Doctrine” says we have to attack Pakistan now, doesn’t it? He also understands the difference between strategic warnings and tactical warnings. How the HELL did this guy get into this administration? He worried that there are “sleeper cells” in the US but doesn’t know.

Timmeh asks why, one year after an NIE said AQ was ineffective and scattered, a new NIE says they are a grave threat to our country. Doesn’t mention that we have killed 29/30s of AQ leadership, according to John Stewart. Admiral Mike mentions the safe haven in Pakistan again. Ok, I get it. He says that Pakistan reached a political agreement with AQ leaders instead of “pushing them out”. This is the new talking point that you have to kill, kill, kill, bomb, bomb, bomb everyone. It’s a new scapegoating technique. He leaves out the part where Pakistan tried “pushing them out” and failed miserably, then decided to deal with them politically to save the government which controls the nukes. I know… details…

Timmeh asks why we haven’t captured OBL. Admiral Mike goes with “it’s hard to capture an individual”. Leaves out “we weren’t really trying.” Timmeh asks if capturing OBL is worth the probable loss of the Musharref government. Admiral Mike doesn’t buy the scenario. Praises our “strong ally, valuable ally” Pervey.

Timmeh asks about the new, improved torture memo. Admiral Mike demurs, says the US doesn’t engage in torture. Same lie, different day. Says he was horrified by Abu Garhib, but must not be bothered by waterboarding. Won’t address a direct question on waterboarding. Mentions doctors being involved in decisions, and supervising, says we don’t “torture”. Interestingly claims people don’t face heat and cold. That sounds like a lie. It still comes down to the definition, doesn’t it. Bastards. Says they “cause uncertainty”, forcing someone to talk to them. Yeah, they are uncertain if they are about to die. By definition, that’s torture.

Timmeh brings up the NIE assessment that the Iraq war is a great recruitment tool for AQ. Admiral Mike doesn’t disagree, but tries to muddy the waters. Brings up Anbar, as always. This really plays into the “we’re fighting AQ” argument. Timmeh asks about that, and Admiral Mike almost tells the truth. Almost. Timmeh keeps pressing on the deceptive claims that we are mostly fighting AQ over there. Admiral Mike almost agrees, but still pushes AQ as an instigator.

Timmeh brings up an interview where Admiral Mike called the Cheney administaion a bunch of political hacks who cooked the intelligence and ended up with a disaster. I’m not making that up. Admiral Mike acknowledges it, then goes after the Cheney/Feith connection. Daaaaaaaaamn. They let this guy on the teevee? And by “they” I mean the administration and the network. This is surprising. He stops short of saying that the intelligence was hyped, but just barely.

Good stuff.

And now my choice for President, Senator Russ Feingold. In. My. Dreams.

Feingold thinks congress will stop the war. From his lips… He’s encouraged by recent activities. Little Russ asks Senator Russ if he’s afraid that withdrawal will lead to cataclysmic violence and genocide. Senator points out the current situation, which includes cataclysmic violence and genocide. Goes with “we leave, the other players will get involved out of self-interest, and help stabilize when the occupation is over.”

Feingold is going to do something serious – push a censure resolution. Sigh. How about something VERY serious? ITMFA! Timmeh points out that the last censure resolution died with only 4 aye votes. Senator Russ says that one stopped the illegal wiretapping program. Feingold isn’t ready to tie up the Senate with impeachment. It can’t be any more of a waste than the current state of affairs.

Round table. Jeebuz. A couple of idiots (Bob Woodward, David Brooks) and Stephen Hayes. This could be a fast-forward-fest. I’ll skip the Republican talking points when possible.

Money quote from BoBo, speaking of Bush,”You might think that’s strong leadership, you might think that’s deranged.” I’m pretty sure it’s not “strong leadership” when you haven’t seen 30% support in HOW LONG?, and your party got spanked in the last election. So BoBo actually got one right!

Blah-blah-blah about Cheney and about how this administration views the Iraq war. Nothing new here, except Cheney has figured out that the insurgency wasn’t in its last throes.

Fawkes News

Fran Townsend (Bush’s Homeland Security Advisor). I’m going to skip right over this lying shill.I watched her lie all week, don’t need any more.

“Democrats see political advantage in the Threat Assessment.” Guess that’s the fair and balanced view. If you’re a partisan hack. Evan Bayh and Kit Bond to debate whether Iraq is part of the War on Terra. That’ll save some viewing time as well.

Panel Time!

Cat fight between Elizabeth Edwards and Senator Clinton – I’ll pass.

The Pentagon attacks Senator Clinton in a disgusting, dishonest, partisan way. Smug Kristol smirks his way through a “serious proposal to have a debate between the spouses”. Juan scores a three-pointer immediately with “you have to include Jerri Thompson, the trophy wife.” He’s normally heroic on Sunday, and this one doesn’t look like it will disappoint. He then defends the Senate’s right to oversight. Sadly, this isn’t done nearly often enough.

Turning to Republicans, when will Fred declare? It makes Brit smile, but I’ve read good reasons that he is legally required to start reporting donations. Brit jumps to “pro-choice Fred’s” defense. Whores are allowed to sell it to anyone with money. Mara thinks it’s no big deal, I think she’s wrong. This will be pushed by the “true conservative” crowd. Juan points out that “none of the above” is winning in R polls.

The fillibuster by the Republicans – theater or principled stand? Brit seems thoughtful, almost admiring. Odd. Chris Wallace seems puzzled that Harry Reid was unwilling to give political cover to Republicans and Bush. Mara seems to share his puzzlement. Kristol is idiotic as always. Actually says that in one FU, when the war has turned around, Democrats will be crucified for voting against the war just as it was starting the turnaround. It’s sweet how much he cares about the Democratic presidential candidates. Then takes time to go after YearlyKos. Juan points out that what Kristol calls “left” is the center. Nice. Kristol comes out for staying in Iraq 4evah. Again. Juan comes out for actually going after AQ and (a little strangely) the Taliban.

Brit thinks that there will be notable military progress to report in September. Says we’re winning. Juan points out that Hume has been saying the same thing for years. Brit claims that this time it’s really, really, really true. Just like every other time he’s claimed that he’s one shovelful from the pony.

Power Player: Richard Branson.
Curtain

This Weak

Not on this week because of the British Open. So if you really want some elitism with a pinch of racism you won’t entirely miss out.

TGIF – You-Know-Who edition
Posted by TheDon
As usual, this week was full of grim news, maddending news, and news which is sadly unsurprising. There were, however, some stories which were happy, or at least gave us hope for the future. Harry Reid pulled the Defense Appropriations Bill. Michael Vick was indicted. We’ve apparently killed 29/30s of Al-Qaeda leadership. The last installation of Potter-mania comes out. SPOILER ALERT: the wizard did it.

So in honor of some of the top stories, I made a yellow drink. Use it to toast the news story of your choice. And don’t give away your stickiness.

The Golden Snitch
or
Piss on Vick
or
The Cheney Stripe

Fill a double old-fashioned glass halfway with ice
Add 3 oz vodka
Pour in 2 oz Galliano (Don’t stir, just watch; it’s a lovely effect.)

I’ve been working late nights finishing my pirated Harry Potter book completing some research for work, so it was nice to have the company when the lesser known Harry pulled an all-nighter. The Democrats want to illustrate the fact that Republicans won’t let any real bills come to the Senate floor, and the media generally won’t call the Republicans on it. The Democrats have a point, of course, but only to a point.

Republicans can keep you from voting for a good bill, but they can’t make you vote for a bad bill. Any money you spend on this war is YOUR fault. You won’t be able to pass a bill stopping the war explicitly, but you don’t have to send The Decider any more money, either.

This, of course, won’t stop the war. A couple of signing statements here, some money shuffling there, and this administration will “decide” to keep fighting. They’ll shut down some children’s insurance programs, some medical benefits, whatever, but they will keep fighting.

Then you will have the rock-solid impeachment case you seem to be looking for. If you won’t impeach him for any of the hundred reasons you already have, you would have to impeach him for spending money on an unfunded and deeply unpopular war. You’ll be praised in history books for all time for stopping this blood-thirsty, power hungry gang of criminals.

Or you could keep playing co-consipirator. ITMFA.

We start with what has become almost extinct – a head-to-head! Jim Webb vs Huckleberry Graham. This shouldn’t even be close.

W says Congress shouldn’t be running the war.

Webb says it’s not a war, it’s an occupation, and a failed one at that. Says that everything he and his buddies warned about has come true. He came ready for a fight.

Q: are you trying to wrest control of the war from the president?
Webb talks about checks and balances, and about protecting the military from an idiot in command.

Graham is asked about Lugar and Warner wanting a re-authorization. He’s not buying it – that’s the old strategy and ineffective – the new strategy has been “enormously effective”. This is a global struggle, bin Laden called it the Third World War, so we have to play by his (bin Laden’s) rules. Al Qaeda is coming to Iraq to destroy this young democracy. This is a gigantic global struggle between moderation and extremists. I’m guessing we’re the “moderates”, and that’s fair, if you ignore the fact that we overthrew the Afghani and Iraqi governments, and occupy both countries. Kidnap and torture people. Kill civilians at will. Stuff like that.

Putting operational control in the Senate is a “mistake for the ages”.

The Webb ammendment is brought up – an attempt to force the military to give soldiers home time, including the National Guard. Webb differentiates between his position and Murtha’s. Web flashes some impressive credentials and defends it vigorously. Mentions that Huckleberry wants to stay in 5 to 10 more years, and that you need to control deployments to accomplish that.

Webb brings up the recently disclosed info that half of the foreign fighters in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia. Which is NOT Iran, but could be argued as al Qaeda.

Huck again comes out against congress having input into operations and minimizes the effects of too many deployments. Maximizes the effects of the “surge”. Anbar is shown as a sterling success again. It’s like they don’t think we use the google, and we won’t bring this up after the next fall of Anbar province.

Timmeh points out that Huck doesn’t trust the Iraqi government, so why ask American men and women to go over there and fight for them? Huck says it’s in our national interest to make sure that AQ doesn’t have a safe haven. Timmeh cuts him off and smacks him DOWN!

Where’s Timmeh, and who is this imposter?

Timmeh says “but you keep mentioning AQ. Let me go back to the director of the CIA, Michael Hayden, again from the Post. (he) catalogued what he saw as the main sources of vilence in this order: the insurgency, sectarian strife, criminality, general anarchy, and, lastly AQ. Though Haden had listed AQ as the fifth most pressing threat in Iraq, Bush regularly lists AQ first. (Bob Woodward)”

Forget Timmeh! Who’s this Bob Woodward fellow? Have we really reached a tipping point?

Back to Huck:
He says that Petreaus also says the #1 enemy of America is AQ in Iraq. Says we have to defeat them first because they want to kill the young Iraqi democracy. He’s claiming that the surge has routed AQ from Anbar. You know, the surge that started two weeks ago. That one. The surge is AQ’s worst nightmare because the Anbari’s have rejected AQ and embraced us. Yeah. Let’s see how long that lasts.

Timmeh points out that Maliki has said we can leave any time we want to. Huck says we can turn over Anbar soon, but our national interests keep us from believing Maliki. Claims Maliki is expressing confidence in his army, not asking us to leave. I think he wants us to leave so he can get serious about killing Sunni.

Timmeh asks Webb if he believes that AQ is the primary enemy and threat in Iraq, and would we leave behind a bloodbath.

Webb says it will be bad whenever we leave, and we need to plan realistically, and leave from a position of strength – AFTER some diplomatic work which hasn’t been done. Webb then makes the important points – AQ didn’t come to Iraq to destroy a democracy, it’s there because the US is. The people in Anbar didn’t align with the US, just with the enemy of their enemy. Says it’s not the Iraqi National Army taking out AQ, just locals applying, and I quote “a redneck justice”. Says we need more diplomacy and more rest for our troops. Then he jumps Lieberman for wanting a war with Iran. I’m ready to vote for President Webb.

Huck want’s to wait for September, doesn’t want to do anything now. Says Iran is killing our soldiers and Webb jumps in with “So are Saudis, Senator Graham, so are Saudis”.

Webb ’08 has a nice ring.

Graham says the surge has been AQ’s worst nightmare, and has them on the run. He then claims, with passion, “The surge has been in place TWO WEEKS!”. Almost funny, if people weren’t dying. Webb points out that we didn’t do all that in two weeks, but Huck’s on a roll.

Timmeh presses him to answer how long the surge should last. Whatever Timmeh had for breakfast should be given to him every Sunday morning. Huck’s fine with doing whatever Petraeus says to do, and ends his rant with a spittle-flecked pronouncement, “I’m gonna listen to this general, and I’m not gonna let any politician take the place of the general.” I assume he either meant “this” general, as opposed to previous generals who were forced to retire by W and Rummy, or he doesn’t think W is a politician. Either way damns him.

Webb is calm, if slightly sarcastic, but settles into a good argument. Deployments are now longer than rest periods for the soldiers, and somebody needs to speak for the soldiers instead of defending this president. Huck interrupts (again) with some noise about re-enlistments and Webb jumps him. Tells him not to put his political views into the mouths of the soldiers. Tells Huck that he hasn’t been to Iraq, only to the dog and pony show they put on for Senators. A scuffle breaks out. It’s a smug-off with Webb using facts, Huck using feelings. And we’re in commercial. That was meaty!

Panel time:
Republican primary– USA Today poll has Giuliani, Thompson, McCain, followed by Romney in single digits! Looks like it’s time for another “loan” to his campaign. McCain’s campaign is over. Yawn. Mike Murphy – R strategist thinks it’s not over. Says low-budget campaign of courage suits McCain. Guess he hasn’t been following the news closely if he thinks McCain can claim courage.

Douchebag of Liberty thinks it’s a longshot, Al Hunt calls it sad and over soon. Bob Schrum takes some pleasure in calling McCain a surrogate for Bush with no chance. Murphy insists Mc is showing courage and he can win. O…..kaaaay. I’m over this topic.

Giuliani (pro-abortion rights, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control) is a target of a DVD from IAFF firefighters. Really strong stuff which should kill the “fearless leader of 9/11” BS. It’s a little shocking that NBC shows a clip. Giuliani fires back. Swift-boating is mentioned, but in a deceptive way. Giuliani didn’t call this a “Swift Boat attack”, he said this is deceptive, and NOT a SBA. There’s a difference, Timmeh. They think the Swifties were telling a truth which needed to be told. Through the looking glass and all…

Shrum says Rudy has a reverse-Midas touch with picking people, including Vitter. Heh.
DB of L points out that swift-boating is a very good thing to R’s. He then digs a little deeper saying a lot of R’s like McCarthy. Truly, truly a douchebag. Al Hunt still finds it hard to believe that R’s will nominate the pro-everything Rudy. He hasn’t seen the rest of the field, I guess. The Mormon? The lobbyist womanizer? The bat-shit-crazy Bush hugger? Just do you see them nominating?
Murphy points out that Rudy is a one-note candidate, and needs to get in the early primaries.

Dems – Clinton (42%!), Obama, Edwards. Bill’s on the campaign trail, and Hil’s looking unbeatable to a lot of people. Bill says people say they are yesterday’s news, but points out “Yesterday’s news was pretty good!”. Indeed. She’s not my first choice, but any one of these candidates would be a huge improvement over numb-nuts. Obama calls her part of the past and says it’s time to turn the page. Ouch. Either way works for me, really. But they beat this to death for a while.

DBL says it’s very dangerous to call this the third term of Clinton. Timmeh calls shenanigans, asks him who calls it that, and DBL admits that it’s HIM. D’OH! d-o-u-c-h-e spells Novak. DBL then goes for racism and sexism in the same phrase, speaking of the pessimism of the Republican party concerning their chances in the presidential race, saying “only the Democratic party, with everything in their favor, would say that, ok, this is the year either to have a woman or an African-American to break precedent, to do things the country’s never done before, and it gives Republicans hope.” Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn! That’s pretty naked stuff there.

They spend the rest of the show flogging DBL’s new book – eeeewwww. Despite that, it was one of their best shows in recent memory.

Fawkes News. Brit Hume hosting. I probably won’t actually watch much of this…

Opening line – “An Iraq report card with SOME passing grades, and a strong presidential resolve to keep up the fight.” Stephen Hadley to discuss. Ok, I definitely won’t watch much of this. Then they’ll ask Fred Kagan (who inspired the “surge”) how the “surge” is working. I just can’t take this kind of propaganda seriously. I’m skipping to the panel.

Panel

Wow. I just can’t make it through this BS storm. Strawmen are being absolutely destroyed. Juan Williams is brilliant cutting through it.

On to…

This Weak

Ugh. Warner, Lugar, Hadley, McCain. I’m warming up the fast-forward finger.

First up, Hadley. Whooooosh on the ff…
Now Warner and Lugar. Whooooosh…

Round Table

Rehash of the benchmarks – is September important or not, can anything make the preznit change course (nope – only 67 votes in the Senate can change course, along with 2/3 of the House. Doesn’t look good.)

Sam Donaldson points out that every soldier who dies in Iraq is dying for the inevitable establishment of a Shia theocracy. George Will calls out people who think we are winning in Iraq, says that they will blame liberals for snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory if we leave. It still surprises me that Will doesn’t support this war, but I chalk it up to isolationism. He’s one of the finest minds of the 16th century.

Blah blah about McCain. Most amazing comment – McCain burned through all his money without running a single ad. Jeebuz. That couldn’t have been easy.

In Memoriam
Lady Bird Johnson – the last classy first lady from Texas.
Charles Lane – actor was 102
Doug Marlette – amazing cartoonist
23 service members – 17 in their 20’s, one still a teenager, 5 in their 40’s

Dave Matthews is pushing to get vets their rightful medical treatment. Guess he’s some kinda liberal.

Funnies
What’s up with showing unfunny clips from The ½ witted News Hour?

curtain