Bombshell revelation today I learned while listening to Laura Ingraham, as reported by ABC News. But not only was the suspect in Fort Hood massacre trying to make contact with the terrorist network --A story that makes me more dumbfounded by the day.U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.
A Russian court ruled against Stalin's grandson in a suit alleging a newspaper damaged the dictator's honor.By what, running an accurate story about him?
An example of where real life and the world as seen by The Onion are indistinguishable. As reported in today's New York Post --A sea of 150 white-coated doctors, all enthusiastically supportive of the president and representing all 50 states, looked as if they were at a costume party as they posed in the Rose Garden before hearing Obama's pitch for the Democratic overhaul bills moving through Congress.The physicians, all invited guests, were told to bring their white lab coats to make sure that TV cameras captured the image.
But some docs apparently forgot, failing to meet the White House dress code by showing up in business suits or dresses.
So the White House rustled up white
coats for them and handed them to the suited physicians who had taken seats in the sun-splashed lawn area.
All this to provide a visual counter to complaints from other doctors that pending legislation is bad news for the medical profession. ...
Heck, why stop there? How about asking the assembled doctors to wear stethoscopes, lest anyone confuse them with pharmacists? Better yet, have the dutiful doctors put on those shiny reflectors they use to wear.
Radio host Ed Schultz, who also has a TV show on MSNBC, talking today about Obama's speech before Congress on health reform --We're waiting to see what the president says tonight, the pregame show well underway, we're 7 hours and 53 minutes and 16 seconds before the speech. You know, we're the only network, MSNBC, that's giving us a countdown on exactly when the big show's gonna start.Yes, the man is easily amused.
With the exception of Rose Kennedy, 90, who was informed early Wednesday, and a few intimates, no one expected the announcement they were to issue 24 hours after Ronald Reagan took office. ...... Clearly with an eye toward the '84 campaign, with Kennedy wasting no time shedding what he perceived as baggage.
BOSTON -- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's much heralded bid for the presidency ended before it began with the leading Democrat's surprise announcement that he will not be a candidate for the White House in 1988.
"I know that this decision means that I may never be president, but the pursuit of the presidency is not my life. Public service is," Kennedy said in an unusual, paid political announcement televised Thursday evening in his home state of Massachusetts. ...
Didn't agree with his politics but interviewed the man several times over the years, mainly during my time as political reporter at the Cape Cod Times, and he was invariably gracious. He will probably always loom large to me if for no other reason than being the brother of JFK, my boyhood hero.
Caller on Ed Schultz's radio show today who identified himself as "Raymond," chairman of town Democratic committee in Dartmouth, Mass., describing his approach to moderating town hall forum on health reform Aug. 18 attended by Bay State congressman Barney Frank --As chairman of the party, in chairing that meeting, I made a statement at the beginning that I won't tolerate political stances.Guess this means Barney Frank remained uncharacteristically silence through the meeting.
Read the full story here.... Obama said the five-minute conversation confirmed that (Sgt. James) Crowley is a good man and that the sergeant and the professor are "two decent people," though he still believes that Crowley and Gates both overreacted. The president further said that he contributed to the "ratcheting up" of the story.
Obama said it was "unfortunate" that his word choice "maligned" the police department and Crowley.
"And I could have calibrated my words differently." ...
Cambridge police Sgt. James Crowley, the cop at the center of a firestorm over the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., has taught a racial profiling class at the Lowell Police Academy for five years. ...Granted, the police academy isn't Harvard and, hence, one is more likely to encounter a robust exchange of ideas there. On how every arrest of a person of color isn't the result of racial profiling, for example.
A story in today's Boston Herald that surely has Professor Gates cringing in embarrassment --The Cambridge cop prominent Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. claims is a racist gave a dying Reggie Lewis mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in a desperate bid to save the Celtic superstar’s life 16 years ago Monday.“I wasn’t working on Reggie Lewis the basketball star. I wasn’t working on a black man. I was working on another human being,” Sgt. James Crowley, in an exclusive interview with the Herald, said of the forward’s fatal heart attack July 27, 1993, at age 27 during an off-season practice at Brandeis University, where Crowley was a campus police officer. ...
You know, as racist cops are wont to do.
Radio host Ed Schultz announced on his show today -- or more accurately, announced at a town hall meeting he moderated in Madison, Wisc., on Sunday which was rebroadcast on Schultz's show today -- that his longtime "senior legal analyst" Norman Goldman (in photo at right) is getting his own radio show.
Roosevelt understood that in a complex and perilous situation, you have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, and he was masterful in doing a variety of difficult things simultaneously.
Can Obama get through a speech without gratuitous references to Dear Leader himself? Here he goes again, this time at Normandy in ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. After the obligatory nods to other dignitaries, Obama started his speech with this --I'm not the first American president to come and mark this anniversary and I likely will not be the last.How about that, gratuitous self-reference and banal. Then again, they often go together.
We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty.Listening to Obama's speeches and their inevitable turns of compass toward Self, I'm reminded of a book review of Hemingway's posthumous novel "The Garden of Eden" in 1986 by one of Hemingway's granddaughters, who made a wager with herself that Papa couldn't go a full page without mentioning an aperitif (she lost the bet, as I recall).
U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy's office says a report that the Massachusetts Democrat's brain tumor has gone into remission and he is returning to the Senate full time next month is unfounded.
A Boston staffer who did not wish to be named for this story said the senator continues to balance a treatment regimen with work, adding that his schedule is determined on a day-to-day basis.
A Washington, D.C., publication, The Hill, reported yesterday that Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Kennedy's brain cancer is in remission and he would return to the Senate full time in early June.
In 2006, the ACLU descended into self-satire by drawing up a gag order to cover its own board members -- no public criticism of policies or personnel, because speaking out might hurt fund raising. When word got out, a storm of ridicule forced the withdrawal of the plan. But Ms. Kaminer notes that only six of the 53 ACLU affiliates protested the no-dissent policy; the ACLU apparently couldn't be bothered to defend its own right to free speech.I especially like that last sentence.
I'm what you'd call a true lefty and when I debate with centrist Democrat friends, I feel myself beginning to lose it at a certain point, I'm so sure I'm right.
It's no secret that liberal radio host Ed Schultz is negotiating with MSNBC for a weeknight show, with Schultz having guest hosted for David Shuster on "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" twice in the last couple of weeks (and again tomorrow night).Somebody must have the flu over there or something. I don't know, they just wanted me to do the show and I think Shuster's going to be doing another show and so the musical chairs there for just a few days I think continue.
Fannie Mae plans to pay retention bonuses of at least $1 million to four key executives as part of a plan to keep hundreds of employees from leaving the government-controlled company.
Rival mortgage finance company Freddie Mac is planning similar awards, but has not yet reported on which executives will benefit.
The two companies, which together own or back more than half of the home mortgages in the country, have been hobbled by skyrocketing loan defaults. Fannie recently requested $15 billion in federal aid, while Freddie has sought a total of almost $45 billion ...
An article on March 2 about President Obama's plan to sign a $410 spending bill that included thousands of lawmakers' pet projects misstated his campaign promise about projects of this type, known as earmarks. Mr. Obama promised to reform the earmark process, not to end it.After all, Obama was still engaged in the "process" when he made that promise.
Wouldn't surprise me in the least, seeing how Schultz's politics dovetail so neatly with those of MSNBC hosts Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow.Follow this link for the rest of the Observer story.On the morning of Monday, March 9th, liberal talk radio host Ed Schultz, who bills himself as the "most listened-to progressive radio talk show host in America," announced on his Web site that he would be guest-hosting MSNBC's 6 p.m. show 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue the following evening.
Word of the announcement promptly touched off a fresh set of rumors among MSNBC staffers that the network's president Phil Griffin might be grooming Mr. Schultz to join the channel on a fulltime basis ...
"I didn't want George Bush to fail, uh, even as a Democrat."
Three hundred points -- or perhaps only 200? Then again, it's slumped so much since Obama was elected -- more than it did in September and October -- that a rebound could be inevitable at some point. Still, how will those already paying most of the taxes respond to Obama's plan to milk them further, and to carbon cap and trade?
My annual Oscar-watching ritual ended years ago, coinciding roughly with parenthood, but I caught the end of the awards Sunday night after watching "The Dark Knight" on DVD in anticipation of the late Heath Ledger winning for best supporting actor (and deservedly so from what I saw).Rush Limbaugh is a bigger threat to this country than Bar-, uh, Osama bin Laden.
Subtle revisionism by Air America's Thom Hartmann on Friday in observing the anniversary of FDR's birth in 1882. Here is what Hartmann said before playing two audio clips from speeches by Roosevelt --HARTMANN: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, speaking of what he saw when he became president ...What Hartmann neglects to mention is that Roosevelt made the first remarks cited above in his second inaugural in January 1937, fully four years after he took office, and not "when he became president" as Hartmann claims. That four year time span, not incidentally, dovetails with the time it took for FDR's predecessor, Herbert Hoover, to allegedly cause the Great Depression.
ROOSEVELT: I see one third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished ...
HARTMANN: ... And what he proposed to do about that, he said we have, that generation, and I would say again ...
ROOSEVELT: There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations, much is given. Of other generations, much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.
HARTMANN: There you go.
Complaining about a steep rise in his health insurance costs, radio host Ed Schultz made an alarming suggestion Wednesday after citing government laws on speed limits, vehicle emissions and smoking in public places --In fact, you don't have to look very far to find mandates in your own back yard, from your own local folks. Yet when it comes to health care, all of us are allowed to just take a free ride. And you know what? You look at the financial situation, the crisis that we are in globally, you look at the financial crisis that we are in trying to save our financial structure and Wall Street and the trillion dollars that's going to have to be put into infrastructure, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you can take apart the budget all you want and say, well, this is pork, that is pork. You know what? You and I are pork. Because we are unwilling to accept a mandate from the government that would order us to exercise! I'm serious about this!Starting with largely sedentary talk show hosts!
As of today -- my first post was on Jan. 27, 2004 while political reporter at the Cape Cod Times, making the Political Notes column published Mondays a continuous online offering from the paper.Will any of us ever again hear John Mellencamp's "Small Town" without thinking of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, he of the po' boy roots in South Carolina who went onward and upward to Grishamesque fame as an exceedingly well-compensated trial lawyer?
Or U2's once powerful rocker, "Beautiful Day," rendered threadbare by John Kerry's determined overuse?
Or, going back a few years, the Clinton-Gore team's branding of Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" to the point it is nearly impossible to hear the tune without conjuring up images of Al and Tipper shedding their erstwhile disdain for rock n' roll to Munster-dance across stage.
In the interest of adding diversity to campaign theme songs, some suggestions for aural alternatives. More to follow as circumstances warrant ...
For Joe Lieberman -- "Living on a Prayer," Jon Bon Jovi; "Happiness is a Warm Gun," "If I Were a Rich Man," the Beatles; soundtrack to "Fiddler on the Roof"
Howard Dean -- "We're Not Going to Take it," Twisted Sister; "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word," Elton John' "I Musta Got Lost," J. Geils Band; "Money for Nothing," Dire Straits; "Yesterday," Beatles.
Wesley Clark -- "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" (by one-hit wonders from early '70s who returned to much-deserved anonymity); "I Love a Man in Uniform," Gang of Four
The Rev. Al Sharpton -- "Play That Funky Music," Wild Cherry; theme from "Shaft," Isaac Hayes; "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," Temptations
John Kerry -- "The Ballad of John and Yoko," Beatles (agreed, list is top-heavy with Fab Four); "The Ballad of the Green Berets," Sgt. Barry Sandler; "Bat Out of Hell," Meatloaf
John Edwards -- "Southern Man," Neil Young; "Walking on Sunshine," Katrina and the Waves
Dennis Kucinich -- "Start Me Up," Rolling Stones; "People are Strange," the Doors; "Four Dead in Ohio," Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Nirvana
Then you have just the overall collapse or disintegration of our health care system with 46 million Americans uninsured.And is it my imagination or is that figure of 46 million marginally larger than it was in the early '90s, when the Clintons sought to nationalize health care, while our population has increased by tens of millions?
Yet, as Mr. Bush left Washington, in a last angry frenzy his critics again distorted his record, maligned his character and repeated untruths about his years in the Oval Office. Nothing they wrote or said changes the essential facts.
To start with, Mr. Bush was right about Iraq. The world is safer without Saddam Hussein in power. And the former president was right to change strategy and surge more U.S. troops.
A legion of critics (including President Barack Obama) claimed it couldn't work. They were wrong. Iraq is now on the mend, the war is on the path to victory, al Qaeda has been dealt a humiliating defeat, and a democracy in the heart of the Arab world is emerging. The success of Mr. Bush's surge made it possible for President Obama to warn terrorists on Tuesday "you cannot outlast us."
One of the most insipid interviews I've heard, between liberal radio host Ed Schultz and Congressman Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the sole Muslim in Congress as Schultz invariably describes Ellison. Choice morsels from their schmooze on Thursday --Schultz: All right, congressman, you're on the Financial Services and Judiciary committees. They're going to get a lot of attention in this next session. The incoming Obama administration, should they launch a criminal investigation into the Bush administration officials to see whether they broke the law in the name of national security. Are you for or against a Sept. 11-style commission with subpoena power?And I sincerely mean that, Ed ...
Ellison: Yes. And that's a complete sentence.
Ellison: If our standard for being appointed is perfection, then somebody's going to be appointed. There's nobody who is not messed up, screwed up or goofed and I don't think we should have an unreasonable standard.And the "messed up, screwed up or goofed" are deserving of the most consequential jobs in our government.
Ellison: We had a couple of economists come in last week and month and (what) they said is that time really is of the essence and every day that we delay, you know, more people are going to get laid off, and if you're laid off then you don't want to spend no money 'cause you don't know if you're going to have any money and if you don't spend any money, then people, somebody else is going to get laid off because their company isn't making any money. So there's this ugly, vicious cycle.Yet despite dire situation warranting immediate attention, the specter of show trials for Bush, Cheney, et al., is impossible for Ellison to shake. Schultz points out that Obama appears lukewarm to such a spectacle.
Schultz: Is this front and center? I mean, I know that the Congress can multitask, we got a lot of things going on, but do you think this will happen in a timely fashion?Among those who want "something done" is the legal arm of al Qaeda, whose members are following developments with keen interest.
Ellison: Well, if I have anything to say about it, it will. I think that there's a number of members of, in Congress, in the Progressive Caucus, in other things like that ... As a matter of fact, earlier today, you know, we had a presentation from some professors on this issue who have studied it quite a bit who said, look, you know, if you guys let this, you know, we've had impeachments based on a president lying about sex. Now if you say that this guy doesn't have to, that there's no rebuking of what he did, we're essentially greenlighting everything he did. And so there is, there's a strong (sic) people in the community who want something done and there's a number of members of Congress who want something done. So around here, you know, things happen if you put effort behind them and I'm willing to do that.
President-elect Barack Obama's pick for Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, failed to pay more than $30,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes over a four-year period, a revelation that could damage his credibility and hurt his chances for an easy confirmation.Treasurer Geithner, meet Senator Franken. I'm sure you'll have lots to talk about.
Schultz: Do you think that Obama is open to updating the system?
Rinaldi: Oh absolutely, I know he stands for it. His transition team has been open with us. You know, we have to continue to grow the system. So it's really been, it's been a fresh of breath air. I really, I mean, a fresh of breath air.
Arguably the most inept Sunday talk show appearance in memory, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the most recent "Meet the Press," especially when new host David Gregory hammered away at Reid's claim in the early stages of the surge that the war in Iraq was "lost" --MR. GREGORY: Let me ask you about the war in Iraq. In April of 2007, this is what you said: "I believe myself that ... this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything." Were you wrong?Reid said "this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything" in April 2007. On Sunday Reid claimed when he made this statement, "they weren't talking about the surge." All except Reid, and apparently apropo of nothing. The opposite is true -- "they" sure as hell were talking about the surge, meaning just about everyone who gave a damn about the war.SEN. REID: David, I first met General David Petraeus in Iraq. He was training the Iraqi forces at that time. At that time, he knew it wasn't working. After he became the commander in Iraq, he and I sat down and talked. He said to me, and he said within the sound of everyone's voice, "The war cannot be won militarily." I said it differently than he did. But it needed a change in direction. Petraeus brought that about. He brought it about--the surge helped, of course it helped. But in addition to that, the urging of me and other people in Congress and the country dictated a change, and that took place. So...
MR. GREGORY: But you said the surge was not accomplishing anything. Even Barack Obama said last fall that it exceeded everyone's expectations and succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.
SEN. REID: Listen, at that--the time that statement was made, the surge--they weren't talking about the surge. Petraeus added to the surge some very, very interesting things that changed things. He said a lot--just simply numbers of troops is not going to do the deal. What we need to do is work with the Iraqi people, which we haven't done before. That's where the Awakening Councils came about, as a result of David Petraeus' genius. He's done--he will be written about in the history books for years to come. My original statement was in keeping what David Petraeus said; that is, the war cannot be won militarily.
MR. GREGORY: Do you believe that the war in Iraq has been lost?
SEN. REID: I don't think at this stage we can talk about that with any degree of sensibility. That has to be something that will talked about in the history books to come. We...
MR. GREGORY: So you spoke to soon in 2007?
SEN. REID: David Petraeus and Harry Reid spoke at the same time. David Petraeus said that the war cannot be won militarily, I said what I said. Who, who phrased it the best is...
MR. GREGORY: You said that the war is lost. Today, in 2009, that's no longer your view?
SEN. REID: David, listen, someone else will have to determine that as the years go on. What has the war done? It's brought about--it's destabilized the Middle East. We have a civil war going on in Israel. We have a civil war in Iraq, as indicated today, more than 50 people killed with a bomb in Iraq today. We have Lebanon, a civil war there. We have Iran thumbing their nose with every, everyone. And if that weren't bad enough, our standing in the world community is so far down as a result of this war, so--and that doesn't take into consideration the tens of thousands who have been injured...
MR. GREGORY: Mm-hmm.
SEN. REID: ...and the thousands have been killed in the war. So it's, it's--historians will have to talk about what the war in Iraq did. But I think historians today indicate, as I have, the outline that I've given.
"Blagojevich is obviously a corrupt individual. I think that's pretty clear."This from a former trial lawyer, no less.
The results are so impressive, Hydroxatone was given away in the VIP gift bags at the Sundance Film Festival!
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Unintentionally funny moment yesterday on Ed Schultz's radio show when Schultz asked Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm about the Bush administration's role in possible bailout of the Big Three. Granholm's response --"I'm not sure what the White House is doing. Actually, I mean, I just got off the phone with them. I know that they are looking at a wide variety of options and that they're going to present the president with the best option of all of those options."Translation: Actually, I mean, I know what the White House is doing and I don't agree with it.
Another Senator Kennedy? The crazy speculation about Hillary Clinton's Senate seat may not be so crazy after all. A Democrat who would know tells ABC News that New York governor David Paterson has talked to Caroline Kennedy about taking the seat, which was once held by her uncle, Robert F. Kennedy. It’s not exactly shocking that Paterson would reach out to one of the most highly respected public figures in New York, but this is: Sources say Kennedy is considering it, and has not ruled out coming to Washington to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate.
A few years ago, the famously private Caroline Kennedy would be the last Kennedy expected to serve in Congress, but of course, she took on a much more high-profile role during the presidential campaign and, if she does it, would be more than New York’s junior Senator; she’d have closer ties to the Obama White House than any of her colleagues, a direct line to the East Wing.
When Robert Kennedy, Jr. took himself out of the running for the seat earlier this week, he told Jonathan Hicks of the New York Times, “Caroline Kennedy would be the perfect choice if she would agree to it.” And one more thing: We hear that President-elect Obama has made it clear that he thinks Caroline Kennedy would be a great choice.
If this actually happens, I wouldn't be surprised. Caroline Kennedy is the Kennedys' last hope, at least when it comes to politics.
"This is a global situation. We have to be Americans and we have to puck up and you know what? We all have to be risk-takers, not personally, we're going to have to be risk-takers through the government."
... according to a story in today's Boston Globe --The Bush administration is expected to issue as early as Friday a favorable final environmental review of the nation's first offshore wind farm project, clearing the way for Cape Wind to obtain a federal lease to erect 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound.I've written a bit about the Cape Wind project over the years, first as a reporter with the Cape Cod Times and then as blogger at Wind Farmer's Almanac and Renewable Energy Revolution, media adviser to the Clean Power Now non-profit advocacy group, op-ed contributor to the Providence Journal and freelance writer at CapeCodToday.com.
Nicholas Pardi, a spokesman for the Minerals Management Service, said last week that the agency, part of the Interior Department, is planning to release its findings "by the end of the year." Supporters of the project who have been told of the agency's timetable said a favorable review should come in the next few weeks and possibly on Dec. 5. ...
"And if we have to throw out a loan, even if it doesn't work, so what! It's only $25 billion, it's a drop in the bucket."So much for the antiquated belief that failure is not an option.
First one that comes to mind -- it kills the hoary myth that conservatives steal elections and undermines what little credibility the claim has for elections in the past."Once a terrorist plot is about to be executed and the terrorists are in the airport already, it's a bit late to try to stop it."
Over-the-top rhetoric and rage from lefty talker Ed Schultz yesterday in responding to McCain robocalls criticizing Barack Obama's ties to '60s radical William Ayers, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's call to investigate members of Congress who are not "pro-American" and Congressman Robin Hayes saying "liberals hate real Americans." Here's what Schultz had to say, referring to Republicans --SCHULTZ: They hate Democrats. They hate liberals. They actually, I think they want a civil war. I really do, I think they want a civil war.
CALLER: I'm going to have to call you out on what your response was to Congressman (Robin) Hayes, who I do not know. I live in western North Carolina
close to Asheville, I hope to see you next Wednesday night. But we cannot accomplish getting Barack Obama elected in this coming election by stooping to the level of some of the other talk show hosts. And when you came back with your comment concerning Representative Hayes a while ago and making fun of his accent, talking about that you think they want to start a civil war, I think you're taking a chance of alienating a lot of folks that are still on the fence down here in North Carolina and Obama needs North Carolina. We can't stoop to their level.
SCHULTZ: Well, first of all, Rodney, you have your opinion and I have mine. The conservative movement in this country, in my opinion, completely out of material and now in the arena of being vile. For a United States congressman to claim that there actually is a political movement in this country known as liberals that hate real Americans, now Rodney, if you want to let that go, fine.
CALLER: (crosstalk) No, I don't want to let it go, Ed, I did not say that at all. I am a liberal, I am a supporter, but there are a lot of people that are going to respond to your ...
SCHULTZ: Well let 'em freakin' respond to it! Rodney, Rodney, let them respond to it! Let 'em respond to it! Come to the freakin' town hall meeting and respond to it! I'm not apologizing!
CALLER: I'm not, well, I guess ..
SCHULTZ: God! I mean, it amazes me, it absolutely amazes me how many experts there are out there in talk radio! You can't say this because this might happen. You can't say that because that might happen. You can't do any of that because that might happen. You know what something, Rodney? You don't know your ass from third base!
CALLER: Wait a minute now, Ed ...
SCHULTZ: No, no, no, wait a minute, you don't! How do you, what do you know what to talk about?!
CALLER: What do I know what to talk about ...?
SCHULTZ: What do you, how do you know what to talk about?! How do you know what strikes the passion of the people? Have you traveled the country? Have you talked to people in market after market? Have you looked in their eyes and seen the frustration with the conservative movement in this country?
CALLER: OK, but when you start doing things that take away from ...
SCHULTZ: That's your freakin' opinion!
CALLER: Well, and evidently you have a very strong one, but I'm concerned about your ...
SCHULTZ: Well, you shouldn't be concerned about it, Rodney! Why don't you just get off your ass and start working!
CALLER: (crosstalk) ... in North Carolina for the first time in a presidential race, it could be a very important part of this campaign, and the success of this campaign. That's my concern. It's not defending Robin Hayes. It's despicable what he said, I'm embarrassed by it.
SCHULTZ: Well, why didn't you start out with that? But instead it's an attack on me (crosstalk) I mean, you started this, Rodney, I can't deal with you, you don't want a conversation. You don't want a conversation. You want to be put on automatic pilot, so I tell you what I'm going to do, I'm going to turn the show over to you for a minute and you'll have the final word.
CALLER: OK. Well then I'll say, I'll probably speak to you on Wednesday night in Ashville (N.C., where Schultz will moderate town hall forum) and in the meantime, I hope that everybody will take a deep breath, walk slowly, drink plenty of ice water and be careful when they're responding to a negative comment so that we don't do more damage than we do good. We've got a chance to win North Carolina for Obama. There are a lot of conservatives, evangelicals, Southern Baptists, Democrats in this state that for the first time are ready to vote for a Democrat and give Obama a chance to win North Carolina. And I want us all to be careful that we don't ruin it by responding to one person's very stupid comments, of Rep. Hayes who I don't know ...
SCHULTZ: Now Rodney, now I've given you a minute, I've given you a minute. Now is it OK if I talk now?
CALLER: Yeah, Ed.
SCHULTZ: OK, goodbye. We're right back on the Ed Schultz show (cut to commercials).
"Fox News is expected to announce today the hiring of a new contributor, a veteran national security correspondent who has shared a Pulitzer Prize.
"Her name is Judith Miller, and she is nothing if not controversial. Miller left the New York Times in 2005 after testifying in the trial of former White House aide Lewis 'Scooter' Libby that he had leaked her information about a CIA operative. Miller's conduct in the case, which led to her serving 85 days in jail for initially refusing to testify, drew rebukes from the Times executive editor and some of her colleagues.
"In the run-up to the Iraq war, Miller reported stories on the search for Saddam Hussein's supposed weapons of mass destruction that turned out to be untrue, some of which were cited in a Times editor's note acknowledging the flawed coverage.
"Miller, now with the conservative Manhattan Institute, wrote when she left the paper that she had 'become a lightning rod for public fury over the intelligence failures that helped lead our country to war.. ..."
Lefty radio host Ed Schultz wasted little time demonstrating rank hypocrisy during Friday's show. In the first hour, Schultz condemned criticism of Obama from McCain-Palin supporters as seen in a video posted at blogger interrupted from a Palin rally in Ohio."But it's the hate in their heart that is so disturbing. It's the vile attitude that they would have towards an already elected American official. It's as if, you know, Barack Obama is coming out of the sewer, as Lucifer himself. (Schultz lowers voice for emphasis) He's a United States senator. He's been elected to a very elite body of representatives that guide this country in some very tough times of decision making, whether you like the body or not."
"Look, Norm, just answer the question. Did somebody else by your freakin' clothes, you scumbag?"
"SOCCER moms and Joe Sixpacks, listen up. Get your beer, mooseburgers and caribou dips ready. Sarah Palin is doing "Saturday Night Live." Not Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin doing "Saturday Night Live." But the Sarah Herself. She has already OK'd it. She's booked. It's confirmed. Done deal. Sketches are being sketched as we speak. She - eyeglasses, haircomb, designer jacket and trunkful of gosh-darns, golly-gees and gol-dangs - will be on "SNL" Saturday night, Oct. 25. Sarah's rehearsal time has already been penciled in for Friday the 24th. And it's because she wants to do it.
"So, my question is: Does this mean Tina Fey has plans to run for VP? "
"It's looking more and more likely that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will appear on ''Saturday Night Live'' -- to have some fun with Tina Fey ... Some key McCain staffers are content with Palin joking about the "SNL" routines on the campaign trail -- as when she scribbled "I'm not Tina Fey" on a supporter's cell phone and said she'd dressed as Fey on Halloween. But others -- including the governor herself -- think a return punch on the NBC airwaves is what's needed. ...
... I'm hearing some sort of Palin tweak of Fey's American Express commercials is in
the works. While next weekend's ''Saturday Night Live'' will be a rerun, it is possible Palin could appear Thursday on the first of NBC's ''Weekend Update'' specials in prime time."
"One thing that he talked about that was quite interesting to me was Obama's role during the bailout and he said, you know, he talked about this conference call with Warren Buffett and Paul Volcker and Obama's other economic advisers, Bob Rubin, and how much, as he described it, he said Obama was in friggin' command! You know, he was really exercised about how good and how sophisticated Obama was in his handling of that crisis and how much, you know, he seemed like a president on those conference calls. He said he called him later and said, you know, you sold me, sucker! You know, which is kind of the way Joe Biden talks. Now that was interesting because it was a little bit of a reflection that, I think, Biden, not just because he ran against Obama, but because, you know, he's so much more junior, had some questions over the course of 2008 about whether Obama was really ready and had the capacity to be a great president. And those questions have been resolved in Joe Biden's mind."Resolved in Biden's mind during the financial crisis -- which began fully a month after the Democratic convention. With Biden harboring doubts about Obama in the interim.
"I've always felt like the way you talk about the war in Iraq is to take the biggest possible perspective on it, which is, the analogy for me is that we had some sort of horrible illness as a country, which was evident in our vulnerability to global terrorism (emphasis added) and we went into the hospital for that illness and what we were given was a medicine to which we were allergic and we had a horrible, awful, very threatening allergic reaction to it. And now, after five and a half years (laughs) in Iraq, we've conquered the allergic reaction and we have sort of gotten rid of the negative, some of the negative effects of the wrong medicine that we took. But we still have this horrible illness."
"Are journalists playing favorites with some of the key political figures involved with regulatory oversight of U.S. financial markets?
"MSNBC's Chris Matthews launched several vitriolic attacks on the Republican Party on his Sept. 17, 2008, show, suggesting blame for Wall Street problems should be focused in a partisan way. However, he and other media have failed to thoroughly examine the Democratic side of the blame game.
"Prominent Democrats ran Fannie Mae, the same government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) that donated campaign cash to top Democrats. And one of Fannie Mae's main defenders in the House - Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., a recipient of more than $40,000 in campaign donations from Fannie since 1989 - was once romantically involved with a Fannie Mae executive.
"The media coverage of Frank's coziness with Fannie Mae and his pro-Fannie Mae stances has been lacking. Of the eight appearances Frank made on the three broadcasts networks between Jan. 1, 2008, and Sept. 21, 2008, none of his comments dealt with the potential conflicts of interest. Only six of the appearances dealt with the economy in general and two of those appearances, including an April 6, 2008 appearance on CBS's "60 Minutes" were about his opposition to a manned mission to Mars.
"Frank has argued that family life "should be fair game for campaign discussion," wrote the Associated Press on Sept. 2. The comment was in reference to GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her pregnant daughter. "They're the ones that made an issue of her family," the Massachusetts Democrat said to the AP.
"The news media have covered the relationship in the past, but there have been no mentions since 2005, according to Nexis and despite the collapse of Fannie Mae. The July 3, 1998, Reliable Source column in The Washington Post reported Frank, who is openly gay, had a relationship with Herb Moses, an executive for the now-government controlled Fannie Mae. The column revealed the two had split up at the time but also said Frank was referring to Moses as his "spouse." Another Washington Post report said Frank called Moses his "lover" and that the two were "still friends" after the breakup ..."
"McCain picked Palin for a number of reasons--youth, pizzazz, energy, appeal to the base and to middle-class women, to the West and to blue-collar voters--but it may turn out that the main contribution she makes to his effort is in goading the Democrats into spasms of self-defeating and entirely lunatic rage. Somehow, every element of her life--the dual offense of being a beauty-queen and hunter; the Down syndrome baby who wasn't aborted; the teenage daughter about to get married, whose baby also wasn't aborted; the non-metrosexual husband working the nightshift; the very fact of five children--touched a nerve on the liberal template, and sent the whole beast into convulsions, opening an intriguing and somewhat frightening window onto the turbulent id of the left."
Maybe it's just me, but isn't this kinda newsworthy? The San Francisco Chronicle also thinks so, as does Amanda Carpenter at Townhall.com and Renee over at RedMassGroup.com where I first saw it --"North to Alaska: It turns out that well before he was jettisoned for what he says was his refusal to fire trooper Wooten at the behest of Sarah Palin, Monegan had his own share of domestic troubles - some of them spilling all the way down to the Bay Area.
"In October 1994, Monegan's estranged wife, who had moved from Alaska to the Peninsula with the couple's two daughters after more than 10 years of marriage, sought a temporary restraining order against him -- accusing Monegan of threatening to kill her, waving a gun at her and dislocating her shoulder, (emphasis added) according to her declaration on file in Santa Clara County Superior Court.
"In an interview last week, Georgene Moldovan said Monegan had threatened several times to throw her body in an Alaska river.
"Monegan, 57, who has since remarried, vigorously denied Moldovan's allegations, both in court papers filed at the time and in an interview with us last week. "I'm not a door slammer - I don't punch walls," he said.
"Monegan admitted to dislocating Moldovan's shoulder, but said it was an accident that had happened before they were married, while they "were wrestling and tickling."
Plus, Palin intimidates the hell out of Clinton ..."WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has canceled an appearance at a New York rally next week after organizers blindsided her by inviting Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, aides to the senator said Tuesday.
"Several American Jewish groups plan a major rally outside the United Nations on Sept. 22 to protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Organizers said Tuesday that both Clinton, who nearly won the Democratic nomination for president, and Palin, Republican candidate John McCain's running mate, are expected to attend.
"That would have set up a closely scrutinized and potentially explosive pairing in the midst of a presidential campaign, one in which the New York senator is campaigning for Democratic nominee Barack Obama while Palin actively courts disappointed Clinton supporters.
"Clinton aides were furious. They first learned of the plan to have both Clinton and Palin appear when informed by reporters.
" 'Her attendance was news to us, and this was never billed to us as a partisan political event,' said Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines. 'Sen. Clinton will therefore not be attending.' "... (emphasis added)
Maybe Air America Radio and MSNBC pontificator Rachel Maddow just can't help herself."Today, I am pleased to announce the next step forward in our policy of "return on success." General Petraeus has just completed a review of the situation in Iraq - and he and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have recommended that we move forward with additional force reductions. Over the next several months, we will bring home about 3,400 combat support forces (emphasis added)- including aviation personnel, explosive ordnance teams, combat and construction engineers, military police, and logistical support forces. By November, we will bring home a Marine battalion that is now serving in Anbar province. And in February of 2009, another Army combat brigade will come home. This amounts to about 8,000 additional American troops returning home without replacement. And if the progress in Iraq continues to hold, General Petraeus and our military leaders believe additional reductions will be possible in the first half of 2009."Maddow also said something Monday that was unintentionally amusing -- "I think lying makes you look bad, I don't know. Maybe that's controversial."
"After President Bush announced yesterday that troop levels will stay the same through the end of his presidency and that he proposes that the next president bring home just 8,000 troops next February, which would leave more American forces in Iraq indefinitely then were there before the surge, John McCain didn't go on camera to comment on the subject, opting instead for a short written statement."
"As President Bush announced today that he would draw down the level of troops in Iraq by 8,000 early next year, the presidential candidates and their surrogates — as well as other politicians — began weighing in."In other words, 8,000 US troops will leave Iraq by February, not in "next February," as Maddow falsely claims, nor did Bush say "troop levels will stay the same through the end of his presidency," as Maddow also pulled out of thin air.
"If we had it his way, blacks would be slaves again! I mean, I half-expect Clarence Thomas to come out and say, 'C'mon! Put me back in chains and send me down to the cotton mill!' "
"Michael Phelps isn't the only person hoping to make waves on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live this weekend. He will be joined by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who'll be jetting in from New Hampshire, PEOPLE has learned, but whose role in the show is like many of the voters he covets: undecided.
"The details of the sketch are still being worked out," an Obama campaign spokesperson tells PEOPLE. ..."
One devoutly hopes the McCain-Palin campaign harps on this incessantly. "... Mrs. Palin also killed the infamous Bridge to Nowhere in her own state. Yes, she once supported the project: But after witnessing the problems created by earmarks for her state and for the nation's budget, she did what others like me have done: She changed her position and saved taxpayers millions. Even the Alaska Democratic Party credits her with killing the bridge.
"When the Senate had its chance to stop the Bridge to Nowhere and transfer the money to Katrina rebuilding, Messrs. Obama and Biden voted for the $223 million earmark, (emphasis added) siding with the old boys' club in the Senate. And to date, they still have not publicly renounced their support for the infamous earmark."
Hard to believe the lefty radio host would say this. Then again, not at all. Brian Maloney of The Radio Equalizer is all over it.... During the first hour of Friday's Randi Rhodes Show, she had this to
say about McCain's sacrifices during the Vietnam War (clip follows immediately
thereafter):
RHODES: Of course he (McCain) became very friendly with the
Vietnamese. They called him the Prince. He was well treated actually. And he was
well treated because he traded these propaganda interviews for good treatment.
So look, it's a horrible story anyway you cut it, anyway you look at it, any way
you you you deal with it.But, it's not the story Fred Thompson told. Nor is it
the story Rudy Giuliani told. Nor is it the story Sarah Palin told. Nor is it
the story anybody. Cindy McCain knew to limit herself to 'I think what my
husband did in Vietnam was heroic' because she knows the truth too. ...
"... In fact, one widely circulated, very long list (which appears, among other places, on Librarian.net's comment string and has been disavowed by the website's owner) is obviously false because it includes four books that had not yet hit shelves when Palin became mayor in 1996 (emphasis added) — "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," all by J.K. Rowling. ..."
Listeners to "The Ed Schultz Show" must wonder if McCain's selection of Sarah Palin for running mate brought out the inner Neanderthal in Schultz, a top-ranked progressive talker who broadcasts out of Fargo, N.D.
"Visibly upset" -- how could they tell?"The item in today's Drudge Report is categorically untrue. There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this Presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over."
"It's almost like being in captivity. It really is."
Classic example of Air America Radio host Rachel Maddow's twisted logic - on Tuesday, MSNBC's "Race for the White House" host David Gregory asked whether Barack Obama's lack of experience was fair game for criticism if Democrats disparaged Sarah Palin for the same.If you have an inexperienced vice president, that means that the country could be in their hands. With Barack Obama, if they experience worries about him, if something happens to him, the country will be in good hands with Joe Biden. It doesn't go both directions.
Romney reels in a big one, and the timing couldn't be better with Huckabee surging. Here's what the editors of National Review had to say - 
Who better to receive the first such award than its namesake, the unhinged and exceedingly angry radio host Mike Malloy for this timeless rant on Friday that contained no less than four - count 'em - four lies about 9/11:
John Lennon retreated to the Dakota in 1975 to raise his newborn son and didn't come out for the next five years.
