Plea to Olbermann

Not long ago, I posted some criticism of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann. I used to love Olbermann, but he jumped the shark when he got all self- important and self- promoting, and has been reduced to something of a hack with his outright campaigning for Barack Obama during his show Countdown and on campaign coverage.

Well, it seems I have an ally in Time's James Poniewozik. After Olbermann's latest over-the-top "special comment," in which he ripped Hillary Clinton's comments that alluded to the RFK assassination.

As the Huffington Post quoted:

"Even if we concede his argument--that Clinton was at best callously and at worst intentionally suggesting she should stay in the race because Obama might be killed--every time he turns up the volume to 11 like this lately, he sounds like just another of the cable gasbags he used to be a corrective to."

(Maybe Keith is down because, as Gawker reports, he's having some tax return problems.)

So this is a plea for Keith to come back to me, to all of us. Poniewozik writes that Olbermann can teach viewers like me a valuable lesson:

"... maybe the experience of being annoyed by someone you used to constantly agree with could teach political audiences something about how they have appeared all along to their adversaries... is it really they who've changed? Or are they simply less charming when they're not confirming your comfortable beliefs?"

I don't know or care. Keith needs to regain just a little credibility, maybe tone it down a little bit, even against the Bush administration. Obama's great-- we get it, Clinton's conniving-- I know. But it's gotten tired. And we sorely miss his astute, inspired and not-so obvious commentary.

Quote of the Day 5/ 30

"Scott McClellan says the president lied to get us into Iraq. That took balls, Scott... 5 years ago."

- Stephen Colbert

Picture of the Day 5/30

President Bush gave his final commencement address as Commander-in-Chief to the Air Force Academy. He gave a great speech (I'm sure) and then proceeded to chest bump and flex (not pictured) with some recent grads.

On McCain's Remarkable Buttocks

Check bellow and you'll see that Barack Obama released his medical records yesterday (Thursday afternoon). That was in response to John McCain doing the same with 8 years (1200 pages worth) of his records on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend (for 3 hours).

Here was Jon Stewart's (absolutely hilarious) take:

Scotty Shines a Light

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has been roundly criticized recently by the Bush administration for his new book (Karl Rove even likened him to "a liberal blogger").

You remember McClellen, he was the pudgy, beta- male that briefed the press early in the Iraq war and who (unwittingly, it would seem) lied about Karl Rove and Scooter Libby's involvement in the Valerie Plame debacle. He was pretty much a source of White House disinformation for a couple of years.

A Bush guy from Texas, McClellan came to DC under-prepared and ill-equipped to deal with the tremendous pressure of entrenched Washington neo-cons with their own agenda-- not unlike the president himself.

In his memoir, What Happened, McClellan puts a startlingly fine point on what most of us already know: The administration manipulated the facts surrounding Iraq, terrorism and WMD to get Americans to back a war under false pretenses.

McClellan was such an ardent "Bushie" that his words are even more striking than former administration and military officials that have also spoken out.

Watch McClellan's amazing interview with Today's Meredith Viera, where he details the personal side and professional roles of the president, Vice President Cheney, Secretaries Condi Rice and Don Rumsfeld--

Obama's Health Records Released

Barack Obama's long-time physician released his medical records, and proclaimed the Illinois senator "in excellent health."

"Senator Barack Obama is in overall good physical and mental health needed to maintain the resiliency required in the Office of President," Dr. David Scheiner wrote.

Obama's biggest problems are a history of smoking (he's chewing Nicorette to try and quit again) and a family history of cancer.

HIllary's Montana Ad

Hillary Clinton is still running for president, here's her first TV ad for the June 3 Montana primary.

Mission to Mars

NASA's Phoenix has sent pictures back from its Mars mission. Below is a video compilation of some amazing footage of the red planet. The probe touched down near one of Mars' poles, and will help discover if Mars' icy plains could have supported life. They are the first ever images of their kind.

The Whole World is Watching

Here's a brief clip from the NY Times with an international take on the US presidential election.

Every man's fantasy-- Pic of the Day 5/26

A Texas court decided that the state overstepped its bounds in removing children from their parents' (fashion- forward) polygamist sect. The court said the state failed to prove the children were in "imminent danger."

They might not have seen this pic...


... I think the one in the purple is actually an ex girlfriend of mine. We dated for a while, but then she told me she wanted to see other people, lots of other people....

(it took me 12 hours to come up with that joke)

Ellen & McCain go at it

John McCain went on the Ellen Degeneres' show, and Ellen addressed the "elephant in the room" by bringing up gay marriage. They had a strained, but cordial debate.

McCain is being smart by trying to maintain his independent appeal. He knows that '08 is the Democrats' year. They're going to increase their majorities in the House and Senate no matter what, he wants to be a candidate voters can pull a lever for, even while voting Democratic down the rest of the ticket.

Quote of the Day 5/21

"It was in this great state where we took the first steps of an unlikely journey to change America. The skeptics predicted we wouldn't get very far. The cynics dismissed us as a lot of hype and a little too much hope. And by the fall, the pundits in Washington had all but counted us out. But the people of Iowa had a different idea..."

- Presumptive Democratic Nominee Barack Obama giving a speech in Iowa on the night he secured a majority of the elected- delegates for the primaries.

According to CNN, Obama's five delegates from his crushing defeat in Kentucky give him 1627 of the total 3253, a majority. He is unlikely to reach the clinching 2025 without help from superdelegates.

Obama' s campaign really took off in Iowa, where a very young and predominantly white electorate gave his candidacy a sense of possibility and legitimacy. Before that, he even trailed among African- Americans, among whom he now leads at about 9:1.

Back in the Hawkeye State, Obama looked toward his general election showdown with Sen. John McCain, and said the Republican primary was a bunch of guys trying to "Out- Bush" one another, and that McCain won.

Meanwhile, he commended Sen. Clinton, and his campaign manager, David Axelrod wouldn't admit that the race is over. Of the secured majority he said, "It's an important milestone," but not the end of the race.

There Can Only Be One

Saturday Night Live put a political spin on the NBA playoff ads that have been airing this spring...

Here's an example of the real thing:



And SNL's:

Olbermann to Bush: Shut the Hell Up!

Keith Olbermann absolutely flew off the handle the other night. He used his closing comments to eviscerate the president for his insensitivity, dishonesty and callousness.



I've been critical of Olbermann on this site before. Parts of this clip bother me, I still think he's quite full of himself. But I respect his passion and sincerity.

As for what he says, I believe that he is factually correct. Bush was led all too happily down a path to unnecessary war by dishonest men like Ahmed Chalabi, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and other neo- cons. That's what happened.

They cooked evidence, twisted arms, intimidated, fabricated and scared us into Iraq. What's even worse is they had zero discernible plan for the aftermath, and were incompetent at every step of the way in building one as war unfolded.

One more thing...

In the clip in the post below, Chris Matthews takes a Righ- Wing radio host to task for comparing Barack Obama to Neville Chamberlain, but having no clue about Chamberlain's role in history. Watch it below, and read the post (if you want).

Toward the end, a thoroughly frustrated Matthews, who, if you've read any of his books, is a genuine history buff, calls James "a blank slate." He says, "This is pathetic... he's as bad as the White House press secretary who didn't know what the Cuban Missile Crisis was."

That's a reference to Press Secretary Dana Perino who admitted on NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me that she had no idea about that moment in American history.

Reason #243 to Hate Talk Radio: Kevin James

Last night on Hardball, Chris Matthews had Right-Wing radio host Kevin James on to argue that President Bush was right to use a speech in Israel to compare Barack Obama's call for diplomacy to those who wanted to appease Hitler in the late '30s.

Where to begin with this one?

From word 1 James is shouting and carrying on like a fake-tan ego maniac with severe 'roid rage. He also immediately changes his argument on whether or not President Bush referred to Obama.

Next, James had no idea what Neville Chamberlain did to appease Hitler. It's just a Ring-Wing talking point to compare anyone who wants to use diplomacy to the former UK PM. Matthews calls him out for about 3 mins, during which James, being the hack that he surely is, tries every trick to avoid the question and change the subject without admitting he just doesn't know.

To Matthews' credit, he doesn't let up. To (NY's own) Mark Green's credit (who was on to debate James) he astutely quotes Yitzak Rabin, points out the tired scare tactic of comparing everything to Hitler and gives the line of the show:

"Kevin, when you're in a hole, stop digging!"

Watch the clip and ask if there is something really wrong when a guy like this can host an open forum. I mean people actually listen to this man, and consider (even heed) what he has to say. Scary.



Every word he says in these 9-plus mins either factually incorrect or devoid of honesty. Why would Barack Obama go to the Knesset this week? It makes no sense, just like this guy.

Colbert and Papa Bear

You have probably seen the old clip of Bill O'Reilly blowing up at his Inside Edition staff, well here's a reaction from the O'Reilly's self proclaimed protoge Stephen Colbert:

Brokaw & Burgundy 1-on-1

Two giants of broadcasting went one on one on news and politics: Ron Burgundy and Tom Brokaw.

One way to put it: Quote of the Day 5/16

“This is bullshit, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset ... and make this kind of ridiculous statement.”

- Sen. Joe Biden on President Bush's comments before Israel's Knesset on its 60th anniversary. Bush said that

"... some people [believe the United States] should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along."

We have heard this foolish delusion before. Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

The comments seemed addressed to presumed Democratic nominee Barack Obama, who said he would open the lined of communication up with hostile forces like Iran and North Korea.

Ferrell's Bush on Climate Change

This is hilarious, Will Ferrell's President Bush imitation at its absolute best. It was for a TV special to raise awareness about climate change a while back. I haven't seen it in a while, and forgot how good it is.

Enjoy--