In The News

Kookaburras
Flickr: Powerhouse Museum Collection

Just as the DFHs said, the Bush Administration is building permanent military bases in Iraq. Bush wants to stay in Iraq 4-eva, no matter what platitudes he mouths.

Not only did Bush and Cheney authorize torture, McClatchy reports that the United States hid tortured prisoners from the International Red Cross. Prosecutors will call that "consciousness of guilt" when these murdering psychopaths are finally put on trial for war crimes at the Hague.

You won't hear this on gasbag TV, but polls show Obama leading in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Haven't they been telling us all year that Obama was doomed in Florida because the Dem primary there didn't count? Not. Even pundits who acknowledge Obama's lead see danger up ahead for Obama. Or maybe that song was playing in the background while Jake Tapper was reporting typing.

Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson (another groundbreaking white male addition to the white-male-dominated WaPo opinion pages) calls Al Franken "vulgar" in his column today. You heard that right, the man who dressed up the Psychopath-in-Chief in pretty words, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents around the world, that man calls Al Franken vulgar. Atrios knocks Gerson's phony argument out with two photos.

Speaking of the Psychopath-In-Chief, that MF who hasn't ever gone to the funeral of one of the men and women he sent to their deaths by lying us into Iraq, he went to the funeral of Saint Timmeh of Punditry. Some deaths count, and some are shoved under the rug.

How old is John McCain? He's older than carbon dating.

The will.i.am video putting Obama's New Hampshire primary speech to music, "Yes We Can", won an Emmy. (Watch it here)

Media Farewell to Saint Timmeh of Punditry

It's sad that Tim Russert died at the young age of 58. The hagiographical coverage, though, has gone a bit too far:

Hal Boedeker, Orlando Sentinel: Lessons of the Tim Russert coverage

Here's one thing you can say about journalists: Surely no one loves us as much as we love ourselves.

Eschaton: Worst Russert Related Commentary

I've been trying to hold back, but this is absurd:

It's surely no consolation to his family if we note that Russert dedicated himself to the pursuit of a noble cause: journalism, the free flow of information, the First Amendment, the need (more than ever) to hold politicians accountable for their words and actions. That, in fact, is more than a noble cause. It is patriotism. And his passing is sad proof that a patriot can sacrifice himself for the country he loves without dying in battle.

Even leaving aside the sharp contradiction between "free flow of information" and the Russert standard of "everything is presumed to be off the record," what sacrifice has Russert made? It's estimated that his annual salary was $5 million plus.

Comparing the "sacrifice" of celebrity journalists, even one who happens to die young, to people who get sent off to die in war isn't just absurd, it's obscene.

Roger (The Good) Ailes: And When They Rolled Away The Stone, Tim Was Gone

[SALLY] QUINN: I don't know any single person who ever thought that Tim was unfair.

...

QUINN: Yes, but, you know, the thing that is so interesting about it was that everybody believed Tim. There was never -- I never heard anybody say, "Do you think Tim is telling the truth?"

John Cole: Let's Get Something Straight

Tim Russert was a newsman. He was not the Pope. This is not the JFK assassination, or Reagan’s death, or the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. A newsman died. We know you miss him, but please shut up and get back to work.

Global Warming Ignored By Corporate Media

Cedar Rapids

Excellent post pointing out what the corporate media ignores: our "weird" weather is actually a direct consequence of climate change.

Kirk James Murphy, M.D., firedoglake: Another Gift From Global Climate Change: That Ugly Weather

Tonight Coach Mom called to tell me that a wind shear event this afternoon dropped a huge old pine tree on her neighbor's house; another neighbor can't get into their house because a piece of roof blocks the door; and half the town is without power. This is in the same tiny community that had a $30 million storm wash out several major roads June 19th of last year. That was their fourth major flood in two years.

MSNBC is in their second day of non-stop coverage of the untimely death of Tim Russert. It is sad that a man that young who was a great friend to all of them died, but it is not earth-shaking news. Tens of thousands are now dying every year in global-warming fueled natural disasters. Hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis, floods, tornadoes, and heat waves are covered as though this was just the weather, but it is actually earth-shattering news of climate change. Maybe if Tim Russert had drowned in a 500-year-flood, the media would cover global warming.

Reject and Denounce

I watched the Democratic debate on MSNBC in fits and starts this week, but I missed the part where Tim Russert asked Obama to disavow Louis Farrakhan. (Russert and Williams are so shallow and empty, and there was women's basketball on. Does Williams think speaking ponderously makes him sound smart? I still know he listens to Rush Limbaugh and doesn't think Limbaugh gets the credit he deserves -- yes, he said this -- so I know he's a moron.) The video of the Farrakhan exchange, from TPM, is above.

Obama has no relationship with Farrakhan. It was a complete and total Pumpkinhead bullshit gotcha moment. But Russert apparently thinks this is a legitimate questioning device. So let the denouncing and rejecting begin! Let's start with Pumpkinhead. He never denounced and rejected his good pal Don Imus when he used hateful racist and sexist language about the Rutgers women's basketball team. Russert: When are you going to disavow the hateful statements of Don Imus?

Today John McCain was endorsed by a hate-spewing preacher, John Hagee. And McCain embraces this endorsement. Shouldn't he have to denounce and reject Hagee who hates Jews, Muslims, Catholics, gays, women, Hurricane Katrina victims, well, pretty much anyone who isn't in his church. John McCain: When are you going to disavow the hateful statements of John Hagee?

As others have said, it's foolish for our political press to be making mountains of such shit and ignoring the issues, but if that's what they're going to do, could they at least do it to both parties?

Attytood: Questions for Tim Russert: When will you denounce your supporter Don Imus?

Down With Tyranny: SO WHEN WILL TIM RUSSERT DEMAND THAT HIS OLD PAL McCAIN DISAVOW THE ENDORSEMENT HE GOT YESTERDAY FROM BIGOTED PSYCHOPATH JOHN HAGEE?

MediaMatters: Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain's embrace of Hagee's support as it did to Obama's rejection of Farrakhan?

Glenn Greenwald: Some hateful, radical ministers -- white evangelicals -- are acceptable

Glenn Greenwald: Interview with Bill Donohue: Catholic League denounces McCain

Trust

TZVEE
Hillary Clinton is on Press the Meat today, and says she trusted the Bush Administration's promises about what they would do with the authority she gave them with her vote on Iraq.

She trusted Bush. That is why I DON'T TRUST HER. I knew enough not to trust Bush. Hadn't he spent his entire campaign in 2000 lying about his record? And about Al Gore, Bill Clinton, and even Hillary herself? And the 2000 election fight over the voters further cemented his lying liar status. How could she trust Bush? Or Cheney? Lying liars, both.

I can't stop shouting at the TV, because Tim Russert is not aware of this simple comeback. He doesn't ask her that question.

It Isn't Your Imagination

Typical Sunday talk show panel: Four white men, one white woman, no minorities
All those talking head shows are filled with white men. Men outnumber women 4 to 1; white outnumber minorities 7 to 1.



Media Matters for America: Sunday Shutout: The Lack of Gender & Ethnic Diversity on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

Gwen Ifill, still not invited on morning TV
Gwen Ifill, moderator of PBS's "Washington Week", listens during a taping of "Meet the Press" at the NBC Studios in Washington April 15, 2007. REUTERS/Meet The Press/Alex Wong/Handout (UNITED STATES).

I turn on the TV this morning to see whether Abu Gonzales has had the good sense to resign yet. (Silly me! He is an idiot and will never resign. Bush will never leave Iraq. Gonzales will never resign.)

On MSNBC, David Gregory is now hosting the morning show. He is interviewing Tim Russert. Stretch and LilRuss.

So do I have this right? Don Imus lost his job because he made offensive sexist and racist remarks, and now his show has been replaced by his old white male guests?

When we come back, David Gregory will be joined by Dr. Keith Ablow. The following hour, Mary Matalin. Then Mike Barnicle. White men and a white woman who was one of Imus's regular guests.

What happened to all those new faces we saw on TV last week discussing the demise of Imus?

'These Women Are Human Beings'

Jesus' General: Oliphant's Children

These young women didn't need to be degraded in that way by Imus, especially on the day following their greatest achievement thus far, taking second place in the National Woman's College Basketball Championship. They were terribly wronged. Not only were they insulted in one of the most vile and despicable ways possible, but it may have very well ruined one of the greatest moments of their lives.

I doubt Russert, Fineman, or Oliphant give a damn about these women's feelings. The Rutgers players can't help them sell their books or promote their projects like Imus does. But god damn it Tim, Howie, and Tom, these women are human beings. Really. They're actual people with the same feelings the rest of us have.

Take a look at these beautiful, accomplished young women and think about the violence Imus and his toadies committed against them:

Go look at all of them.

Here's the captain:

ESSENCE CARSON
Junior
Music Major
A gifted musician who plays the piano, bass guitar, drums and saxophone
Gold Medal winner With Team USA
Daughter of Stacey Robinson and the late Joseph Carson and second of three children.

Blogtopia* Roundup, Monday, March 12, 2007

Must view post of the day: Welcome to Pottersville with a series of screencaps of the FoxNewsMachine's fairly unbalanced news coverage. They are serial liars and should never be trusted. (It also reminded me of these pictures which someone photoshopped a few years ago.)

Digby on Russert and the craven corporate media as revealed by the Libby trial. I had forgotten that James Carville and Tim Russert's son have a sports radio program together. No wonder Mary Matalin could tell Scooter Libby that Russert hated Chris Matthews. Pillow talk!

salon.com exposes the Army for sending injured soldiers back to Iraq. (Send the twins, I say.) See, also, Jill at Brilliant at Breakfast, who says the only way to support these troops is to demand impeachment.

And while you're at salon.com, head over and read Glenn Greenwald's piece Our right-wing arbiters of masculinity with a couple of hilarious pictures of manly wingnuts as an added bonus.

ThinkProgress reports that Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) has called on VA Secretary Jim Nicholson to resign. You go girl.

MCCASKILL: [] And with all due respect to the head of the Veterans Administration, this is a man that was chairman of the Republican National Committee. The appearance isn’t right. You know, this looks like a Brownie situation. Let’s put somebody…

SCHIEFFER: Brownie as in FEMA.

MCCASKILL: As in FEMA. You know, this is a political appointment. This is somebody who has spent a whole lot of the last few years defending everything about the White House. Really, that’s not the right person to be leading the agency that’s supposed to protect our veterans.

And I really think it’s time we put somebody in charge of the Veterans Administration whose first priority are the veterans and not the politics surrounding the agency.

Talking Points Memo is following the fired US Attorney story most closely. NYTimes called for Abu Gonzales to resign in an editorial yesterday.

*yes, skippy! coined that phrase.

Stories I Missed While I Was On Vacation

Photo via 750 Volts

The U.S. drop-shipped 363 tons of cold, hard cash, the long green, on pallets to Baghdad in the days before the Coalition Provisional Government turned the reins over to the Iraqis. That's 4 BILLION dollars in $100 bills for those of you keeping score at home, the largest ever shipment by the Federal Reserve Bank. Think about that when you're paying your taxes in April. Think harder about that when you're voting in November!

Boston freaks out over a guerrilla marketing scheme involving light boxes. Do terrorists usually put brightly colored lights on their bombs?

Tim Russert's reputation in tatters: Dick Cheney's press flack testifies that they go to Press the Meat so they can control their message (Timmuh won't ask any hard questions); Pumpkinhead himself testifies that all his conversations with government officials are presumptively off the record. As Dan Froomkin says, that's not reporting, that's enabling.

Joe Biden calls Obama "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy". Obama was not amused: "I didn't take Senator Biden's comments personally, but obviously they are historically inaccurate. After all, we've had presidential candidates like Jesse Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, Carol Mosely Braun and Al Sharpton. They gave a voice to many important issues through their campaigns and no one would call them inarticulate."

Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) is reportedly reading news reports and doing some work from the hospital.

Creepy chuckle by Crawford Caligula, as UPI reports:

At a farewell reception at Blair House for the retiring chief of protocol, Don Ensenat, who was President Bush's Yale roommate, the president shook hands with Washington Life Magazine's Soroush Shehabi. "I'm the grandson of one of the late Shah's ministers," said Soroush, "and I simply want to say one U.S. bomb on Iran and the regime we all despise will remain in power for another 20 or 30 years and 70 million Iranians will become radicalized."

"I know," President Bush answered.

"But does Vice President Cheney know?" asked Soroush.

President Bush chuckled and walked away.

Press The Meat

Our political discourse is ruled by idiots.

Go watch this video before you watch Meet The Press again. Warning: don't have any liquids in your mouth or you will spit them all over your computer.

Save the Forest: Eat the Baby to Save the Baby

We Must Get Out This Vote!

From Intelligence Squad, via The News Blog:

Bush Approval Is 2% Among Blacks

Apparently, watching thousands of one's people drown, starve and dehydrate while the man responsible for assisting them squeezes a couple of extra days out of his vacation tends to make folks appropriately cranky. According to NBC's Tim Russert, the network's latest poll has only 2% of blacks saying they approve of the job Bush is doing as president. Those are Ku Klux Klan-like levels. I bet Newt Gingrich had better numbers than that among blacks as Speaker of the House during the Clinton impeachment. I bet Jefferson Davis had better numbers as the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Apparently Condi Rice, Minister T.D. Jakes, Ken Blackwell, and a tiny handful of other sellouts are the only black folks left in America still willing to support this monkey.

Russturd on Imus

Why do I watch TV? It just makes me crazy.

Tim the Fat Fuck Russert is on Imus justifying his disgraceful timeline quibble interview with Aaron Broussard. Tim says, I had a right to question him about the death of Mr. Rodrigues' mother, because Broussard was trying to shift responsibility to the federal government. And once again he says -- without challenge from Imus or anyone on Imus, because they're just empty talking heads and don't even know the basic facts -- that the responsibility for evacuating New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana was the local and state governments, theirs alone, and he even says, on August 28th, 29, 30th, 31st, Sept.1st, the local and state and governments were responsible. And this statement goes unchallenged.

And there is no one there to say, but Mr. Fucktard, Mr. Pumpkin Head, Little Russ, the President of the United States signed a document on August 26th designating this a State of Emergency, making the entire control of every aspect of the response to this storm THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. Because not one of these preening arrogant cavernously empty heads knows the basic facts.

Journalism is dead. Long live the corporate infotainment media.

Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.

Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600.

Question: What kind of sick mind, what kind of black-hearted people want to nitpick a man's mother's death?

Answer: Tim Russert (Russturd) & right wing bloggers

When is Tim Russert going to apologize to Aaron Broussard for this vicious, unprovoked attack?

Crooks and Liars has the video:

Aaron Broussard responds

Tim Russert went on the attack today to please the right wing apologists who had the nerve to fact check his impassioned outburst on MTP during the nightmare of Katrina....

Broussard was stunned today when Timmy replayed the segment and he attacked back. You decide on the merits of what he said both times he was on the show.

Broussard: "Listen, sir, somebody wants to nitpick a man's tragic loss of a mother because she was abandoned in a nursing home? Are you kidding? What kind of sick mind, what kind of black-hearted people want to nitpick a man's mother's death? They just buried Eva last week. I was there at the wake. Are you kidding me? That wasn't a box of Cheerios they buried last week."

The Raw Truth

I am still in tears from watching this man on Meet the Press.

Aaron Broussard, President of Jefferson Parish, being questioned by Tim Russert:

MR. BROUSSARD: ...I want to give you one last story and I'll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday." And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. President...

MR. BROUSSARD: Nobody's coming to get us. Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God sakes, shut up and send us somebody.

1:45 p.m. update: As I read on another blog (can't remember which, now), this means that the mother of the Emergency Management Services Director in Jefferson Parish died on Friday -- during Operation Photo Op.

While Bush was posing in front of fake food distribution centers, faking levee repair, and shutting down helicopter rescue services in New Orleans for 8 hours, this man's poor mother drowned in a nursing home.

What if -- just try to imagine, what if -- Bush had spent the money and resources he spent on Operation Photo Op on sending rescuers to the SEVENTY-SIX nursing homes in New Orleans, many of which are flooded. Do you think the old folks in the nursing home were able to comply with the supposed "mandatory" evacuation? Did they even hear about it? Think about that every time you hear another moron from the media or the administration talking about the people who didn't "obey" the mandatory evacuation. The onus is on the government to evacuate those people, and they didn't. Bush was riding his bike, Cheney was fishing, Condi was shoe shopping, Rummy was destroying Iraq, Karl Rove was spinning, and the Corporate Media was in their usual prone position.

When Bush is impeached, this poor woman's death during Operation Photo Op should be the first Article of Impeachment.

Wingnuts: Women's Rights Optional

I caught the end of the re-run of Meet the Press (known in blogtopia as "Press the Meat") and heard an astonishing statement. Checked the transcript today, and yes, I heard right, women's rights are "not critical to the evolution of democracy."

David Gregory was substituting for Tim Russert and he put the following quote from the NYTimes up on the screen:

"[American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay] Khalilzad had backed language [in the constitution] that would have given clerics sole authority in settling marriage and family disputes. That gave rise to concerns that women's rights, as they are annunciated in Iraq's existing laws, could be curtailed. ...

After getting the reaction of Larry Diamond, former advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, also a fellow at the right wing think tank the Hoover Institution at Stanford (& don't get me going on the over-abundance of right wing views on the MSM, where are the liberals?) Gregory turned to Reuel Marc Gerecht, who he had introduced as a "former Middle East specialist for the CIA." (He's also Director of the Middle East Initiative at the Project for the New American Century, Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and contributing editor at the Weekly Standard Magazine.) Christopher Allbritton at BacktoIraq in 2002 described Gerecht's "ties to the American Enterprise Institute, a noted right-wing think tank peopled with with conservative cognoscenti with deep ties to the Bush Administration. Lynne Cheney, the veep's wife, is one of its scholars, along with Robert Bork, Newt Gingrich, Jean Kirkpatrick and (drum roll, please) Richard Perle, the bombastic hawk who's been itching to invade Iraq since before Bush ever got into office."

OK, now that we've established his right wing bona fides, here's his answer.

MR. GREGORY: Mr. Gerecht, the consequences of this?

MR. GERECHT: Actually, I'm not terribly worried about this. I mean, one hopes that the Iraqis protect women's social rights as much as possible. It certainly seems clear that in protecting the political rights, there's no discussion of women not having the right to vote. I think it's important to remember that in the year 1900, for example, in the United States, it was a democracy then. In 1900, women did not have the right to vote. If Iraqis could develop a democracy that resembled America in the 1900s, I think we'd all be thrilled. I mean, women's social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy. We hope they're there. I think they will be there. But I think we need to put this into perspective.

So let me get this right. We're sending female soldiers to Iraq to establish a male-supremacy as well as a theocracy? American women are dying for this?

I guess the Bush administration is getting ready to throw the Iraqi women overboard.

They never gave a cheese sandwich* about women's rights anyway.




*I have taken a vow to use the phrase "cheese sandwich" in place of all curse words.

Reflections on the Election

I am beginning to recuperate from my post-election malaise. Here are some of the things that have been rolling around in my head:

-- John Kerry has been my senator for years. Including his candidacy for lieutenant governor, I have voted for him 5 times. I've always liked his stands on the issues. But I never felt passionate about him. That's why I supported Howard Dean. He spoke clearly and persuasively about the issues I care about, including his clear stand against the war in Iraq. Once Kerry was the candidate, of course I supported him. But he wasn't my first choice, & I've voted for him 5 times in the past.

-- Why do we let Iowa & New Hampshire pick our Democratic candidates? Both of them are 50/50 states. Why aren't our first primaries in California, New York & Illinois? States filled with Democratic voters.

-- Will Rogers once said, famously, I don't belong to an organized political party. I'm a Democrat. Boy, it felt that way a lot this summer. Waiting for Kerry to respond to the Swift Boat Liars. K/E trotted out all Kerry's boatmates at the convention & weren't prepared to put 'em on TV to counteract all the BS from guys who didn't even know Kerry in Vietnam? Even when they did respond, it wasn't very effective.

-- What was with the duck hunting expedition? First off, one of the late-to-the-party Clintonistas, Lockhart or McCurry, said flat-out to the press, This is a photo-op. Gee, thanks for all the expert help, guys.
Then, there's the ridiculousness of it. I don't own a gun & never have. But I grew up in the mountains where we got the first day of hunting season off every year. A girl in my class shot a deer when she was 12. I watched my neighbor up the street butcher his deer every year. It never bothered me, because in the mountains people hunt for food. That deer fed a family for the winter. I don't mind hunting for food. Hey, I'm a carnivore, I buy my meat in the grocery store, I'm no different from that deer hunter. But was Kerry really going to eat that Canada goose? Was anyone? Hunting for sport, I just don't get. When those pictures of Kerry were on TV my friend's 13-year old asked me, Why is Kerry killing a duck? What did that duck ever do to him? What's that have to do with being President? Good questions.

-- Where was the famous Kerry close? Where were the tough last-minute ads? Remember, Kerry went "dark" in August to save money for his all-out blitz before Election Day. Where was it? Just those boring "Stronger at Home, Respected in the World" ads.

-- And couldn't they come up with a better tag line than that? Where's the power in those words?

-- Why did Kerry concede so quickly? After telling us he would fight for every vote, why didn't he? He couldn't just wait until all the votes were counted? Both campaigns encouraged all their voters to vote early or to vote by absentee ballot. As this becomes more common, folks are going to have to get used to the fact that WE WON'T KNOW WHO WON ON ELECTION NIGHT. It's important. It's worth getting it right. Kerry should have hung in there until all the votes were counted.

I Love Jimmy Breslin Part II

Jimmy Breslin: 'Bush ignores value of a straight face'

When I grow up, I wanna write like this:

The other night, George Bush hunched so low that he seemed to be using the lectern as a bunker. His eyes crinkled, his mouth opened like a trout's.

**********

....George Bush revealed for all to see what a calamity the news reporting business has been for at least the last four years. Here we had a president who was aware of only one thing: that you have the gall to ask questions about himself. A member of the Bush royalty. He got in the White House with minimal votes and thought and a maximum of thievery.

From that day on, neither television nor newspapers nailed him for what he is. I remember Tom Brokaw going through a day in the White House with Bush, and it all seemed so pleasant and wonderful, we two guys enjoying all of this. Then I remember Tim Russert had a big interview with Bush, and all these Washington Pekinese of the Press said it was such a marvelous interview. He might as well have stayed home. If you can't get Bush to show himself as a dangerous dolt, you've done nothing. These are only two of an industry full of abject failures.

And this Bush, this shaky dimwit, as seen on Thursday night, got this country into a war where we lose the lives of young people, and many thousands lose their arms and legs and private parts, and we bomb children in Iraq. Not one person in this American news industry stood up and screamed that this man putting us in war is probably the one dumbest man we ever had as president.

"We're makin' progress. It's hard work. We're makin' progress. It's hard work."