Bloggermann: Feeling morally, intellectually confused?
Keith Olbermann takes his job as a journalist seriously — he’s one of the few in the 4th estate who seems to. This piece, in response to Rumsfeld’s obnoxious speech on Tuesday, amazed me.
UPDATE: and the video is even better.
Via One Good Move, enjoy this clip from Olbermann’s show (with guest host and Daily Show alum Brian Unger, bringing us further towards the delightful, though still hypothetical, merger of the two shows). Witness with glee as Ann Coulter first gets the verbal smackdown, then throws a little tantrum when the world won’t stop what it’s doing and listen to her nonsense.
Via HuffPo, it’s What Right-Wingers See When They Read the New York Times.
Judge: Wiretap program unconstitutional
Finally, some sense.
DETROIT — A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government’s warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it.
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency’s program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
“Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution,” Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion.
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Robin Williams stars as “Tom Dobbs,” a fake news anchor who runs for president in the upcoming Man of the Year. The movie also stars Lewis Black who, by coincidence, is occasionally a guest on some sort of fake news program. YouTube kindly brings us the trailer.
Crooks and Liars brings this clip from (of all things) Scarborough Country asking Is Bush An “Idiot”?
If you’ve ever wanted to see all of Bush’s best babbling all at once, well, this clip’s for you. (It’s followed by the usual right-wingnut spin doctoring about how he’s not stupid, just inarticulate.)
Keith Olbermann examines the top 10 “coincidences” of terror warnings happening the same times as political troubles for the Bush administration – concluding with “you be the judge”.
(For instance, just as the 9/11 Commission found evidence suggesting the government missed the chance to foil the 9/11 plot, Ashcroft announced the disrupting of a terrorist plot and the arrest of Jose Padilla… who had already been in custody for over a month.)
The video requires IE, but hey, there’s a reason why “MSNBC” begins with “MS”.
Every Democrat running for national office – and local offices too, why not? – should say, “I’m running because Republicans are bad on national security.”
Then they should go on to say, here’s why I’m saying it:
An excellent set of very repeatable talking points.
Kung Fu Monkey: “Wait, Aren’t You Scared?”
This guy nails it.
No false bravado and it’s not that I don’t take terrorism seriously. I do, which I why I voted for the guy who believed in securing our ports and fighting terrorism with criminal investigation methods — which is, if we may remind everybody, how this particular plot was busted.
I am just not going to wet my pants every time some guys get arrested in a terror plot. I will do my best to stay informed. I will support the necessary law enforcement agencies. I will take whatever reasonable precautions seem, um, reasonable. But I will not be terrorized. I assume that the terror-ists would like me to be terror-ized, as that is what is says on their nametag, rather than, say, wanting me to surrender to ennui or negative body image, and they’re just coming the long way around.
Osama Bin Laden got everything on his Christmas list after 9/11 — US out of Saudi Arabia; the greatest military in the world over-extended, pinned down and distracted; the greatest proponent of democracy suddenly alienated from its allies; a US culture verily eager to destroy freedoms that little scumfuck could never even dream to touch himself — I would like to deny him the last little check on the clipboard, i.e. constant terror. I panic, they win. To coin a phrase, Osama Bin Laden can suck my insouciance.
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Makes sense, really. He started his career on a comedy show doing the fake news, so it’s fitting that he’s now on an entire network doing fake news. Of course, Fox News isn’t a comedy network, which also makes sense for Miller, seeing as how he hasn’t been funny since about 1998.
If Lamont wins the primary, right-wing pundits will crow that the Democrats have become an out-of-step, small-tent party who demand ideological orthodoxy, and that they support cut-and-run candidates who are weak on terrorism, and blah blah blah.
If Lamont loses the primary, right-wing pundits will crow that the American people have showed their support for candidates who are “strong on terrorism” and support Bush’s foreign policy.
In Right-Wing Punditland, the Democrats cannot win. So when the dust settles, ignore ‘em. Also, vote Lamont.