I Own Your Genes

This is nuts!


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A Farewell

Keith Olbermann isn't my favorite person. I've recently stopped DVR-ing his show because, after two years of faithful daily viewing, I've decided I don't want my news so biased, even when I happen to agree. I want my assumptions challenged. I want to fight the temptation to have my "itching ear" scratched. I don't learn much when I watch him anymore, so I decided that my time is better spent elsewhere.

However, a couple of weeks ago I happened to see his closing Special Comment, and I'm glad i did. It was a news story and a personal story woven together in beautiful prose. (Say what you will about Kieth, but the man has a mastery with the English language that few have attained. His pen is quite skilled.) It was a story about his dying dad and how he had asked his son to kill him. Literally.

Well, Keith's Dad died today (Keith's announcement today). And as I reflect on this clip, which was the last time he was on air, it becomes even more powerful. Agree with him or not, his words are worth hearing.

Condolences, brother.

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Palin's Book

Not surprisingly, its a little loose with the facts.

I think it'd be a fun read. Really, I do. But I just can't bring myself to do it...

Calling A Spade, A Spade

OK.

This "War with Fox News" is not a war. That is what the Fox folks are calling it because they feel assailed, but that is just the truth stinging them that they feel.

The White House says they're attitude towards Fox is that it has a point of view. That its not so much interested in finding truth as it is in supporting its agenda. Like a political operation.

Fox claims this accusation is baseless.

The evidence says something else:



I have a lot of friends who love Fox. One actually told me he likes it because someone is finally speaking from his point of view when (in his opinion) there had been no media outlet speaking for him in his whole life. That is the genius of Fox. "Give 'em what they want".

As a business model, it can't be challenged. But lets not pretend that their business is news. That's all I'm saying.

Held By The Taliban

This is the first installment in a five-part series offering a first-person account by David Rohde of his seven months as a captive of the Taliban in Pakistan. Mr. Rohde, a New York Times reporter, was kidnapped with two Afghan colleagues on Nov. 10, 2008, as they traveled to an interview with a Taliban commander outside of Kabul, Afghanistan.

Read them all.

Its an amazing tale we should all hear.

In part:

The longer I looked at the gunman in the passenger seat, the more nervous I became. His face showed little emotion. His eyes were dark, flat and lifeless.

I thought of my wife and family and was overcome with shame. An interview that seemed crucial hours earlier now seemed absurd and reckless. I had risked the lives of Tahir and Asad — as well as my own life. We reached a dry riverbed and the car stopped. “They’re going to kill us,” Tahir whispered. “They’re going to kill us.”

The True Tip of the Spear

An amazing special done by Richard Engel, NBC news correspondent. He is embedded with some of our troops in Afghanistan and reports on what he finds. I've posted part 1 of 6. I encourage you to watch them all. Pray for the safety of these people. Pray also for the President, he needs wisdom now more than ever.

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Maddow. Best Pundit on TV?

At least one person thinks so:

But what really endears her to American liberals is the way she takes her job and the authority it gives her seriously. Maddow is less interested in the shouting fests that dominate most cable news and instead favours in-depth interviews with experts who are permitted to show their expertise on air without being interrupted. Hers may be the only show on cable news were feminists come on air to speak their minds without being paired off with belligerent sexists who dominate the conversation by yelling over their points.

But Maddow isn't opposed to fair-mindedness. She often brings on conservatives for the same kind of in-depth interviews, and even when she strongly disagrees, she always gives them a chance to air their views (and generally hang themselves with those views). Her show is the exact opposite of Bill O'Reilly's show. Where he cuts people off for saying things he doesn't like, Maddow digs in deeper.

I agree. So, I guess that makes two people...

Nobel, Maddow Style

Context.

Its a wonderful thing:

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Nobel

OK.

So, everyone seems to be freaking out about this. I have to admit, my first thought when I heard the news was "Wow. I wonder what they're basing that on". Now, having said that, I think, after 8 years of our last government in which no prizes were thrown but instead shoes were thrown. If you think this in some way diminishes the man or America, then I'm not sure what I could say that would change your mind.

The main complaint here seems to be that he hasn't yet brought peace on earth, and therefore is unworthy. The peace prize is about progress and work towards peace. No one ever achieves peace.

I think the President put it best:

I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear: I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.

To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.

But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women, and all Americans, want to build -- a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents. And I know that throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action -- a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.

You see what he did there? Using it as a launching pad for his efforts towards peace. That was the whole point...

The Case Against Death

Last night Keith devoted his entire show to a Special Comment making the case for health reform. It was as impassioned I've ever seen the man, and that's saying something. He related powerful anecdotes relating to his mother dying in the spring and his father being confined to the hospital right now. He speaks from the perspective of a man that has the money to pay for the best care anywhere for anyone he wants to. He then tried to imagine the horror that millions face daily when they have to figure out if they have enough money to live.

He also asks: "What is more valuable than our health? If we agree that the government should provide for the common defense, how much more the common health???" (paraphrase)

Good question, Keith.

This is 45 minutes well spent.

Part 1

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Part 2

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Part 3

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Part 4

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Part 5

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America loses! Yipee!

Today the United States lost is bid to host the 2016 summer games in Chicago. This was the reaction at a gathering of conservatives at the Americans For Prosperity, one of the main organizing groups behind the tea party protests. You'll notice they erupted in applause. They cheered once more after they were told that Chicago had been eliminated during the first round of voting.




Since when is America losing a good thing for Americans?

Many of them think that this Olympic bid was just a scam to get Obama's buddies rich. My guess is that they don't know much about the history if this bid:

It was barely noticed at the time, but in January 2008, then-President George W. Bush met with the Chicago 2016 Bid Committee and U.S. Olympic Committee members about bringing the 2016 summer games to the city. "They say that the Olympics will come to Chicago if we're fortunate enough to be selected, but really it's coming to America, and I can't think of a better city to represent the United States than Chicago," Bush said.

He added, "This country supports your bid, strongly."

Oops.

Fox feeling left out

Check out the statement from the White house! Ouch!





Whats funny is the idea that they can sit around a table "debating" the merits of the President's strategy, as if anyone there would have the guts to say "You know what? Obama has a point. Him leaving us out is a great move."

And if we all can agree that that statement will never be uttered on Fox, than all we have here is some ego stroking at the President's expense. But hey, this is America. Thats what we do.

Party on, Fox.

Only Bush Can Fix It

Andrew's letter to the former President.

The premise:

I have come to accept that it would be too damaging and polarizing to the American polity to launch legal prosecutions against you, and deeply unfair to solely prosecute those acting on your orders or in your name. President Obama’s decision thus far to avoid such prosecutions is a pragmatic and bipartisan one in a time of war, as is your principled refusal to criticize him publicly in his first months. But moving on without actually confronting or addressing the very grave evidence of systematic abuse and torture under your administration poses profound future dangers. It gives the impression that nothing immoral or illegal took place. Indeed, since leaving office, your own vice president has even bragged of these interrogation techniques; and many in your own party threaten to reinstate such policies in the future. Their extreme rhetoric seems likely to shape—to contaminate—history’s view of your presidency, indeed of the Bush name, and the world’s view of America. But my biggest fear is this: in the event of a future attack on the United States, another president will feel tempted, or even politically compelled, to resort to the same brutalizing policy, with the same polarizing, demoralizing, war-crippling results. I am writing you now because it is within your power—and only within your power—to prevent that from happening.

The Loyal Opposition

Fredomworks, Glenn Beck, and a host of other groups organized a march in washington on saturday to protest big government, high taxes and, well, see for yourself:

An Inconvenient Truth

(Rep. Joe Wilson, yelling "you lie!" at Pres. Obama during his speech to a joint session of Congress. 9/9/09)

I'm not sure what the most disturbing part of this story is, so, I'll lay out the problems as I see them and you can decide:

1)The simple rudeness of it all. If this guy is supposed to be a leader in our country, what hope can we really have for civil and productive discourse in our country? The disrespect shown here is shameful. This is not the way to disagree.

2)This Wilson fellow is now a folk hero in conservative circles. They've made this guy a poster-child for speaking the truth to power. They're even making t-shirts!! And this probably wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that...

3) WILSON IS DEAD WRONG ON THE FACTS!!! There is no grey area here. The administration has gone to great lengths to make sure this cannot be misinterpreted. It is as clear as day. The fact that we can elect people in this country who seem to be able to operate in some nebulous fact-free universe troubles me deeply.

The ironic thing is that, by shouting out a lie about the president lying, Wilson has forced hundreds of articles to be written about this. And all of them that choose to do any fact checking have to conclude the same thing: Wilson is wrong, Obama was right. Thereby spreading the president's message even further.

He's done Obama's work for him.

In fairness, Wilson apologized for his outburst. To me, he should be apologizing for his ignorance.

Consider yourself indoctrinated...

This is what the nutty fringe was all worked up about. Madness...

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When even Newt can't find a bad thing to say about an Obama speech, you know he hit it out of the park...

The Gonzales Cantata

http://www.gonzalescantata.com/

Make sure you hear the "I don't recall" Aria.

Classic.

Broadstreet review:

Melissa Dunphy’s Gonzales Cantata uses actual transcripts of a 2007 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to transform the tedious machinations of politics into a brilliant work of art. The only thing missing, alas, is a point. Alberto Gonzales facing Arlen Specter isn’t exactly Christ confronting Pontius Pilate.

Your News, Auto-tuned...

And, yes, he really took a chart with a dragon on it to the floor of the Senate...

Rachel Interviews Tom Ridge

Must see stuff.

First off, hats off to Tom. Most republicans want no part of Maddow. You may be tempted to think that is because she's unapologetically liberal, but that's not what I think. I think its because she's very smart, very well prepared and forces you to know what you're talking about if you're going to disagree with her. She won't be snowballed.

Secondly, I love how civil their conversation is. Even when debating really touchy things, they maintain a mutual respect that I've learned to crave in my public discourse. Kudos to both of them for that.

A couple of stand out moments in this interview: 1) He contradicts his own book's desk jacket, which is supposed to be a description of what is in the book. Rachel actually gets him to denounce it. 2) While he's defending the Iraq, Rachel looks him in the eye and tells him "That's why people won't trust you. Because of what you just said." Gutsy.

Enjoy.

(I've only posted 2 of 3 parts. The 3rd segment on Katrina can be found here.)

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Who do you believe?

Only one man can be correct here:

I think the interrogations were in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the convention against torture that we ratified under President Reagan.

-Sen. John McCain

or

Former VPOTUS Dick Cheney in an interview on Fox:

WALLACE: So even these cases where they went beyond the specific legal authorization, you're OK with it?

CHENEY: I am.

And just in case you're having a hard time grasping the significance of what he just admitted to, Andrew breaks it down for you:

The former vice-president of the United States is here backing torture techniques that even his own hack lawyers believed were illegal. He is basically saying that the law had no salience or relevance in his program of torturing prisoners. He is attacking the rule of law in its entirety. Let that sink in: we had a vice-president who had contempt for the rule of law.

Stunning.