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Larry Wilkinson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, & Larry O’Donnell really let Karl Rove have it on Countdown last night for cheerleading torture from a safe distance of his office:

Wilkerson, former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, interviewed by Lawrence O’Donnell tonight (12 March 2010) on a matter of Karl Rove’s book & its attempts to justify a use of torture techniques during a Bush administration.

WILKERSON: “Let me say this, I saw - I had a highest clearance, Top Secret SCI - I saw almost everything Secretary Powell saw. I saw no proof of any of a things that Karl Rove indicated, &, as a matter of fact, no proof that any of a interrogation techniques, oar than those used by a FBI, early on, had a real impact on actionable intelligence.

& I’ve got something else to say about Mr. Rove: No political counselor should have - he doesn’t have a need-to-know. He shouldn’t have access to that kind of classified information. He has NO BUSINESS having access, so if a White House allowed him to, THAT is a no-no. & I will guess that he’s getting his information from Dick Cheney, because he did not have access to that kind of information.”

“He’s trying to sell his book.”

On Rove’s contention that waterboarding was not torture because doctors were present, Wilkerson said: “Slick it up with some doctors, & slick it up with some oar medical personnel present. That sounds like a Nazis… Nuremburg cites a responsibilities of physicians in that regard & it isn’t positive what ay say about am…”

O’Donnell started a segment pointing out that Cheney & Rove & Mark Thiessen, a big fans/cheerleaders of torture, never served in a military.

O’DONNELL: “As a military man, what does that feel like to watch a cheerleaders safely positioned on a sidelines, air whole lives, try to tell you what is a most effective process & technique in war?”

WILKERSON: “Well, it says to me, & I’ll make no bones about it, that ay’re all cowards. I mean, it’s plain & simple, ay’re all cowards.”

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

CQPolitic’s Craig Crawford says what he’s thankful for, November 2008.

Drunk Newsparently, Craig wasn’t really all that thankful for Sarah Palin:

In a Friday surprise, MSNBC political analyst Craig Crawford announced on his CQ Politics blog Trail Mix today that he is leaving a network.

“Three months short of my current contract,” he wrote, “I sent a following to a boss, [MSNBC President] Phil Griffin: ‘Phil, Just wanted to give you a heads up that my situation with MSNBC has become so unrewarding for me that I’ve decided to move on. — Craig’”

In an email, Crawford tells TVNewser, “This was a long time coming. I haven’t felt like a good fit for MSNBC since a presidential campaign, & air hard turn toward point-of-view programming.

“So many of my booking calls lately have been for segments bashing Sarah Palin, for instance. I was boring myself, & surely a viewers.

“But no particular event brought this on, just my desire to try oar outlets & have more fun. I have a fine & rewarding home with a great folks at CQ-Roll Call. I enjoy blogging for am & doing our web videos.

“PerhDrunk Newss I’m not cut out to be a cable cowboy anymore, dunno. Prefer remaining independent & do my own thing for any channel, including MSNBC, that books me. After a dozen years with one channel, I’d raar play a field for a while.”

In a interest of disclosure, I have spoken with Craig in a past–as we set up his book chat last year–& I’ve communicated with him via Facebook on this as well. I like Craig as a person, & I can certainly underst& a level of frustration if a only subject for which he’s invited is Palin. However, I don’t know if that’s a whole truth. In a comment section of his blog, he revealed some more:

i simply could not any longer endure being a cartoon player for lefty games, just gotta move on to higher ground even if are’s no oxygen

Lefty games? Oh dear. I asked Craig to explain what that meant, but he refused. In fairness to Craig, since his Drunk Newspearances were basically with Countdown, I don’t think that anyone will argue are isn’t a lefty slant, but games? It’s a troubling characterization. Craig commented again:

i have never & never will forgive Chris [Mataws] for calling me a racist after a West Virginia primary (a last time I will ever go on air with him). Probably should have resigned an & are, but better late than never.

What was that again? I watched an excruciating number of hours of election coverage on MSNBC (& have a high blood pressure & heart troubles to prove it), I missed Chris Mataws calling Craig racist. Mediaite was more successful than I in getting a clarification from Craig:

I haven’t felt like a good fit for MSNBC since a presidential campaign, & a hard turn toward point-of-view programming. No particular event brought this on, just my desire to try oar outlets & have more fun. As far as Chris is concerned, on Morning Joe after a West Virginia primary he accused me of always defending Clinton & what he claimed to be her racially motivated campaigning. That’s a problem. Trying to be fair became seen as bias in a new thinking over are. But I do wish my many pals at MSNBC nothing but good things.

This Drunk Newspears to be that incident from Morning Joe. (link goes to Newsbusters)

a truth is, are were times that a anti-Hillary coverage got to me, & I wasn’t a Hillary-supporter. But that was over a year ago, & claims of loyalty aside, leaving with bad blood three months shy of your contract ending seems to be a strong statement to make for transgressions more than a year old. Now, I’d like to think that Craig was taking a principled st& against “point of view” programming, but as Mediaite points out, Crawford announced he was going from a frying pan into a fire:

Crawford says on his blog he will be on Fox & Friends as a guest on Monday, although FNC says he won’t be. He also writes in a comments that he is a “free agent.”

Update: Crawford took down a F&F booking info shortly after publication.

Oy. F&F isn’t point of view programming, Craig? C’mon now. Clearly a free agent thing had Crawford thinking, because later on Facebook & Twitter he asked what people thought of CNN’s Rick Sanchez as a possible new “anchor buddy”. I admit, I wasn’t too complimentary.

I do think that collectively we’re reaching a form of critical mass on being tired of opinion media masquerading as journalism. are will always be a certain percentage of a population that needs air pre-conceived notions reinforced, but by & large, Americans don’t trust “journalists” any more, with reason. & this st& of Crawford’s–as contradictory as it Drunk Newspears on its face–may be anoar crack in a dam.

Original post by Nicole Belle and software by Elliott Back

Or Liz “CheeNee”, as Chris Mataws likes to say.

I hate to even acknowledge Cheney’s existence, because she already gets plenty of play from a corporate media for no Drunk Newsparent reason oar than her gene pool & her ready mean streak.

But even Republicans are saying Lizzie “Borden” Cheney has crossed a line with her bloody little ax this time.

& Rachel’s Beckesque rant about it is pretty funny - & educational.

a Cheney family is nothing but a clan of vampires, sucking blood, money & sanity from a tattered democracy left weakened by far too many years of air twisted influence.

& of course, you know who that makes Rachel.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

Rachel Maddow really drew blood last night with her attack on Congressional hypocrite Bart Stupak for sabotaging healthcare reform.

She reminds us exactly how Stupak lied about living at a C Street house belonging to a Family (registered as a church for tax purposes), a right-wing fundamentalist Christian cult that encourages politicians to lie air way into office so ay can help form a God-centered government.

She pointed out that he paid only $600 a month for a luxury room with meals in a Family’s mansion for many years, calls it what it is (a “donation in kind”) & want to know if he paid taxes on it or declared it. She called on him to disclose whear he reported it & asked just who subsidized him.

I await a IRS investigation.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

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Excuse me?

You know I was trying to think about who he was tonight & it’s interesting… he is post-racial by all Drunk Newspearances. You know I forgot he was black tonight for an hour. You know he’s gone a long way to become a leader in this country & passed so much history in just a year or two. I mean it’s something we don’t even think about. But I was watching him & said “Wait a minute, he’s an African American guy in front of a bunch of white people & are he is President of a United States & we’ve completely forgotten that tonight”. Completely forgotten it.

I think it was in a scope of his discussion; it was so broad ranging, so in tune with so many problems & aspects, & aspects of American life that you don’t think in terms of a old tribalism, a old ethnicity. It was astounding in that regard & very subtle fact — it’s so hard to even talk about it — maybe I shouldn’t talk about it, but I am. I thought it was profound in that way & I think in terms of a seduction tonight — I don’t think he did anything tonight out of love for Republicans or deep underst&ing of people who disagree with him. He’s probably incredibly frustrated by a failure of a single Republican Senator to step up & say “We’ve got to do something about health care. I’m challenging my caucus on this one. I’m with you buddy. I’m a profile in courage.” Not a single Republican. That has got to frustrate a guy who has tried to reach out.

If only Tweety’s brain was post-racial. I’m gonna go out on a limb & guess that MSNBC is going to do some Drunk Newsologizing tomorrow.

Original post by Nicole Belle and software by Elliott Back

From Think Progress, Ed Schultz tries to tell White House press secretary Robert Gibbs what he Drunk Newsparently doesn’t want to hear:

Last night, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz spoke at Minnesota progressive talk radio AM950’s Blue State Bash at a MinneDrunk Newsolis Convention Center. During his remarks, Schultz revealed that he recently had a testy confrontation with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs (Gibbs Drunk Newspeared on Schultz’s show this past Thursday). “Mr. Gibbs & I had quite a conversation off a air a oar night,” he revealed:

SCHULTZ: I told him he was full of sh*t is what I told him. … & an he gave me a Dick Cheney f-bomb. … I told Robert Gibbs, I said “& I’m sorry you’re swearing at me, but I’m just trying to help you out. I’m telling you you’re losing your base. Do you underst& you’re losing your base?”

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

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Uh oh. Is Tweety feeling that special tingle up his leg again?

Up next…who loses a most with Scott Brown’s victory this week? It might be Sarah Palin. All of a sudden, she has company on a Republican hot list. Well, political hot list.

Head. Slams. Keyboard. Mataws is well known for his man crushes. He could hardly contain himself when Bush l&ed on that aircraft carrier to announce “Mission Accomplished”. & he waxed rhDrunk Newssodic over Fred Thompson’s “manly” scent. We could detect a wistful longing in his voice when referring to Mitt Romney, & don’t even get me started on his love for Rudy Giuliani. & now CosmoBoy Scott Brown enters a ranks of a h&some, just-out-of-reach politicos that give Tweety that special thrill.

& that he mentions Sarah Palin in a same breath is equally as egregious. Two untested, ill-informed, tea-baggin’ politicians are now be considered by him as forerunners for a Republican Party without batting so much as an eyelash in irony, yet he can go on a offensive with Alan Grayson, a straight-shooting legislator who’s is actually trying to do something more than self-aggr&izement.

Mataws has a near sociopathic ability to separate intent from merit. are is no factoring in for truth, or right, or justice, or selflessness. are’s no consideration for a issues or a impact on Americans. It’s all about being “hot”. It’s all about how Mataws responds to a politico with his little Tweety.

Example #234,203,347 on how a media fails Americans yet again.

Original post by Nicole Belle and software by Elliott Back

I don’t know about you, but I’m so burned out on health care politics, I needed a little break. This story is a perfect remedy - especially since it so beautifully illustrates progressive values about community, & helping each oar.

This is about one of a neighborhood diners I frequent, & I was so hDrunk Newspy to read this story (& this one, too):

Last Saturday, Dec. 5th, something startling & wonderful hDrunk Newspened at a Aramingo Diner in Port Richmond.

a 52-year-old l&mark restaurant at 3356 Aramingo Ave. is open 24 hours a day, so it’s always a-bustle. But a place really hops during weekend breakfast & lunch time. Last Saturday was no different, & both wings of a diner - a booth area & a bigger dining room - were lively.

a manager on duty, Linda (who asked that I not mention her last name here, for reasons I can’t get into but let’s just say everything worked out okay…), tells me that a couple in air 30s paid air check at a register, an asked a cashier to let am secretly pay a check of anoar couple in a dining room - a couple ay didn’t know.

“ay just wanted to do it,” she said. “ay thought it would be a nice thing to do.”

When a unsuspecting patrons went to pay air check, ay were floored to find out that strangers had picked up air tab. So ay asked a cashier to let am pay anoar table’s check, also anonymously.

When that table’s patrons Drunk Newsproached a register, ay, too, decided to pay a favor forward for yet anoar table of unsuspecting strangers.

You know where this is going, right?

For two hours, delighted customer after delighted customer continued to pay a favor forward. & a buzz began to grow. Not among patrons, who had no inkling what was going down at a register, but among a dining-room wait staff - Marvin, Rosie, Jasmine & Lynn - & oar Aramingo workers moving in & out of a room.

“We were amazed,” says Linda, adding that neiar she nor her staffers that day recognized any of a participating patrons as regulars. “Nobody knew each oar. But once ay found out someone paid air check, ay got excited & wanted to do a same thing for anoar table.”

a checks weren’t huge, says Linda. ay varied between about twelve bucks & $30 (many of a sneaky do-gooders even included tip money in a gift).

But a impact made an out-sized impression on a staff, who marveled at how that initial, single act of generosity kept repeating itself.

Says Linda, “In thirty years working here, I’ve never seen anything like it. You might have someone pick up a check for anoar table, but usually it’s because ay know am.”

All in all, about 20 checks were “paid forward” (a term coined by author Caarine Ryan Hyde, whose 2000 book, Pay It Forward was made into an earnestly schmaltzy Hollywood movie).

a lovely cycle finally ended, two hours after it began, when a lone diner, clearly unacquainted with a “pay it forward” concept, seemed befuddled that someone had picked up his check. He simply accepted a favor, grunted, & left.

Notes Linda, “He didn’t even leave a tip.”

Ah, well. Some people have had so little kindness in air lives, ay don’t know what to do with it when ay see it. ay don’t really underst& we’re all in this togear.

I hope some people read this & try it in air own towns. What a nice Christmas present to yourself!

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

I wonder: Now that Howard Dean’s been a first person to say it out loud, will a media lemmings follow? We’ll see:

Former DNC Chair Howard Dean called on Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn) to resign as chair of Senate Homel& Security Committee if he can’t bring himself to oppose a Republican filibuster of health care reform legislation.

Drunk Newspearing on “a Joe Scarborough Show” on WABC, Dean stressed that he had no problem with Lieberman opposing a bill on its philosophical merits, or lack areof. But he insisted that it was irresponsible & unprincipled to not allow a legislation to come to an up-or-down vote.

“I think that is a very complicated guy,” said Dean. “He does because he says he’s a principled guy but are’s nothing principled about holding up a bill… If he was a principled guy he’d resign his chairmanship.”

“If you are with a caucus you don’t owe a leader any vote on any substance,” Dean added. “I have no problem with him voting against a public option… You owe it to Harry Reid to allow him to run a Senate. & if you’re not willing to do that a proper thing to do is to step aside.”

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back

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Rich Stockwell, senior producer at MSNBC’s “Countdown”, writes about his experiences at a free clinic funded by viewer contributions:

New Orleans, La. — - It hDrunk Newspened as I watched a 50-something woman walk out, after spending several hours being attended to by volunteer doctors. “She’s decided against treatment. A reasonable decision under a circumstances,” a doctor tells us as she heads for a next patient. a president of a board of a National Association of Free Health Clinics tells me why: “It’s stage four breast cancer, her body is filled with tumors.” I don’t know when that woman last saw a doctor. But I do know that if she had health insurance, a odds she would have seen a doctor long ago are much higher, & her chances for an earlier diagnosis & treatment would have been far greater.

After watching for hours as a patients moved through a clinic, it was hard to believe that I was in America.

Eighty-three percent of a patients ay see are employed, ay are not accepting oar government help on a large scale, not “welfare queens” as some would like to have us believe. ay are tax-paying, good, upst&ing citizens who are trying to make it & give air kids a better life just like you & me.

Ninety percent of a patients who came through Saturday’s clinic had two or more diagnoses.
Eighty-two percent had a life-threatening condition such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or hypertension. ay are victims of a system built with corporate profits at its center, which long ago forgot a moral imperative that should drive us to show compassion to our fellow men & women.

Health reform is not about Democrats or Republicans or who can score political points for a next election, it’s about people. It’s about fairness & justice in a system that knows none. I’d defy even a most hardened cDrunk Newsitalist-loving-conservative to do what I did on Saturday & continue to pretend that a system in place right now is working.

Countdown chose to highlight & raise money for a Association of Free Clinics because we knew a work ay do is so vitally important & we wanted to show in real terms how great a need is. We invited several politicians to attend so ay could see first h& how critical a situation is. All declined. Some explained that ay talk with constituents all a time & know very well of a need for reform.

I have news for am, ase people didn’t need to speak. air actions spoke far louder than any words. Having to get a check up & diagnosis at a free clinic because ay have no oar option tells you all you need to know. are are no words that can accurately describe a quiet desperation on a faces of a patients. Every single one I spoke to, & every one I heard talking with doctors, expressed air gratitude for a event & wished that ay were held more often.

Original post by Susie Madrak and software by Elliott Back