Matthews: “Did you see FOX television as a tool when you were in the White House? As a useful avenue to get your message out?”
McClellan: “I make a distinction between the journalists and the commentators. Certainly there were commentators and other, pundits at FOX News, that were useful to the White House.” […] That was something we at the White House, yes, were doing, getting them talkng points and making sure they knew where we were coming from.
Matthews: “So you were using these commentators as your spokespeople.”
July 25: In his appearance on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan revealed that the White House routinely submitted literal talking points for prime time stars of Fox News like Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. Air America’s Rachel Maddow talks with Keith Olbermann about the line between political agreement and outright puppetry.
Hmmm ... I wonder, will the Faux news people go to the Bush Grindhouse for the last office party on January 19th, or will they have their own, in-studio?
I, perhaps, must first disclose that I haven't rushed out to be part of the record-breaking box office for the new 'Brokeback Batman', errr, 'The Dark Knight' movie.
However, it seems that one of Rupert Murdoch's minions, Andrew Klavan (once you read the piece, you'll understand he must be related to Cheers' Cliff; Okay, okay, one of them changed the spelling, to disassociate themselves from the other), has penned a wet dream to our Court-Appointed President (h/t Barry Crimmins), with his "What Bush and Batman Have in Common";
A cry for help goes out from a city beleaguered by violence and fear: A beam of light flashed into the night sky, the dark symbol of a bat projected onto the surface of the racing clouds . . .
Oh, wait a minute. That's not a bat, actually. In fact, when you trace the outline with your finger, it looks kind of like . . . a "W."
There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.
And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society -- in which people sometimes make the wrong choices -- and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell.
That's the first three paragraphs, and, as a warning, it gets more noxious as it goes on.
I hazard a guess that the closest The Commander Guy has come to being Batman is, under the guise and cover of Halloween, he went running around the house in Laura's tights.
It wasn't anything to do with not liking Sci-Fi, but more a personal protest.
Roughly nine-years earlier, I got sucked into standing in line for nearly 3-hrs, on a cold, 20-degree January night, to catch 'The Exorcist'(which has to be Bobby Jindal's favorite film) and, disappointed with the film (great book, though), vowed I wouldn't be sucked in again like that.
So, when the movie 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' came out, and had all those multi-block-long lines, I said, "No, Thank You" and just have never caught up with the film since.
This is, just merely, a way of getting into the article I caught up with yesterday, how Apollo 14 astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell says "THEY" have been here.
"I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real," Dr Mitchell said.
"It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it.
Whoa!!
One of the guys with the right stuff is saying the Tinfoil Brigade has been spot-on all this time?
Now, anyone can have an accident, true enough, but what makes this one so deliciously noteworthy is that Novak attempted to get away with it ... He didn't stop and, even after being flagged down, still was making an effort to beat it on the lam.
Politico goes on to describe novak driving away from the scene, only to be chased down and detained by a guy on a bicycle:
The bicyclist was David Bono, a partner at Harkins Cunningham, who was on his usual bike commute to work at 1700 K St. NW when he saw the accident happen…
Bono said the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and then Novak made a right into the service lane of K Street. “the car is speeding away. what’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away,” bono said.
He chased novak half a block down K St., finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block him and called 911. traffic immediately backed up, horns blared, and commuters finally went into reverse to allow Novak to pull over.
Bono said that throughout, Novak "keeps trying to get away. he keeps trying to go.” he said he vaguely recognized the longtime political reporter and columnist as a Washington celebrity but could not precisely place him.
Hmmm ... Was "No Facts" angry, venting, lost in thought of mayhem?
Did it flash before him, as his black Corvette (who would have thunk that this old hack would be driving a 'Vet'?) approached the intersection, that it was one of the Wilsons in the crosswalk? ... Perhaps Rove or Cheney?
After all, the Stumblin Bumblin John McCain Campaign, just burned him, so, perhaps, as the car first rammed into the pedestrian, "No Facts" let out a scream of "I'll give you a god-damn vice president!" ...
Or, maybe, he met someone recently, a certain someone named Bruno Anthony, who, undoubtedly, would approve of "No Facts" running someone over, and then trying to get away with it.
The night before presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) left for Afghanistan, Iraq and Western Europe for a tour of US bases overseas, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued a cable to US missions forbidding them from holding events for presidential candidates or arrange meetings for them.
Rice issued no such cable prior to foreign excursions by presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
"Provide de minimis assistance to the candidate with logistical arrangements," said the cable, according to the Times. "If the campaign staff wants to rent a bus for press, tell them where they can rent a bus."
Don't Help, He may need somebody, Don't Help, not just anybody, Don't Help, he'll need someone, don't help.
When Obama was younger, so much younger than today, He never needed anybody's help in any way. But now that Hillary's gone, his nomination all but assured Now I find I've changed my mind and closed the embassy doors
Don't Help him if you can, just let him down And I do appreciate he gets the runaround. Don't Help him, let the media give him a crown, Won't you please, please not help
And now Obama's life has changed in oh so many ways, Iraqi's dependence on us seems to vanish in the haze. But every now and then the legacy is so insecure, I know that I just need you not to let him in the door
Don't Help him if you can, just let him down And I do appreciate he gets the runaround. Don't Help him, let the media give him a crown, Won't you please, please not help
When Obama was younger, so much younger than today, He never needed anybody's help in any way. But now that Hillary's gone, his nomination all but assured Now I find I've changed my mind and closed the embassy doors
Don't Help him if you can, just let him down And I do appreciate he gets the runaround. Don't Help him, let the media give him a crown, Won't you please, please not help, not help, not help, not help
Yes, we ended up taking the weekend off, primarily due to the oppressive heat and humidity (which, also means extra duty on the homefront; As I write now, it is starting to break).
And what an explosive time to be sittin' out.
If politics were like "The Price Is Right" (well, err, the television gameshow, that is), Barack Obama would be running down the aisle, squealing in delight.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki supports US presidential candidate Barack Obama's plan to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 16 months. When asked in and interview with SPIEGEL when he thinks US troops should leave Iraq, Maliki responded "as soon as possible, as far as we are concerned." He then continued: "US presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."
SAY WHAT?!
Man, how cool is that, and I mean, motherfucking duende cool, in the heat of a presidential campaign, to have the Prime Minister of the country your Court-Appointed President is occupying, gives you a shout out, that you are "The Man with a Plan"?
Before the Neocronies could finish patting themselves on the back, for the Friday accomplishment of the Bush Grindhouse's Orwellian agreement of a "Time Horizon"(Iraqi translation - "Get Out ASAP"), defined by the accompanying qualifier, "aspirational goals" (Iraqi translation - "You sling it any way you want, but you're getting out of here ASAP"), al-Maliki sends them this big, fat, wet, juicy kiss-off.
