Daily Show

Senior Correspondent Wyatt Cenac, reporting on his time watching Friday’s Presidential Debate with elderly Jews in Florida.

Show aired September 29, 2008.

-Diane

The Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel talks to Dennis Kucinich about why he voted against the Wall Street bailout.



Rachel Maddow talks to Ana Marie Cox about Sarah Palin's gaffes and some of those in the GOP saying she should step down.

Show aired September 30, 2008.

-Diane

Countdown

Keith reports on the blame game being played by the McCain campaign and the GOP over the bailout. Howard Fineman weighs in.



Keith talks to Margaret Carlson about the reports that Sarah Palin could not name a single Supreme Court case during her interview with Katie Couric and how her debate prep is going.




The latest edition of McCain in the Membrane on McCain's talking points and where they come from on the bailout, the GOP calling Obama the Anti-Christ and on what you say out loud about attacking other countries.



Keith reports on early voting, the latest polls and the GOP's attempt to stop voters from registering. Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com weighs in.



And the winner is...Michelle Bachmann. Runner up Bill O'Reilly.



Keith talks to Eugene Robinson about the set of gaffes Palin has made and compares it to what happened to Dan Quayle.

The show aired September 30, 2008.

-Diane

-Diane

Oh my.

Recently, I blogged about the new video about homeless polar bears from Greenpeace. Well, the cute campaign hasn't been really well received everywhere...

"A bomb squad has been called in to take down a "hobo polar bear" that had commuters alarmed outside a train station in the US.

Passersby on the street first noticed the shabbily-dressed figure standing by a rubbish bin outside the Columbia Heights Metro station in Washington DC soon after daybreak, nbc4.com reports.

Huge crowds gathered to watch the scene while train services were halted before police gave the all-clear.

The local station was closed for almost two hours as the matter was investigated.

The bomb squad arrived hours later and tore the "bear" apart, revealing what appeared to be an elaborate costume and a great deal of stuffing."

Pretty much standard treatment for the homeless, except for the bomb squad.

-Diane

FBI Refuses to release documents in Anthrax case

They're certain that Bruce Ivins is the right guy, and the only suspect involved in the 2001 anthrax attacks (at least more surer than they were the last time they had the right guy)but the FBI just can't bring themselves to release the documents pertaining to that investigation. Fancy that.

WASHINGTON — The FBI is declining to release at least 15,000 pages of documents related to the now-deceased prime suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks despite lingering suspicions that the bureau has accused the wrong man.

In August, the FBI and Justice Department identified Bruce Ivins, a former microbiologist at the U.S. Army’s biological weapons research center at Ft. Detrick, Md., as the “only person involved” in the attacks that killed five people.

But David Hardy, the section chief of the FBI’s records management division, notified McClatchy Newspapers that his office couldn’t immediately release the records because there were “investigative leads still open” and the FBI needed to withhold the documents to protect confidential sources, privacy, law enforcement techniques and a suspect’s right to a fair trial.

If it turns out that the FBI was wrong a second time during this investigation, this time driving the suspect to suicide, they'll no doubt be another - no doubt larger - lawsuit to settle. But, will the agency finally change their guilty-until-proven-innocent style tactics?

-Diane

Ha!

-Diane

Republican Sec of State foils Republican Plot to Disenfranchise Voters

GRAND FORKS (AP) - About 20,000 absentee ballot applications mailed by North Dakota's Republican Party did not request information required by state law, but Secretary of State Al Jaeger wants county auditors to accept them anyway.

The applications, which were mailed Sept. 19, did not ask voters to supply their birth dates or drivers license identification numbers. Last year, the Legislature added those requirements to North Dakota law to make it easier for local election officials to check applications against a state voter database.

Jaeger, who is a Republican, asked county auditors last week to process the forms, saying prospective voters should not be punished for someone else's mistake. Auditors said Monday they were not rejecting the forms.

''The important thing is to get the ballot to the voter,'' Jaeger said. ''The county auditors will bend over backwards to accommodate the voter.''

Great that he's got the voter's backs on this one, but, methinks some angry troll will be making a nasty phone call.

-Diane

Transparent asshole alert

John McCain: This is all Barack Obama's fault.


-Diane

The Rachel Maddow Show

McLeadership ?



Some conservative columnists arent impressed with Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin after her last interview, even going as far as to call for her resignation. Is there a Palin backlash going on? Rachel Maddow is joined by LA Times columnist Rosa Brooks.

9-29-08.

-Diane

Let's see, what did I say about Palin's last spot on CBS with Couric? Oh yeah, pathetic. Indeed, McCain coming along to babysit and help make excuses for the crap that spews from Palin's mouth is just that, pathetic.

9-29-08.

-Diane

Countdown

Krugman on the bailout failure.



The latest edition of McCain in the Membrane.



Poles and Pole to Pole Policy: Sarah Palin's latest gaffe.



Worst. Person. In the World: And the winner is....Karl Rove. Runners up Barack Obama and Sean Hannity.

Obama? Oh, my. From the show originally aired September 29, 2008.

-Diane

The Cure

Located on http://www.stolendreams.com, The Cure is about a single mother's struggle after a freak accident puts her son in the hospital. Unfortunately, he has no health care coverage, and the mother gets trapped in a medical insurance nightmare.

This film was directed by Anthony Onah for the Stolen Dreams Short Film Competition, presented by Divided We Fail (http://www.dividedwefail.org)

-Diane

Maron v Seder: Bailout Press Conference

-Diane

Sarah Palin- Funny or Die

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

-Diane

A demonstrator stands outside the New York Stock Exchange during a protest, while U.S. lawmakers met to vote on a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, in New York September 29, 2008.

(Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

-Diane

Schuster Takes on Douglas Holtz-Eakin

David Schuster takes on McCain campaign economic advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin on their assertion that the bailout failing if Barack Obama's fault.

He does a pretty good job as Holtz-Eakin lies his ass off.

-Diane

The scariest thing about Sarah Palin isn't how unqualified she is - it's what her candidacy says about America

Matt Taibbi:


"Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States. As a representative of our political system, she's a new low in reptilian villainy, the ultimate cynical masterwork of puppeteers like Karl Rove. But more than that, she is a horrifying symbol of how little we ask for in return for the total surrender of our political power.
Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she's the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV -and this country is going to eat her up, cheering her every step of the way. All because most Americans no longer have the energy to do anything but lie back and allow ourselves to be jacked off by the calculating thieves who run this grasping consumer paradise we call a nation.

(...) The great insight of the Palin VP choice is that huge chunks of American voters no longer even demand that their candidates actually have policy positions; they simply consume them as media entertainment, rooting for or against them according to the reflexive prejudices of their demographic, as they would for reality-show contestants or sitcom characters."


Hmm...I wonder if that witchcraft spell protects her against voodoo dolls, also?

-Diane

Once upon a time, there was a creepy moose hunter from Alaska...

It makes me so damn mad that we can't even enjoy a good laugh at this woman without the realization(that generally hits before a chuckle escapes us)that John McCain is trying to take her to the White House. Horror overrides chuckle every single time.

ANCHORAGE -- Soon after Sarah Palin was elected mayor of the foothill town of Wasilla, Alaska, she startled a local music teacher by insisting in casual conversation that men and dinosaurs coexisted on an Earth created 6,000 years ago -- about 65 million years after scientists say most dinosaurs became extinct -- the teacher said.

After conducting a college band and watching Palin deliver a commencement address to a small group of home-schooled students in June 1997, Wasilla resident Philip Munger said, he asked the young mayor about her religious beliefs.

Palin told him that "dinosaurs and humans walked the Earth at the same time," Munger said. When he asked her about prehistoric fossils and tracks dating back millions of years, Palin said "she had seen pictures of human footprints inside the tracks," recalled Munger, who teaches music at the University of Alaska in Anchorage and has regularly criticized Palin in recent years on his liberal political blog, called Progressive Alaska.

The idea of a "young Earth" -- that God created the Earth about 6,000 years ago, and dinosaurs and humans coexisted early on -- is a popular strain of creationism.

Though in her race for governor she called for faith-based "intelligent design" to be taught along with evolution in Alaska's schools, Gov. Palin has not sought to require it, state educators say.

-Diane

Rest in peace, Paul Newman

Apocalypse Now - You can't go out into space...

-Diane

Post-Debate Bounce!

Gallup Daily: Obama Moves to 50% to 42% Lead


-Diane

-Diane

SNL

Tina Fey remakes the Palin-Couric interview. From the episode originally aired 9-27-08.

-Diane

Letterman slams McCain, Day 2

"That's what I feel like, I feel like an ugly date," he said. "I feel used. I feel cheap. I feel sullied."

-Diane

Late night.

Jason Mraz - 'I'm Yours'

-Diane

-Diane

CNN slams McCain's Senate voting record

John McCain has missed 101 more roll call votes than Senator Tim Johnson who suffered a stroke and missed over 8 months in the Senate in 2007.

Clearly when running for president, candidates will miss roll call votes, Obama missed a little under 300, but Obama had a much longer primary.

What's John McCain's excuse?

-Diane

Difference between a hockey mom and a flower

The Daily Show, originally aired September 24, 2008.

-Diane

Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel reports on the recent revelation that Condoleeza Rice has admitted to the Congress in writing that Cabinet members discussed in the White House how to torture people. Alex Gibney who's new movie Taxi to the Dark Side will be airing on HBO shortly weighs in.



Rachel brings in her "Uncle Pat" Buchanan to talk about the bailout and McCain boxing himself in now that his own party is revolting against it.

Program aired September 25, 2008.

-Diane

Oh my.

Sarah Palin accepts the blessing of Pastor Thomas Muthee, who asks Jesus to fund her political campaigns, and protect her from witchcraft. Really.

Winning friends and influencing people

Associated Press:

"A military interrogation expert, Air Force Col. Steven Kleinman, told Congress on Thursday that he witnessed interrogations of Iraqi detainees that he considers violations of the Geneva Conventions.

One of those interrogations was conducted by a civilian and a contractor employed by his own organization, the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, which had sent a small team to Iraq in September 2003 to help a special forces task force make its interrogations more effective.

Kleinman told the Senate Armed Services Committee that his two colleagues forcibly stripped an Iraqi prisoner naked, shackled him, and left him standing in a dank, six-foot cement cell with orders to the guards that the prisoner was not to move for 12 hours. They could intervene only if he passed out, Kleinman said his two colleagues told the guards.

Had the prisoner passed out, he would have hit his head on a wall, Kleinman said."

Meanwhile, back at the White House...the Bush administration continues to wait for the hearts-n-flowers parade in Iraq, or anywhere.

-Diane

My Friends' Mess

McCain and his friends connection to the financial crisis.

-Diane

McCain Suspends Campaign to Ruin Everything

In an interview on CNN today following a meeting at the White House, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) said that the meeting was "contentious" because after striking a deal with Senate Republicans earlier in the day, "some new core agreement" was introduced at the White House. "We're told it came out of the Republican House, we're even told at one point it was, maybe, John McCain was floating the idea, that Hank Paulson was considering it."

Dodd: "It looked to me like a rescue plan for John McCain."

-Diane

Maron v Seder: Fallen Masters

Marc Maron and Sam Seder are launching a new show, coming to an internet near you soon:

mvsLive.com October 1st - LIVE, every day at 3pm EST

-Diane

Countdown

Keith reports on the politics of McCain parachuting back to DC and suspending his campaign, or saying he has. Howard Fineman weighs in.



Keith talks to Chris Hayes about whether inserting Presidential politics into the bailout talks made the matter worse or not.



Keith's latest edition of McCain in the Membrane on Rick Davis' association with Freddie Mac.



Keith talks to Margaret Carlson about her interviews this week and why the McCain campaign has chosen to keep her out of the public eye.



Worst. Person. In the World: And the winner is...Steve Doocy. Runner up Neil Cavuto.



Keith reports on McCain ditching Letterman and shows some of the highlights from the show in which he subbed as a guest.

Show originally aired on September 25, 2008.

-Diane

More 'Maverick' Hillarity

"Sen. John McCain's self-portrait as a bold leader willing to set politics aside to save an endangered financial bailout plan took a pounding Thursday from top Democrats and even some fellow Republicans.

His efforts to re-energize his presidential campaign will partly turn on who wins the public relations battle, destined to play out for days.

Top Democrats in Congress ridiculed McCain's claim Wednesday that negotiations were going nowhere, necessitating his hasty return to Washington to intervene while suspending his campaign.

"It was somewhat stunning" to receive McCain's phone call with that message, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. Talks were proceeding fine without him, Reid said.

Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the chief House Democrat on the bill, said, "all of a sudden, now that we are on the verge of making a deal, John McCain airdrops himself to help us make the deal."

Even the House's Republican leader, John Boehner of Ohio, passed up a chance to praise McCain's leadership powers shortly before the two men met in the Capitol at midday Thursday. Asked by reporters if McCain could help win House Republican votes for the proposed package, Boehner shrugged and said, "Who knows?"

It sounds as if Mighty Mouse is being taunted relentlessly. Another failed pr stunt. Oh my.

-Diane

Mighty Mouse

"Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said that "nobody mentioned McCain" during the several-hour-long meeting on the $700 billion market rescue plan, other than Frank and that his Republican colleagues "winced" when he did.

"He’s been irrelevant to the process. He remains to be," said Frank. "I was afraid that his dropping in here, like Andy Kaufman’s Mighty Mouse—'here I am to save the day'—I thought that would slow things down. I didn’t see any sign of our Republican colleagues paying any attention to him whatsoever."

Franks went on. "Nobody mentioned him. The man’s irrelevant to the whole process. No Republican mentioned his name. I’m the only one who raised his name. They winced when I did," he said."

Ouch!

-Diane

Late.

Dave Matthews: 'Gravedigger'

-Diane

Compassionate Conservative (R-Louisiana)

Worried that welfare costs are rising as the number of taxpayers declines, state Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, said Tuesday he is studying a plan to pay poor women $1,000 to have their Fallopian tubes tied.

"We're on a train headed to the future and there's a bridge out, " LaBruzzo said of what he suspects are dangerous demographic trends. "And nobody wants to talk about it."

LaBruzzo said he worries that people receiving government aid such as food stamps and publicly subsidized housing are reproducing at a faster rate than more affluent, better-educated people who presumably pay more tax revenue to the government. He said he is gathering statistics now.

"What I'm really studying is any and all possibilities that we can reduce the number of people that are going from generational welfare to generational welfare, " he said.

He said his program would be voluntary. It could involve tubal ligation, encouraging other forms of birth control or, to avoid charges of gender discrimination, vasectomies for men.

It also could include tax incentives for college-educated, higher-income people to have more children, he said.

LaBruzzo, 38, is white, married to a lawyer, has a toddler daughter and holds a bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University.

As I read further down in the article to see which district this twit represents, it's the 81st -- the same district that sent white supremacist David Duke to the legislature in 1989. Sounds like a political stunt to appease the Klan.

-Diane

Sarah who?

NBC/WSJ Poll: Economy tops voter concerns

Obama holds a 12-point edge over McCain on economic matters

-Diane

Couric interviews Palin, again.

9-24-08: Pathetic. Most of the 'interview' Palin regurgitates obviously trained responses, and then at then end when she needs to give a response that wasn't in her training manual...as I said, pathetic.

-Diane

-Diane

CUT -N- RUN

"Senator John McCain on Wednesday injected another surprise into his presidential campaign, announcing that he would suspend campaigning on Thursday and seek a delay in this week’s planned debate so that he could return to Washington to try to forge a consensus on a financial bailout package.

“I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself,” Mr. McCain said in New York on Wednesday afternoon. “It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.”

What else could McCain do after seeing today's poll numbers? It's not like his running mate could go on and campaign for him, delicate flower that she is and all.

-Diane

Letterman rips McCain

9-24-08: David reacts to John McCain announcing the suspension of his presidential campaign due to the 'exploding' economy, and cancelling his appearance on Late Night only to discover he did an interview with Katie Couric instead.

-Diane

Late night.

Everclear: 'Santa Monica'

-Diane

Caption this.

-Diane

From the Lies and Damned Lies Files

WASHINGTON — The Army will complete an investigation within 60 days into whether Indiana National Guardsmen and other soldiers providing protection at a water pumping plant in Iraq in 2003 were exposed to a deadly chemical.

Army Secretary Pete Geren said in a letter to Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh that the “senior level” review will look at the Army’s procedures for handling hazardous exposure, the actions taken to follow up with those who may have been exposed and whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers properly oversaw contract work by Kellogg, Brown and Root Services.

Geren said he also has asked for an independent review of the medical evaluations initially conducted by the Army about the incident.

Bayh requested the Army investigation after congressional Democrats in June held a forum about the potential exposure at the Qarmat Ali water pumping plant.

Two KBR employees told Senate Democrats that workers and soldiers were exposed in 2003 to sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen, despite the company’s assurances that the site was safe.

No doubt the US will continue to award KBR huge, lucrative contracts, despite lying about exposing troops to carcinogenic chemicals, electrocuting them in the showers in Iraq, and these are the cases we're aware of. What else?

-Diane

The Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel talks to Rep. Jan Schakowsky about the bailout and it's affect on the Presidential campaign.



Rachel's review of today's headlines.



Rachel Maddow with the latest report that McCain's campaign manager was paid by Freddie Mac as recently as last month. Michael Isikoff weighs in.



Reporter Rosa Brooks weighs in on the lastest revelations on Rick Davis taking money last month from Freddie Mac.

Originally aired September 23, 2008.

-Diane

Countdown

David Shuster filling in for Keith reporting on the campaign's and members of Congress' responses to the bailout proposals.



David Shuster filling in for Keith talks to Howard Fineman about Congress' reaction to the proposed bailout.



David Shuster interviews Barney Frank about the bailout.



David Shuster reports on the McCain continuing to shield Palin from the press. Richard Wolffe weighs in.



Countdown shows part of Matt Lauer's interview with Barack Obama.



David Shuster reports on George Will's statements about John McCain and whether he's fit to be President. Rachel Maddow weighs in.

Episode originally aired September 23, 2008.

-Diane

Howard Dean: John McCain "hot-headed...irascible"

From 9/23/08, MSNBC

-Diane

-Diane

Late, late.

The Black Crowes - 'She Talks To Angels'

-Diane

Kittehs...

more animals


-Diane

America speaks.

And says 'blame the repubs!'


-Diane

McCain’s Economic Plan For Nation: "Everyone Marry A Beer Heiress"

McCain�s Economic Plan For Nation: "Everyone Marry A Beer Heiress"

From the folks at The Onion, of course.

-Diane

The Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel Maddow makes a very good metaphor for what's going on now with the Wall Street kids in the candy store holding their hands out for more. Robert Reich weighs in.



Rachel Maddow talks Steve Benen now of Washington Monthly about the Presidential campaign.



Rachel Maddow talks to her "Uncle Pat" about the state of conservatism with these bailouts and how McCain squares his past stance on deregulation with what he's saying now.



Rachel's segment on the under reported news of the day.



Rachel talks to Alaska State Senate President Lyda Green about the similarities of the Palin administration in Alaska to the Bush administration now.

From the show originally aired 9-22-08.

-Diane

Countdown

9-22-08: Keith reports on McCain's support of deregulation for the health insurance industry and Wall Street. Johnathan Alter weighs in.



Keith reports on the McCain campaign trying to play it both ways by talking tough about lobbyists while having his campaign run by them. John Harwood weighs in.



Keith talks to Paul Krugman about the proposed bailout of the banking industry.



Keith reports on McCain's earmarks he received for Arizona even though he claims he never persued any.



Worst. Person. In the World: And the winner is....Neil Cavuto. Runners up Steve Doocy and and Paul Lindeman.

-Diane

No comment.

Via BoingBoing: Abu Ghraib Coffee Table, by Phillip Toledano, from "America: The Gift Shop." Moulded resin, plexiglass, 6', 2008. Related: the work of Allen Jones.

-Diane

-Diane

SNL: Sen. McCain approves truth-enhanced negative campaign messages

From the show originally aired on 9-20-08.

-Diane

A,B, C, uh ...wait, it'll come to me.

Drunk repub getting his third DUI says it's no biggie, 'cause Sarah Palin's fucked up family makes it all oh-kaay.

You can't make this stuff up.

-Diane

The World According to Monsanto

On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television (ARTE – French-German cultural tv channel) by French journalist and film maker Marie-Monique Robin, The World According to Monsanto - A documentary that Americans won’t ever see. The gigantic biotech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.

-Diane

Late night.

Dave Matthews Band: 'Where are you Going?'

-Diane

Federal Judge thinks Cheney is not above the Law

A federal judge on Saturday ordered Dick Cheney to preserve a wide range of the records from his time as vice president.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is a setback for the Bush administration in its effort to promote a narrow definition of materials that must be safeguarded under by the Presidential Records Act.

The Bush administration's legal position "heightens the court's concern" that some records may not be preserved, said the judge.

A private group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is suing Cheney and the Executive Office of the President in an effort to ensure that no presidential records are destroyed or handled in a way that makes them unavailable to the public.

Who thinks Unca Dick's shredding machines haven't already been running 24/7? That or the refridgerator sized safes full of documents have all been relocated to a witness relocation program in an undisclosed location.

-Diane

"The Origin Of Toxic Attack Politics"

-Diane

Krugman

"No deal."


-Diane

Say what?

McCain's top energy expert in the US babels incoherently.

-Diane

Hey, Maybe Sarah Palin will decriminalize Pot?

I wouldn't bet a nickle bag on it, but here's the story from Gawker.

-Diane

O'Reilly on Sarah Palin's hacked email account

Poor Bill. The rule of the law just doesn't work the way he would like it to.

Too bad, that.

-Diane

Lake Orion, Michigan: General Motor's workers tell John and Cindy McCain 'thanks, but no thanks.'

-Diane

Crowd Chanting - "Karl Rove You Can't Hide We Charge You With Genocide"

Karl Rove becoming ever more popular among the young voter crowds...


-Diane

World gone Mad

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 20 -- A massive suicide truck bomb ripped through a luxury hotel in the Pakistani capital Saturday night, killing at least 60 people and wounding more than 250 as the building was engulfed in flames, officials said.

-Diane

-Diane

Beg, Borrow, Lie, or Steal

Ohio:

"Earlier this year, Ohio election officials sent notices marked "Do not forward" to the state's registered voters, alerting them to the March primary.

To the surprise of voting rights activists, 573,444 notices were returned as undeliverable in five counties alone, including the urban areas of Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

The heavy return rate alarmed liberal activists. They feared that numerous voters -- many of them young and minorities -- could lose their right to vote in November, perhaps because they had moved and failed to update their records.

Since about 1 in 7 Americans changes residence every year, the large volume of returned mail also hints at a potential problem in voter rolls nationwide."

...snip...


"GOP leaders have not disclosed their plans. "We don't get into the business of sharing strategy or tactics, but I can tell you we are not taking any option off the table," said Kevin DeWine, deputy chairman of the Ohio Republican Party.

He said a returned notice should result in a mark placed next to the voter's name on the local voter roll, and on election day such voters can show proper identification to confirm their address or cast a provisional ballot. "We want to ensure the integrity of the vote. We say those who properly registered should have their votes counted. For those not properly registered, don't count them," he said.

The rules for counting those provisional ballots are not entirely clear, said Daniel P. Tokaji, an election law expert at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law. "If we have a close election in any state, and especially here in Ohio," he said, "the parties will be fighting hard over the counting of those provisional ballots."

Why anyone would actually cast a vote for any candidate of a party that works so hard to steal away the right to vote from Americans beats the hell out of me. Mr. DeWine deserves to be stripped of his own right to vote for so arrogantly boasting that the Ohio Republican Party intends to toss aside as many votes as they can get away with on any technicality available.

Don't forget, rumor has it that they eat kittens, too.

-Diane

Rock on.

Guns N' Roses: Paradise City

-Diane

Little pink tents for you and me

"Homeless encampments dubbed "tent cities" are springing up across the US, partly in response to soaring numbers of home repossessions, the credit crunch and rising unemployment, according to a report."

But, but...the fundamentals of our economy is still strong!

-Diane

The Rachel Maddow Show

Part One: Rachel Maddow takes a look at both Presidential campaigns' response to the financial crisis going on now. Johnathan Alter weighs in.



Part Two: Rachel Maddow does her "Talk Me Down" segment with Paul Krugman, and his worries about where we're headed with these bailouts, as mine personally don't make her feel any better about where we're headed which at worst could be another depression.



Part Three: Rachel Maddow has more on troopergate and the latest news that the scandal still might be looked into before the elections. Alaska State Sen. Bill Wielechowski weighs in.



Part Four: Rachel Maddow reports on just how bad things went for John McCain this week. Ana Marie Cox weighs in.



Part Five: Rachel points out the disturbing similarities between Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin.
Show aired 9-19-08.

-Diane

The Time is Now

Official Backdrop Video for the infamous "Get Stupid" interlude (Sticky & Sweet Tour 2008). Contains elements from Give It 2 Me, Beat Goes On and 4 Minutes. Featuring John McCain and Barack Obama, among others.

-Diane

Caption this.

-Diane

Stilt houses stand along the main highway through Gilchrist, Texas, after Hurricane Ike essentially wiped out the town.

-Diane

Destroyed homes are seen at Crystal Beach, Texas on the Bolivar peninsula on the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

-Diane

Teh surge is awesome

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Satellite images taken at night show heavily Sunni Arab neighborhoods of Baghdad began emptying before a U.S. troop surge in 2007, graphic evidence of ethnic cleansing that preceded a drop in violence, according to a report published on Friday.

The images support the view of international refugee organizations and Iraq experts that a major population shift was a key factor in the decline in sectarian violence, particularly in the Iraqi capital, the epicenter of the bloodletting in which hundreds of thousands were killed.

Minority Sunni Arabs were driven out of many neighborhoods by Shi'ite militants enraged by the bombing of the Samarra mosque in February 2006. The bombing, blamed on the Sunni militant group al Qaeda, sparked a wave of sectarian violence.

"By the launch of the surge, many of the targets of conflict had either been killed or fled the country, and they turned off the lights when they left," geography professor John Agnew of the University of California Los Angeles, who led the study, said in a statement.

"Essentially, our interpretation is that violence has declined in Baghdad because of intercommunal violence that reached a climax as the surge was beginning," said Agnew, who studies ethnic conflict.

In short, to say the surge has been successful is a US stamp of approval on the ethnic cleansing that has taken place within Iraq.

-Diane

New Rules with Bill Maher

9-19-08:

New Rule: "If we can’t, after all is said and done, make this election go the right way, at least we can save one man. I’m talking about young Master Levi Johnston. He’s the 18-year-old Alaskan hockey enthusiast who knocked up Sarah Palin’s daughter, and the National Enquirer describes him as “a boozing pot-smoker who doesn’t want to get married” – and John McCain thinks he found his soul mate!

We’ve all recently seen how evil henchman of the Republican party captured this poor innocent out of his natural habitat and forced him into a shotgun wedding, all so that their campaign narrative of fake family values could be upheld. When the 17-year-old daughter of the vice presidential candidate running on the Jesus ticket is “out to here,” it’s just better that Levi was introduced as the “fiancé.” Looks a little less white trashy."

More at FreeLevi.com

-Diane

Equal pay for Women

-Diane

You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

McCain 2008: Like hope, but different.

-Diane

25%

"As has been the case for the past year and a half, only one-quarter of California voters approve of the job President Bush is doing and a majority of voters attribute his performance to his not being up to the job to begin with, according to a new Field Poll.

The nonpartisan, statewide survey shows that 25 percent of California registered voters think Bush is doing a good job, and 68 percent do not. Seven percent have no opinion."


Ouch! Worst. President. Ever. What a legacy.

-Diane

Fish love oil rigs?

You can't make this stuff up.

-Diane

'Our son died a useless, needless death'

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Darryl Mathis waits in his Pensacola, Florida, home for the body of his 24-year-old son to return home from Iraq. Mathis, a military veteran himself, was seething with anger Thursday as he spoke about the death of Army Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson.

An unnamed U.S. soldier is accused of killing Army Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson in Iraq on Sunday.

Dawson, and Sgt. Wesley Durbin, 26, are said to have been shot and killed by another U.S. soldier on Sunday at a base south of Baghdad.

Darryl and his wife, Maxine (Dawson's stepmother), say the military has told them nothing about the incident: no details on his death, no information at all.

His voice shakes as he says he believes that the military has let him down.

"I'm very disappointed -- very," he said. "If I would get a straight answer, if they would actually tell me what's going on, I would have something to work on; but right now, I have nothing to work on. Everything I'm getting, I'm getting from the media."

His wife sobs as she says her stepson's death was foreshadowed by a phone call he made to her from Iraq.

"He said that he was more shaky sometimes of the soldiers than of the enemy, because of the young guys over there."

She said she asked him, "What in the world do you mean? You're afraid of your own soldiers?"

" 'These kids are trying to fight a war they know nothing about. ... They're jumpy. ... They're more scary than the enemy,' " she said he told her.

"And I said, 'Oh, God,' " said Maxine Mathis.

Why can't the DoD be up front with military families? It would seem not giving them information is as bad as the truth, or worse, from a 'pr' aspect.

Condolences to this young man's family, friends, and loved ones.

-Diane

Countdown

9-18-08: McCain, wrong about oil rigs, Hagel: Palin not ready, Fox news lobs Palin softballs, and with McCain supporters like these...

-Diane

-Diane

Late night flashback.

Rolling Stones: 'Honky Tonk Woman' live @ Hyde Park in 1969.

-Diane

Homelessness on the Rise

"Lost home to global warming, desperately asking for change."

A great new art project from Greenpeace.

-Diane

It's Wednesday

Well, according to the time zone that my blog posts in. So, it must be Monkey Blogging!

-Diane

Uh oh.

Shrill twit alert!


-Diane

War and Money, Oil and Blood

The Senate approved a massive $612.5 Billion military bill earlier today to fund the wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Now of the candidates for president, we know Obama is going to begin phased withdrawal of troops, so it wouldn't necessarily be surprising if he didn't vote for this one, or even vote at all. But, guess which warmonger didn't show up to vote to fund the war he wants America to fight forever?

"Those absent included three senators engaged in the presidential race: Republican nominee John McCain of Arizona and his Democratic rival, Barack Obama of Illinois, along with Obama's running mate, Joe Biden of Delaware.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., was absent as he recovers from treatment for a brain tumor."


To be fair, McCain is pretty busy today. Afterall, he's got to find the dirty bastard(s) who hacked Gov. Palin's Yahoo! account and stole her email.

-Diane

Gallup

Obama 47%, McCain 45%.

While the poll report refers to this as a 'slight' lead for Obama, remember when these were Bush approval rating polls, and they called this kind of point spread a 'bounce.'

-Diane

Doughboy Rove

Making friends wherever he goes...


-Diane

Iraq'd

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military says five American soldiers have been killed when a helicopter went down in southern Iraq.

A U.S. statement says the CH-47 Chinook helicopter made a "hard landing" shortly after midnight Thursday about 60 miles west of Basra.


The US casualties in Iraq toll now at 4,166.

-Diane

NYT/CBS Poll: Obama - 48%, McCain - 43%

WASHINGTON - Despite an intense effort to distance himself from the way his party has done business in Washington, Senator John McCain is seen by voters as far less likely to bring change to Washington than Senator Barack Obama. Mr. McCain is widely viewed as a “typical Republican” who would continue or expand President Bush’s policies, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

Polls taken after the Republican convention suggested that Mr. McCain had enjoyed a surge of support — particularly among white women after his selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate — but the latest poll indicates “the Palin effect” was, at least so far, a limited burst of interest.

The contest appears to be roughly where it was before the two conventions and before the vice presidential selections: Mr. Obama has the support of 48 percent of registered voters, compared with 43 percent for Mr. McCain, a difference within the poll’s margin of sampling error, and statistically unchanged from the tally in the last New York Times/CBS News Poll in mid-August.


-Diane

Countdown

9-17-08: Keith Olbermann: McCain camp 'disappears' Fiorina, Limbaugh finds his feminist side, Palin's energy expertise not evident, dirty election trick season begins, another heckuva job, Palin obstruction echoes Cheney/Rove, McCain knows politics, if not economics, McCain irregular on market regulation.

-Diane