Letterman's Top 10 George Bush moments

-Diane

Cynthia McKinney interviwed on CNN

12-30-08: Cynthia Mckinney was aboard a ship that tried to bring medical supplies to Gaza this morning. The boat was in international waters as it was rammed by ab Israeli patrol boat.

" I would like to ask my former colleagues in the united states congress, to stop sending weapons of mass destruction around the world.."

-Diane

-Diane

Made in the USA

The Israel Air Force used a new bunker-buster missile that it received recently from the United States in strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, The Jerusalem Post learned on Sunday.

The missile, called GBU-39, was developed in recent years by the US as a small-diameter bomb for low-cost, high-precision and low collateral damage strikes.

Israel received approval from Congress to purchase 1,000 units in September and defense officials said on Sunday that the first shipment had arrived earlier this month and was used successfully in penetrating underground Kassam launchers in the Gaza Strip during the heavy aerial bombardment of Hamas infrastructure on Saturday. It was also used in Sunday's bombing of tunnels in Rafah.

No comment.

-Diane

Peace takes Courage

Amid thousands of images of civilian casualties of the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, the solemn stare of one child appears to have stood out more than any other. Newspapers and broadcasters across the world selected the image of a young girl looking into a camera lens outside the Shifa hospital hours after an Israeli air strike

[Photograph: Abid Katib/Getty Images]


-Diane

Pot, meet Kettle

MIAMI (AP) — U.S. prosecutors want a Miami judge to sentence the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor to 147 years in prison for torturing people when he was chief of a brutal paramilitary unit during his father's reign.

Charles McArthur Emmanuel, also known as Charles "Chuckie" Taylor Jr. is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 9 by U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga. His conviction was the first use of a 1994 law allowing prosecution in the U.S. for acts of torture committed overseas.

A recent Justice Department court filing describes torture — which the U.S. has been accused of in the war on terror — as a "flagrant and pernicious abuse of power and authority" that warrants severe punishment of Taylor.

"It undermines respect for and trust in authority, government and a rule of law," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Heck Miller in last week's filing. "The gravity of the offense of torture is beyond dispute."

I'd really like to see the math here, 'cause how many years do you figure waterboarding alone is good for?

-Diane

Caption this.

You've got a friend: Conchita, the three-week-old white-naped mangabey monkey at London Zoo, who found protection in the form of an old teddy.

[Picture: PA]

Video captures deaths of 14 Afghan students

12-28-08:

KABUL, Afghanistan – A single-file line of school children walked past a military checkpoint Sunday as a bomb-loaded truck veered toward them and exploded, ending the lives of 14 young Afghans in a heartbreaking flash captured by a U.S. military security camera.

The video shows an SUV slowly weaving through sand bag barriers at a military checkpoint just as a line of school children, most wearing white caps, comes into view. They walk along a pathway between the street and a wall, several of them pausing for a few seconds in a group before moving forward again. The vehicle moves toward the security camera while the children walk in the opposite direction, nearly passing the SUV when the footage ends in a fiery blast.

-Report via the Associated Press.

-Diane

-Diane

'Clean Coal'

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

More on the environmental disaster in Tennessee created by one of those 'clean coal' power plants. From MSNBC...

-Diane

Not a path to peace.

Gaza: Bodies from the sites of Israeli air strikes are lined up at a hospital.

[Photograph: Mahmud Hams/AFP/Getty Images]


More scenes of the aftermath here.

-Diane

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

WaPo:

On Sunday, Israeli bombs destroyed a mosque, Palestinian officials told the Associated Press. The military called the building a "base for terrorist activities."

The al-Aqsa television station used by Hamas was also struck, with its studio building destroyed. The station used a mobile unit to remain on the air.

Livni warned that Hamas's political leaders could soon be targeted. "Nobody is immune," the AP quoted her as saying.

The Israeli military said in a statement that "this operation will be continued, expanded and intensified as much as will be required." It was not clear whether the air attacks would be followed by a ground incursion in the seaside enclave, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, which has been ruled by Hamas for 18 months.

...

Barak said the Israeli operation may continue for some time. For weeks, he said, "Hamas and its proxies launched Qassam and Grad rockets, and mortars, on the towns of the south. We did not intend to let this reality continue."

He said the military had been preparing for the operation for several months "to strike Hamas severely so as to change the situation from its base." Barak added: "The operation will be deeper and expanded as much as needed. I do not want to delude anyone; it won't be short and it won't be easy, but we have to be determined."

Olmert said, "We tried to avoid, and I think quite successfully, to hit any uninvolved people -- we attacked only targets that are part of the Hamas organizations."

...

"Outside in the streets, I saw people running in hysteria, children crying. Every five minutes, there was a bombing. No one knew where to go. Children were leaving school. One woman whose son was one of the graduates was shouting, 'Where is my son?' " At Shifa Hospital, he added, "I saw bodies and wounded people lying on the floors, as there are not enough beds. Not only no beds, but also no medical supplies for the wounded. Bodies were on the floor because the morgue was full with bodies. So they piled one body on the other. It was an awful sight. It's the worst thing I have ever seen."

Via Ynet News:

Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi issued a statement concerning the Israeli operation in Gaza in which she wrote that "When Israel is attacked, the United States must continue to stand strongly with its friend and democratic ally."

Call Nancy and tell her you stand with peace, not mass murder: (202) 225-0100.

-Diane

It's Raining...

Eric Clapton: 'Let it Rain'

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Delaney Bramlett, the singer-songwriter-producer who penned classic rock songs such as "Let it Rain" and worked with musicians George Harrison and Eric Clapton, died Saturday. He was 69.

Bramlett died shortly before 5 a.m. at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Los Angeles as a result of complications from gall-bladder surgery, his wife Susan Lanier-Bramlett said.

Born in Mississippi, Bramlett enjoyed a career in the music business that spanned 50 years.

He is perhaps best known for standards such as "Superstar," co-written with Leon Russell, which was recorded by Usher, Luther Vandross, Bette Midler, The Carpenters and most recently, Sonic Youth, in a version featured on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack of the movie "Juno."

He co-wrote "Let it Rain" with British guitarist Clapton, who also recorded it, and "Never Ending Song of Love," which was recorded by more than 100 artists including Ray Charles, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Patty Loveless and Dwight Yoakam.

Condolences to family and friends.

-Diane

Gaza

CNN reporting on the air raids in Gaza and the response from the Bush administration and the President-elect Barack Obama.


Also, see Siun's report at FDL on the timing of the Gaza attack, as children were on their way to school in the morning.


-Diane

Slaughter

A Palestinian security force officer from Hamas reacts as he stands over others that were killed at the site of an Israeli missile strike at the security headquarters in Gaza City, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008. Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of air strikes Saturday, killing more than 200 people and wounding nearly 400 in the single bloodiest day of fighting in years.

(AP Photo/Fadi Adwan)

-Diane

Faux History

Fox News host Jamie Colby plays 'Let's rewrite history' with Karl Rove, as they try to change the legacy of Worst. Preznit. Ever.

-Diane

Iraq'd

Three-year-old Nerjis Thamir lies next to her mother Iman Kadim, in a hospital after they were injured in a car bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008. 22 people are reported to have died in the blast. Another 54 were wounded, the Iraqi army said.

(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)


-Diane

Same Ol'

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli warplanes retaliating for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of airstrikes Saturday, killing at least 155 and wounding more than 310 in the single bloodiest day of fighting in recent memory.

[Photo: REUTERS/Ismail Zaydah]

-Diane

Caption this.

-Diane

The Late Show Last Great moments in Presidential Speeches

From the Late Show with David Letterman on 12-23-08.

-Diane

'Clean Coal'

(CNN) -- Estimates for the amount of thick sludge that gushed from a Tennessee coal plant this week have tripled to more than a billion gallons, as cleanup crews try to remove the goop from homes and railroads and halt its oozing into an adjacent river.

The sludge, a byproduct of the ash from coal combustion, was contained at a retention site at the Tennessee Valley Authority's power plant in Kingston, about 40 miles east of Knoxville. The retention wall breached early Monday, sending the sludge downhill and damaging 15 homes. All the residents were evacuated, and three homes were deemed uninhabitable, according to the TVA.

TVA's initial estimate for the spill was 1.8 million cubic yards or more than 360 million gallons of sludge. By Friday, the estimate reached 5.4 million cubic yards or more than 1 billion gallons -- enough to fill 1,660 Olympic-size swimming pools.

Environmental advocates say the ash contains concentrated levels of mercury and arsenic.

The plant sits on a tributary of the Tennessee River called the Clinch River. At least 300 acres of land has been coated by the sludge -- a bigger area than the Exxon Valdez oil spill.


It seems only right that every politician who has pushed the 'clean coal' myth should have to go to Tennessee, help clean this mess up, and give periodic updates to Congress on the environmental impact of the disaster on this area's water, land, and wildlife.


-Diane

So this is Christmas...

U.S. soldiers of 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry decorate their Christmas tree with a skull mask at JSS Sadr City in Baghdad December 24, 2008.

[REUTERS/Erik de Castro]

-Diane

America's Little Blue Pill Pushers, the CIA

WaPo:

The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.

Four blue pills. Viagra.

"Take one of these. You'll love it," the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.

The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes -- followed by a request for more pills.

...

In their efforts to win over notoriously fickle warlords and chieftains, the officials say, the agency's operatives have used a variety of personal services. These include pocketknives and tools, medicine or surgeries for ailing family members, toys and school equipment, tooth extractions, travel visas, and, occasionally, pharmaceutical enhancements for aging patriarchs with slumping libidos, the officials said.


Now the eight year old child brides of Afghanistan know who to thank for the increase in their 'duties.'

-Diane

-Diane

Greeting the Liberators

An Iraqi family reacts as U.S. Army soldiers from K Troop, Third Squadron, Third Armored Cavalry Regiment detain their relative after a rocket propelled grenade attack on U.S. troops in Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq.

(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo/FILE)

Santa Paws?

Hopefully, y'all have noticed my absence of late. I pondered closing the doors. But, I've decided I will continue on here, with the focus to primarily be the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq after the holidays.

If anyone has any features that I've normally kept up that you'd like to see continued, videos, photos, cartoons, whatever...leave me a note in the comments and I'll take your thoughts into consideration. If there are no comments, I'll assume y'all have all gone home, and I'll post whatever I damn well want here all by my lonesome. ;)

-Diane

I am so going to miss Mr. Luckavich's drawings of W's ears when his term of office ends.


-Diane

Countdown

Keith talks to Jonathan Turley about whether Dick Cheney has openly admitted to war crimes and that Obama has a decision to make about what sort of administration he wants to run and whether he's going to let this go or not.



Keith talks to Chris Hayes about the Bush administration's last push to dismantle every regulation that protects consumers and citizens on their way out the door.



Bushed: Revisionism-Gate one two and three.



Worst Person in the World: And the winner is....Rush Limbaugh. Runners up Eric Prince and Karl Rove.

12-16-08.

-Diane

Dana Perino: We're not occupiers in Iraq, we're guests

12-16-08: While speaking with the press today about the shoe throwing 'incident' in Iraq(that left Perino with a little bit of a black eye)Dana Perino tells Helen Thomas that we are not occupiers in Iraq, we're guests.

-Diane

Your Tax Dollars At Work

-Diane

Cheney invented waterboarding

Okay, not really, of course, as waterboarding has been around for hundreds of years, but Vice President Cheney did emerge from his underground bunker today to begin a public relations campaign for Gitmo Bay and torture.

The campaign includes the renaming of Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) to "Guantanamo 'war on terror' detention center" that Cheney wants to see remain open. Cheney also took credit for not only authorizing the use of torture at Gitmo, but proudly recounted his involvement at every level:

"I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn't do," Cheney said.

"And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it," Cheney said.

ABC asked him if in hindsight he thought the tactics went too far. "I don't," Cheney said.

Cheney was aware of the torture, he helped to clear it, he set the torture rules(that's a list I'd like to see), and he remains completely unapologetic for the use of tactics that he doesn't think went too far.

Remember though, this is the guy who shoots his friends in the face for fun and relaxation.


-Diane

Rachel Maddow Show

12-15-08: Rachel with guest Thomas Tamm, the NSA whistleblower featured in last week's Newsweek online article 'The Fed Who Blew the Whistle.'

-Diane

Countdown

12-15-08: Keith discusses the Iraqi journalist who tossed his shoes at Bush, and Bush's reaction.

-Diane

For Posterity...

You've no doubt all seen this by now, but let's give it a nice spot here for posterity.

-Diane

-Diane

Really !?!: Gov. Blagojevich

12-13-08: Seth and Amy's latest installment takes on the Governor of Illinois.



New York's Governor weighs in on filling Hillary's Senate seat.



Good-bye: Amy signs off from the Update Desk.

-Diane

-Diane

Chris Matthews Show: Will Obama Maintain Good Will?

Chris Matthews asks his panel how long Obama will maintain the good will of the voters and if he's going to be tainted by the scandal in Illinois.

12-13-08.

-Diane

Documenting the Atrocities

Via Boing Boing:

"Today, we present this interview with the organization's digital archivist, Grace Lile about video as a tool to fight human rights abuses at home and abroad. She tells us about how WITNESS gathers videos from human rights activists and "citizen eyewitnesses," and why collecting and preserving this footage matters."


-Diane

This week's message from your President

On December 13th, 2008 President-elect Barack Obama named Shaun Donovan as his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

-Diane

The Daily Show Recap

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Recap - Week of 12/8/08

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

-Diane

Late Night

David Letterman: Great moments in Presidential speeches.

-Diane Sweet

In the wee small hours of the morning...

John Mayer: 'In the Wee Small Hours'

-Diane

White Trash from Texas Pleads Insanity

I have watched, and waited patiently for this one to finally come to trial:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A former Army soldier charged with raping and killing an Iraqi teenager, then slaying her family, will rely on an insanity defense at trial, a defense attorney said Thursday.

Federal Public Defender Scott Wendelsdorf said during a conference call with prosecutors and a judge that former 101st Airborne soldier Steven Dale Green will rely on medical experts’ evaluation of his medical condition in fighting the charges against him.

“My whole defense is going to be not guilty by reason of insanity,” Wendelsdorf said.

Green, of Midland, Texas, faces a possible death sentence if convicted on 16 charges that include premeditated murder and aggravated sexual assault in 2006. He pleaded not guilty in November 2006. Green is scheduled to face trial on April 27, 2009, in Paducah, Ky.



Abeer means 'fragrance of flowers'...

The soldiers noticed her at a checkpoint. They stalked her after one or more of them expressed his intention to rape her. On March 12, 2006, after playing cards while slugging whisky mixed with a high-energy drink and practicing their golf swings, they changed into black civilian clothing and burst into Abeer's home in Mahmoudiya, a town 50 miles south of Baghdad. They killed her mother Fikhriya, father Qassim, and five-year-old sister Hadeel with bullets to the forehead, and 'took turns' raping Abeer. Finally, they murdered her, drenched the bodies with kerosene, and lit them on fire to destroy the evidence. When they finished, they grilled chicken wings.

I don't anticipate that Green's insanity defense will work out for him, as such a verdict would mean the military signed on an insane person for active duty...not gonna be allowed to happen. It will be a relief to finally have the last of this bunch finally have to face a court of law and admit that he did these horrible things.



-Diane

4,029

The Toll.



-Diane

Rachel Maddow Show

Republican's 'Hoover' the working class.



'Guilt by proximity.'

From the show aired 12-12-08.

-Diane

Countdown

David Shuster filling in for Keith Olbermann talks to Jonathan Alter about the Republicans open hostility to the UAW and the auto bailout.



David Shuster talks to Thom Hartmann about the GOP's decision to tell the industrial midwest to go to hell. Hartmann breaks down the reasons the GOP to wants to bust unions and explains how this movement started under Ronald Reagan. He also has some suggestions for Barack Obama to get the economy back on track, and one is to read Alexander Hamilton's Report on Manufacturers from 1791.



David Shuster offers up his house for parties for the Bush administration so the Obamas can move into Blair House.



Bushed: Tech for Tat-Gate, Gitmo-Gate and Torture-Gate.

12-12-08.

-Diane

Countdown

Countdown's Keith Olbermann picks the 25 most financially corrupt politicians in the nation's long, bribe-filled history.

12-11-08.

-Diane

Late Night

12-11-08: John McCain is back on with David Letterman. McCain recounts a meeting with Illinois Gov. Blagojevich who admired Senator McCain, and told him that he wanted to be a 'reformer' just like him.

McCain also explains how he became known as 'The Air Pirate.'

-Diane

Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel Maddow on the Republicans finding their latest issue to take an idealogical stance on...busting unions and lowering the wages of American workers.



Rachel Maddow talks to Robert Reich about the GOP's attitude towards unions and the southers Senator's attitudes towards blue collar workers' salaries as opposed to white collar worker's salaries, and their interest in foreign companies located in their states.

12-11-08.

-Diane

Republicans hate America, especially the Unions...

Bipartisan talks in the Senate on an auto industry bailout have collapsed, and the bill appears dead, sources tell CNN.

And this just came in from Senator Levin(via email):

"Congress should not recess and leave town without voting on the proposal to provide emergency bridge loans to our domestic auto industry. The consequences of our failure to act will be extremely harmful to our economy and to the lives and welfares of millions of working Americans in communities across our country.

"I call on the leaders of the Senate to keep us in session, and let us go back to work tomorrow to try to fashion an agreement that will keep our domestic auto industry operating into next year and beyond. We certainly owe that much to all Americans who will be harmed by our failure to act here tonight, and that is most Americans since a failure tonight will be felt throughout our economy and in every community across this country."


-Diane

-Diane

Later.

No Doubt: 'Don't Speak'

-Diane

Another cat that eats broccoli??

I can only guess that these are some well-informed kittens who have heard about the Chinese pet food fiasco.

-Diane

'Homeland Security'

Every few weeks for nearly four years, the Secret Service screened the IDs of employees for a Maryland cleaning company before they entered the house of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation's top immigration official.

The company's owner says the workers sailed through the checks -- although some of them turned out to be illegal immigrants.


People who live in glass houses...

-Diane

The Bush Legacy

This was from Sunday's WaPo(12-7-08)but it's a must-read. It's also clearly at odds with Bush's insistance that we're 'winning' something in Iraq:

IRBIL, Iraq -- Hawjin Hama Rashid, a feisty journalist in bluejeans and a frilly blouse, had come to the morgue in this Kurdish city to research tribal killings of women. "A week doesn't pass without at least 10," the morgue director said, showing Rashid pictures of corpses on his computer screen.

First, a bloated, pummeled face.

Next, a red, shapeless, charred body. "Raped, then burned," the director said.

Then, another face, eyes half-closed, stab wounds below her neck.

Rashid leaned closer to the screen.

It was the bloody corpse of her best friend, Begard Hussein. Hussein had complained to police about her ex-husband, who had threatened to kill her if she refused to annul their divorce. Rashid had wanted to publish a photograph of her friend's body after she was killed in April, but officials said none existed. "They lied to me," Rashid said as she left the morgue, her sorrow fusing with anger.

From the southern port city of Basra to bustling Irbil in northern Iraq, Iraqi activists are trying to counter the rising influence of religious fundamentalists and tribal chieftains who have insisted that women wear the veil, prevented girls from receiving education and sanctioned killings of women accused of besmirching their family's honor.

In their quest for stability in Iraq, U.S. officials have empowered tribal and religious leaders, Sunni and Shiite, who reject the secularism that Saddam Hussein once largely maintained. These leaders have imposed strict interpretations of Islam and enforced tribal codes that female activists say limit their freedom and encourage violence against them.

The entire article is well worth the reading.

-Diane

Job Loss Numbers: From Bush 41 to Bush 43

Further proof that no Bush should be allowed to hold the office of POTUS ever again. Got that, Jebya?

-Diane

Rachel Maddow

12-10-08: Rachel's Lame Duck Watch.

-Diane

Countdown

Keith talks to Chris Hayes from the Nation about the Republicans threatening to filibuster the auto bailout.



Bushed!: Tonight's: Union Busting-Gate, Preston Hollow-Gate and Condi-Gate.



Worst Person in the World: And the winner is...Bill O'Reilly. Runners up Dick Morris and Steve Doocy.

From the show aired 12-10-08.

-Diane

-Diane

Late, as usual.

Natasha Bedingfield: 'Angel'

-Diane

Diabetic 'Shock'

Imagine you're on your way home from a long day at work, or from a long day of holiday shopping, you're diabetic and your blood sugar has crashed to 11. You're in diabetic shock behind the wheel of your vehicle, but luckily a police officer spots you driving erratically.

While this driver finally does get help, he might not describe his encounter with the cops as 'lucky'...

-Diane

I can haz broccoli?

Maybe a vegan kitty?

-Diane

Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel Maddow talks to the Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell for the local view on the charges against Blagojevich and how the Illinois legislature is likely to respond.



Washington, DC planners prepare for the inauguration of President Barack Obama and possibly 5 million visitors on the National Mall. The layout stretches from the Capitol past the Washington Monument all the way to the Lincoln Memorial.

12-9-08.

-Diane

Katrina Vanden Huevel on the Left's Reaction to Appointments

David Shuster talks to Katrina Vanden Heuvel about the reaction by the blogosphere on the left to some of Barack Obama's cabinet appointments.

12-9-08

-Diane

Countdown

Keith debunks the talking points memo put out by the Bush administration trying to rewrite his legacy.



Worst Person in the World: And the winner is....Bill O'Reilly. Runners up George Will and Sean Hannity.

12-9-08

-Diane

Blagojevich calls Obama mother****er

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich arrested this morning, Footage from the press conference held 12/9/08 @ 11:30CST.

If you haven't read about all the charges yet, see here. Here's a few 'highlights' from the charges. The guy is quite a piece of work:

Rod Blagojevich said that the consultants (Advisor B and another consultant are believed to be on the call at that time) are telling him that he has to "suck it up" for two years and do nothing and give this "motherf***er [the President-elect] his senator. F*** him. For nothing? F*** him." Rod Blagojevich states that he will put "[Senate Candidate 4]" in the Senate "before I just give F***ing [Senate Candidate 1] a F***ing Senate seat and I don't get anything." (Senate Candidate 4 is a Deputy Governor of the State of Illinois). Rod Blagojevich stated that he needs to find a way to take the "financial stress" off of his family and that his wife is as qualified or more qualified than another specifically named individual to sit on corporate boards. According to Rod Blagojevich, "the immediate challenge [is] how do we take some of the financial pressure off of our family." Later in the phone call, Rod Blagojevich stated that absent getting something back, Rod Blagojevich will not pick Senate Candidate 1.

Harris re-stated Rod Blagojevich's thoughts that they should ask the President-elect for something for Rod Blagojevich's financial security as well as maintain his political viability. Harris said they could work out a three-way deal with SEIU and the President- elect where SEIU could help the President-elect with Rod Blagojevich's appointment of Senate Candidate 1 to the vacant Senate seat, Rod Blagojevich would obtain a position as the National Director of the Change to Win campaign, and SEIU would get something favorable from the President-elect in the future.

Patti Blagojevich: Hold up that f***ing Cubs s***

During the call, Rod Blagojevich's wife can be heard in the background telling Rod Blagojevich to tell Deputy Governor A "to hold up that f***ing Cubs s***. . . f*** them." Rod Blagojevich asked Deputy Governor A what he thinks of his wife's idea. Deputy Governor A stated that there is a part of what Rod Blagojevich's wife said that he "agree[s] with." Deputy Governor A told Rod Blagojevich that Tribune Owner will say that he does not have anything to do with the editorials, "but I would tell him, look, if you want to get your Cubs thing done get rid of this Tribune." Later, Rod Blagojevich's wife got on the phone and, during the continuing discussion of the critical Tribune editorials, stated that Tribune Owner can "just fire" the writers because Tribune Owner owns the Tribune. Rod Blagojevich's wife stated that if Tribune Owner's papers were hurting his business, Tribune Owner would do something about the editorial board. Rod Blagojevich then got back on the phone. Rod Blagojevich told Deputy Governor A to put together the articles in the Tribune that are on the topic of removing Rod Blagojevich from office and they will then have someone, like JOHN HARRIS, go to Tribune Owner and say, "We've got some decisions to make now." Rod Blagojevich said that "someone should say, 'get rid of those people.'"

He doesn't even have the decency to resign.

-Diane

Freedomism

-Diane

John Lennon fans gather during a public remembrance to mark the 28th anniversary of Lennon's death, at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Monday, Dec. 8, 2008.

(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

-Diane

Leave the light on in here, would ya?

David Cook: 'Light On'

-Diane

Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel talks to Jonathan Turley about the detainees at Gitmo now pleading guilty to the attacks on 9-11 to avoid real trials in the US and instead be allowed to become martyrs if they're executed under the military tribunal system Bush has in place.



Rachel Maddow talks to Paul Rieckhoff about the appointment of Eric Shinseki to head the VA and the daunting task ahead of him.

From the show aired 12-8-08.

-Diane

Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel talks to Jonathan Turley about the detainees at Gitmo now pleading guilty to the attacks on 9-11 to avoid real trials in the US and instead be allowed to become martyrs if they're executed under the military tribunal system Bush has in place.



Rachel Maddow talks to Paul Rieckhoff about the appointment of Eric Shinseki to head the VA and the daunting task ahead of him.

From the show aired 12-8-08.

-Diane

Countdown

Keith talks to Col. Jack Jacobs about the choice of Gen. Eric Shinseki to head the Veterans Administration.



Keith talks to Arianna Huffington about the Obama birth certificate fiasco and Karl Rove's book and attempt to rewrite history.



Bushed!: Tonight's: Bailout-Gate, Blackwater-Gate and Intel-Gate.



Worst Person in the World: And the winner is...Bill O'Reilly. Runners up Baseball Hall of Fame Veterans Committee and Pat Boone.

From the show aired 12-8-08.

-Diane

'Security' Guards...

12-8-08: Federal prosecutors say Blackwater Worldwide security guards fired machine guns at innocent, surrendering Iraqis in a Baghdad intersection last year and launched a grenade into a girls' school.


-Diane

-Diane

Condi lies a lot on Fox News Sunday

12-07-08: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that the US-led war in Iraq will turn out to be a 'strategic achievement' for not only President George W. Bush but for the United States, and other flowery bs.

-Diane

Texas cops get busted

Barry Cooper's new reality show "Kop Busters" gets the footage for its pilot on 12/4/08.

-Diane

A 'special' place in hell...

For these animals, I hope.

-Diane

-Diane

SNL: Amy Poehler's Back

12-6-08: Hillary discusses her selection as Secretary of State.

-Diane

Taliban score huge attack on NATO convoy

BBC:

More than 60 lorries supplying Western forces in Afghanistan have been set on fire in a suspected militant attack in north-west Pakistan, police say.

Police said at least one person was killed as more than 250 gunmen attacked the terminal near the city of Peshawar using rockets and guns.

Some of the lorries were laden with Humvee armoured vehicles.

Taleban militants are suspected of being behind several such attacks aimed at disrupting supplies, analysts say.

The road is a major supply route for US and Western forces battling against the Taleban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Hauliers say that over 350 trucks daily carry an average of 7,000 tonnes of goods over the Khyber Pass to Kabul.

...

"They fired rockets, hurled hand grenades and then set ablaze 96 trucks," Reuters news agency quoted a police officer, Azeem Khan, as saying.

"They were shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Great) and Down With America," a security guard told Reuters.

"They broke into the terminals after snatching guns from us," Mohammad Rafiullah said.

Another report said 106 lorries had been set on fire - 62 laden with Humvees.


Maybe it's time to pick another route for sending in supplies?? Unless we're trying to arm the Taliban with armored humvees and weapons.

-Diane

Rumsfeld Nemesis to Be Named VA Secretary

12-6-08: President-elect Barack Obama has chosen retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary.

Shinseki was the then Army Chief of General Staff who testified before Congress that an occupying force of 'several hundred thousand soldiers' would be required in Iraq.

-Diane

D.L. Hughley: Howard Dean Interview

12-6-08: D.L. Hughley talks to Howard Dean about his fifty state strategy and they joke about Rahm Emanuel getting the Chief of Staff job rather than Howard.

-Diane

Laid Off Workers Occupy a Factory in Chicago

AP:

CHICAGO — Workers who got three days' notice that their factory was shutting its doors have occupied the building and say they won't go home without assurances they'll get severance and vacation pay.

About 250 union workers occupied the Republic Windows and Doors plant in shifts Saturday while union leaders outside criticized a Wall Street bailout they say is leaving laborers behind.

Leah Fried, an organizer with the United Electrical Workers, said the Chicago-based vinyl window manufacturer failed to give 60 days' notice required by law before shutting down.

During the two-day peaceful takeover, workers have been shoveling snow and cleaning the building, Fried said.

"We're doing something we haven't done since the 1930s, so we're trying to make it work," she said, referring to a tactic most famously used in 1936-37 by General Motors factory workers in Flint, Mich., to help unionize the U.S. auto industry.

The employer says they can't pay employees because their creditor, a branch of the Bank of America won't allow it. Bank of America received a $25 billion bailout from the feds recently.

Way to stimulate the economy...

-Diane

Caption this.

-Diane

George Bush palin' around with terrorists

Watch, and you'll see him give this suspicious looking character the terrorist fist jab...

-Diane

Bush Presides Over Unveiling of Portrait

12-6-08: As President Bush continues his farewell tour, he stopped by a fancy club in downtown Philly, The Union League, for the unveiling of his portrait. He started his remarks with a joke: "Welcome to my hanging!" It got a big laughs in a room full of white Republicans.

-Diane

WTF?

No 'Windfall Profits' tax for the oil giants, but the feds will go after this...


Go figure.

-Diane

Caption this.

[REUTERS]

-Diane

Blackwater guards get weekend to party before surrendering to FBI

ABC:

"Five Blackwater guards have been told to surrender to the FBI by Monday to face federal manslaughter and assault charges connected to the shooting deaths of 17 civilians at an traffic circle in Iraq last year, ABC News has learned."

Interesting, the sub-heading in the ABC story reads:

"Guards Told to Surrender to the FBI by Monday on Manslaughter, Assault Counts"

Yet in the body of the article...

"The federal investigation revealed that two of the Blackwater guards did most of the shooting and are expected to face either murder or manslaughter charges, law enforcement officials said."

By rights, the guards should have to surrender to Iraqi officials for punishment under Iraqi law. Here I'll be surprised if they get more than the equivalent of a rap on the head with a foam finger, if there's a guilty verdict.

And that's a big if.

-Diane

Countdown

Keith talks to Chris Hayes at Bush's latest attempt at revionist history of his legacy.



Bushed!: Tonight's: Body's Not Even Cold Yet-Gate, U.S. Attorney's-Gate and Round-Up-Gate.



Worst Person in the World: And the winner is...Lorraine Henderson. Runners up Peggy Noonan and Bill O'Reilly.

12-5-08.

-Diane

How Can We Make The Iraq War More Handicap Accessible?

The Onion: Panelists praise the Army's commitment to getting gravely wounded troops back on the battlefield with innovations like armor-clad wheelchairs.

-Diane

Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel Maddow talks to Barney Frank about the Democrats reaching a deal for bailing out the auto industry.



Rachel Maddow talks to Jonathan Turley about what might happen with the case of Ali al-Marri which could go before the Supreme Court much to the angst of the Bush administration.

12-5-08.


-Diane

Huckabee: GOP Should Move Away From "Mushy Middle"

12-5-08: On Hannity and Colmes Mike Huckabee while commenting on Saxby Chambliss' win in GA saying that the GOP needs to move away from the mushy middle and become more conservative.

One seat win and Huckabee spins away.

-Diane

Tasers not safe

12-4-08: Independent tests of stun-guns manufactured by Taser International, which provides virtually all the weapons to police forces, shows some older models of the weapons fire currents that are up to 50 percent stronger than the company says, and medical experts say such a strong shock could be fatal.

The Canadian Broadcasting Company and Radio-Canada commissioned a US laboratory to test 41 Tasers. The tests showed nearly 10 percent of the tested weapons fired a stronger current than the company claims.

The tests' designer, University of Montreal biomedical engineer Pierre Savard, says they provide a rare glimpse at the effectiveness of Taser's weapons, which are not subject to rigorous independent examination.

"I think it's important because Taser is not subjected to international standards," Savard told CBS.

"When you use a cellphone, well, cellphones have to respect a set of standards … for the electric magnetic field that it emits. The Taser, well, nobody knows except Taser International."


-Diane

Your request is being processed... Saxophone-Playing, Tango-Dancing Walrus

You gotta see it to believe it.

-Diane

Rachel Maddow Show

Rachel Maddow talks to Sherrod Brown about the reasons for why the auto industry is in trouble and what the solutions are to fix it.



Rachel talks to Richard Engel about the SOFA referendum in Iraq.



Rachel's Ms. Information segment Dec. 4, 2008.



Rachel talks to Rosa Brooks about the GOP's attempt to re-write history with the Chambliss win.



Lame Duck Watch: Rachel talks about George Bush trying to rewrite his legacy with these interviews he's been doing over the last week or so.

12-4-08.

-Diane

Countdown

Keith talks to Howard Fineman about the auto execs and union head coming back before Congress today again asking to get bailed out.



Keith talks to Jonathan Turley about the suit alleging Obama was not born in the United States which the Supreme Court for consideration.



Keith talks to Major Gen. Paul Eaton about troop withdrawal from Iraq.



Bushed!: Tonight's: Global Warming-Gate, Gitmo-Gate and Gonzo-Gate.



Worst Person in the World: And the winner is...State Trooper Michael Galluccio. Runners up Sean Hannity and James Bidgood.

12-4-08.

-Diane

Caption this.

-Diane

44 Presidents in 4 Minutes

-Diane

-Diane