MTP: Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) & Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Iraq; WaPo's Chris Cillizza & NBC's Chuck Todd on NBC/WSJ poll & 08
FTN: Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) & Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ); WaPo's Tom Ricks
This Week: Def. Sec Robert Gates & Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) on Iraq & Petreus report; roundtable of NYT's Thomas Friedman, Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria, ABC's Martha Raddatz and George Will
FNS: Def. Sec. Robert Gates; Gen. David Petraeus; Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE)
Late Edition: Gen. Wesley Clark; Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT); Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN); Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX); Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA); roundtable of Candy Crowley, Barbara Starr, and Bill Schneider
Political Capital w/ Al Hunt (Bloomberg, repeats throughout weekends): Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI); preview of Greenspan's memoirs and of upcoming Federal Reserve meeting
Chris Matthews Show 9/15-9/16: Dan Rather, Andrea Mitchell, Joe Klein, Katty Kay discuss "The President's War Without End. Can John McCain come back by embracing Bush's war?" Quotes here.
Newsmakers (C-SPAN, 10am, Sunday): Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) interviewed by LA Times' Noam Levey and Richmond Times-Dispatch's Peter Hardin
Sen. Tom Harkin's (D-IA) Steak Fry on C-SPAN, live Sun at 3pm, repeated later
60 Minutes (CBS, Sunday): Alan Greenspan on memoirs & mortgage crisis; Swimming with sharks
Primetime Emmy Awards, Sunday, Fox, 8pm
Q&A (C-SPAN, Sun, 8pm): USA Today founder Al Neuharth
Today Show (NBC, 7am): Alan Greenspan 9/17; Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) 9/18; Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) 9/18;
The Daily Show: rerun 9/17; Alan Greenspan 9/18; Gen. Wesley Clark 9/19; ex-Pres Bill Clinton 9/20
The Colbert Report: rerun 9/17; surprise guest (related to Emmys) 9/18; Susan Sarandon 9/18; Naomi Wolf 9/19; Jeffrey Toobin 9/20
I'm Back, Y'all! Applause for Sam Loomis who did a great job filling in. Hope all of you have had a good last couple of weeks.
I've had a blissful reprieve from primary/silly season silliness on the blogs. (This is my first post here in about 3 weeks.) On the other hand, I have missed snarking about a certain someone's 'wide stance,' the GOP's chances in House and Senate races next year (in the toilet, as of right now), and many other topics.
There is one thing that hasn't changed: it's about a million times easier to start a war than it is to end one.
Grace is Gone Trailer for Grace is Gone. After learning of his wife's death in the Iraq war, a father (played by John Cusack) takes his two daughters on a road trip. This made me tear up a bit.
More OK, so I've been away, but I gather that the AP is up to its usual shenanigans. Does the AP release interview transcripts on a regular basis? If not, then, it should... you know, so we can 'decide' how sh*tty their reporting is.
Colin Powell still trying to do penance for selling baloney in the run up to the war in Iraq. He says some really interesting things in the interview. His quotes on gays in the military are frustrating. He defends affirmative action. Then, there's this:
What is the greatest threat facing us now? People will say it’s terrorism. But are there any terrorists in the world who can change the American way of life or our political system? No. Can they knock down a building? Yes. Can they kill somebody? Yes. But can they change us? No. Only we can change ourselves. So what is the great threat we are facing?
I would approach this differently, in almost Marshall-like terms. What are the great opportunities out there—ones that we can take advantage of? It should not be just about creating alliances to deal with a guy in a cave in Pakistan. It should be about how do we create institutions that keep the world moving down a path of wealth creation, of increasing respect for human rights, creating democratic institutions, and increasing the efficiency and power of market economies? This is perhaps the most effective way to go after terrorists. [...]
We are taking too much counsel of our fears.
This doesn’t mean there isn’t a terrorist threat. There is a threat. And we should send in military forces when we have a target to deal with. We should also secure our airports, if that makes us safer. But let’s welcome every foreign student we can get our hands on. Let’s make sure that foreigners come to the Mayo Clinic here, and not the Mayo facility in Dubai or somewhere else. Let’s make sure people come to Disney World and not throw them up against the wall in Orlando simply because they have a Muslim name. Let’s also remember that this country was created by immigrants and thrives as a result of immigration, and we need a sound immigration policy.
Let’s show the world a face of openness and what a democratic system can do. That’s why I want to see Guantánamo closed. It’s so harmful to what we stand for. We literally bang ourselves in the head by having that place. What are we doing this to ourselves for? Because we’re worried about the 380 guys there? Bring them here! Give them lawyers and habeas corpus. We can deal with them. We are paying a price when the rest of the world sees an America that seems to be afraid and is not the America they remember.
You can drive up the road from here and come to a spot where there is a megachurch over here, a little Episcopal church over there, a Catholic church around the corner that’s almost cathedral-size, and between them is a huge Hindu temple. There are no police needed to guard any of this. There are not many places in the world where you would see that. Yes, there are a few dangerous nuts in Brooklyn and New Jersey who want to blow up Kennedy Airport and Fort Dix. These are dangerous criminals, and we must deal with them. But come on, this is not a threat to our survival! The only thing that can really destroy us is us. We shouldn’t do it to ourselves, and we shouldn’t use fear for political purposes—scaring people to death so they will vote for you, or scaring people to death so that we create a terror-industrial complex.
He's not exactly thrilled with the surge:
You can surge all of the American troops you want, but they can’t stop this. Suppose I’m a battalion commander. My troops ask, "What do I do today, boss?" "Let’s go fight the Shia militias!" "What do I do tomorrow?" "Let’s go fight the Sunni insurgents!" "What do I do the day after tomorrow?" "Let’s go chase Al Qaeda!" "What do we do the day after that?" "We’re going to guard streets!" Our kids are fantastic. But this is not sustainable. Our surge can work only with an Iraqi political and military surge.
There's lots more at GQ's website.
Military contributions to Democrats increasing as the Iraq war goes on.
Curt Weldon was serving as vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and the Homeland Security Committee when he was defeated for re-election by Democrat Joe Sestak in November.
The 10-term Republican lost his re-election bid to Democrat Joseph Sestak just months after the FBI began probing allegations that he used his office to help a company created by his daughter and a friend that did business in the former Soviet Union.
Weldon has taken a job as chief strategic officer for Exton-based Defense Solutions, which specializes in military services and sales.
In its simplest application, political strategists envision using the technology to tell an environmental activist about a candidate's position on global warming, while sending information about the candidate's health care plan to those without insurance.
But the technology could also allow candidates to make more subtle adjustments to their mannerisms, speech patterns and appearance. In theory, a voter originally from the South could hear a candidate speak with a hint of a drawl. A dog owner could be shown a glimpse of the candidate's family with their pet.
Such manipulations are hardly new in politics, but the ability to bring such intensive targeting to television could give the candidates added leverage — and raise new questions about their authenticity. [...]
The degree to which candidates can vary their messages is likely to be limited by an increasingly watchful blogosphere, says Tobe Berkovitz, an advertising professor who teaches political campaigning at Boston University.
"How many different messages does a campaign want to have out there?" asks Will Feltus, who helped target media on the Bush campaign in 2004 and is now doing the same for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Rapper Ja Rule made homophobic comments, and GLAAD responds.
Remainders... No Fact Zone found an interview of Stephen Colbert talking about his upcoming Simpsons episode. The clip includes scenes from the Simpsons episode, so you're officially warned about spoilers.
There's a lot to like about Phillies second baseman Chase Utley. He's a damn good baseball player and a good looking guy. He plays the game the right way, but that's not all. He saves puppies. He likedAn Inconvenient Truth, and is a Stop Global Warming marcher. Click on the second link for a neat photoshop of Utley and Al Gore, lol.
The Emmys are on Sunday night. Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart are scheduled to present. They and their shows are up for multiple awards. Al Gore's Current TV has a nomination and he'll be attending, too. All nominations here.
Even if TDS doesn't win any Emmys this year, it'll still be (according to TIME) one of the 100 Best TV shows of all time.
Britney Spears provided everyone a good learning opportunity last Sunday night. Dress appropriately. When your job demands it, devote more time to it. Plan in advanced. Be prepared. If these sound like lessons for BushCo, too, you'd be right.
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) was named DC's Most Eligible Bachelor by Forbes magazine. Condi Rice was named the city's Most Eligible Bachelorette.
While trying to beat my alma mater in basketball, Craig Robinson is also trying to help his brother in law win the presidency. He's a busy guy.
Hotline asked its readers to come up with a slogan for Congress. On 9/7, they posted the submissions. Here's a selection:
"Congress: You Report, We Resign"
"Congress: Now With Open Seats"
"Bringing home the bacon, straddling the porcelain"
Jokes (Via Hotline, About.com, etc.)
Comedians have better bullsh*t meters than the MSM, and that's helping us a bit right now... Just check out the jokes about General Petraeus' testimony, Iraq and George W. Bush. (TDS & TCR were great in their week back since the vacation... well, except for the McCain bit from Thursday. That had the potential to be funny, but it turned out to be kinda lame. The Fake R. Kelly segment was hilarious.)
Leno: "Well at the big summit meeting in Australia, Bush called the APEC conference the OPEC conference, he called Australian troops Austrian troops, and then left the stage the wrong way. So he's given the wrong information when he got there, he stumbled when he was there, and couldn't figure out how to leave. It's like Iraq all over again."
Maher: "Now yesterday he was in Australia, and listen to this. A TV comedian dressed himself up over there as Osama Bin Laden and got within feet of Bush's hotel. They got him, and the Bush spokesman said it was obviously not the real Bin Laden because they caught him."
Leno: "I guess the Secret Service had a little scare yesterday. ... For a couple of hours, they could not find President Bush. Turns out he was just hiding behind General Petraeus."
Leno: "Senator Vitter is denying this woman's allegations. Who are you gonna believe? A U.S. senator or a hooker? I've gotta go with the hooker."
Conan: "Another big day on Capitol Hill. General Petraeus testified again today before Congress about the Iraq war. Some Democrats are claiming that Petraeus' answers are scripted by President Bush. Which explains Petraeus' use of the word 'surgerrific.'"
Letterman: "Everybody's talking about the MTV Awards. ... Did anybody see Britney Spears? ... They said that she appeared sluggish. They said she was glassy-eyed. Sounds to me like somebody could use another hour in rehab. ... Although, General Petraeus thought it went quite well."
Leno: "Restroom enthusiast Senator Larry Craig said today the only reason he plead guilty to that incident in the Minneapolis airport bathroom was because he was being hounded by reporters investigating rumors that he was gay. And what better way to shoot down those rumors, really."
