Bob Schieffer always does a little opinion piece at the end of Face the Nation, and when I hear them, which is not very often, I usually think he does a pretty good job. But this morning... holy crap!... he was on fire. If anyone has a transcript or video, it's a must see.

I was too busy staring slack-jawed at the TV or exchanging incredulous grins with my wife to remember most of what he said, but here are a few of the best things I remember. (They are all paraphrased)

Re: the scenes from NOLA: "... there's no sign of intelligent design here, just survival of the richest..."

Re: the federal government: "...they're like a dog watching televsion; they see the lights and hear the sounds, but there is no comprehension..."

Re: Dennis Hastert after saying what he did about not rebuiilding: "... he couldn't make it to Washington for the vote, because of a conflict all of Washington understands, he had to attend a fundraiser..."

Finally: "since 9/11 we have spent billions to reorganize the government, but if this is the result, we should start over."

Nice job, Mr. Schieffer

Dean Staley, formerly a reporter with the Twin Cities ABC affiliate KSTP, was embedded with the 101st Airborne as the war began in Iraq.

I just caught the end of a story describing what Staley saw on April 18th.  They have film footage of soldiers looking through boxes of weapons at Al Qaqaa.  The anchorman said that the GPS info on the footage corresponds with the Southern end of Al Qaqaa, or just south of it.

I didn't see much of the story, but that is what I heard. The anchor said they were forwarding the tape to Washington and they would report on what they learned.

Their newsroom is currently closed, but the number is (612) 5TV-NEWS (612-588-6397)

Unfortunately this station has a sucky website. I'll "stay tuned" and post here if they include this story on their site.

Update: They came back to the story at the end of the broadcast, which indicates to me that they know it's important. Keep an eye on their website. I'll keep an eye on their news in the morning.

One of my good friends from college, who is now a physics professor at Princeton, has taken the most recent polls results from electoral-vote.com, and combined them into one easy to read visual.

I apologize for the brevity of my post; I know it is close to a one-line diary entry. But I think Joe's analysis deserved its own entry. Plus if you spend time figuring out what you're looking at it'll more than make up for my brief introduction.

Anyway, here is Joe's Electoral College Analysis 2004

I know other people have posted the numbers, but I thought the quotes were woth repeating: CNN just said Kerry 52% Bush 39%

"No question the race has tightened... Kerry has turned out to be the clear winner."

That's from Bill Schnieder. Who would've guessed?!?!?!

The New York Times has picked up Salon's story about the strange bulge in Bush's jacket during the first debate. Here's a taste:

And since we've got way to many diaries right now, I am going to mulittask and add my favorite debate quotes below the fold.

A friend directed me to this video from georgethemenace.org

Sorry for such a short post, but this spot is hilarious.

Air America has been talking about this a bunch this morning:

NYTimes Online (registration req'd):
Both Sides' Commercials Create Brew of Negativity, at a Boil
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

Here's how it begins:

The Times's Campaign 2004 page, where one would access this story, has a link to the Bush "Windsurfing" ad, but no link to Kerry's "Juvenile" ad. That ad can easily be found on Kerry's website.

If the NY Times is doing a story about two ads, while do they only link to one?

Oh wait, liberal media, liberal media, liberal media, liberal media...

I'm listening to NPR's All Things Considered and they lead with the news that Sec. Powell has called the tragedy in Darfur a "genocide."

I have agreed with that assessment for sometime now, and I wondered why Powell refused to call it by that name a month or so ago.

I am now wondering what would've been the lead story if Powell hadn't changed his language. Maybe Ben Barnes and the Boston Globe and what they have to say about Bush's TANG service, or lack thereof.

Of course, we all like Powell, and he is above that sort of purely political calculation. Right? Right?

Have you ever really looked at BC04's logo? Take a look at this part of it.

They have made the flag of the United States of America into a "W." The arrogance!

I just heard this from a caller to Al Franken's show, and since I grew up in Houston, I had to look into it. This is the first time I have felt (close to) good about my hometown in a LONG time.

So here, from the Houston NBC affiliate:

Bush, Kerry In Statistical Tie In Harris County

Bush Ahead In Statewide Poll By 21 Points

POSTED: 3:40 pm CDT August 23, 2004
UPDATED: 5:53 pm CDT August 23, 2004

HOUSTON -- If the presidential election were held today, President George W. Bush would, not surprisingly, soundly take his home state of Texas, Local 2 reported Monday.

But Harris County voters are in a statistical dead heat, according to an exclusive Local 2 Flashpoll conducted by SurveyUSA.

The poll asked 1,000 people across Texas, "If the election for president of the United States were today and you were standing in the voting booth right now, who would you vote for? The choices were Republican President George W. Bush, Democratic Sen. John Kerry or another candidate.

In Harris County, 50 percent said they would vote for President George W. Bush, while 47 percent said they would vote for Sen. John Kerry. With a margin of error of 3.7 percent, the results make Harris County a statistical tie, according to pollsters.

In statewide results, with 705 likely presidential voters polled, Bush holds a 21-point lead, with 58 percent of voters choosing Bush compared to 37 percent for Kerry.

In the Texas Panhandle, which included Dallas-area voters, Bush leads two-to-one, with 62 percent over Kerry's 34 percent.

In East Texas, which includes Austin and San Antonio, Bush also leads two-to-one, with 63 percent for Bush and 33 percent for Kerry.

In West Texas, Kerry leads by 22 points, with 58 percent over Bush's 36 percent. But this part of Texas only has 9 percent of the state's total voters, according to SurveyUSA.

In the 2000 presidential election, Bush carried Texas by a 21-point lead.

I just caught an interview with Kevin Phillips, author of American Dynasty, in his weekly appearance on NOW with Bill Moyers. Phillips can't stand the Bush family, but what struck me was his indictment of the Democratic Party. It was the first time in a while I have really longed for  Howard Dean and his criticism of the Democratic Party.
From my memory, he asked why the Democrats aren't really seizing on the Swift Boaters, what Bush was doing in '67 and '70, the connections between the Bush family and Saddam, etc. Watch for a transcript. He was asking the questions that Dems need to answer.

When my wife and I heard that Kerry was going to announce his veep choice in Pittsburgh, she asks me, "Wasn't Vilsack born in Pennslyvania?"

Why yes, Pittsburgh in fact.

Just now, while I am typing this, she asked, "Are there any 'meels' in Pittsburgh?" Ya know, 'meels' as in "My daddy worked in a meel all his life."

So, Pittsburgh. Does that mean Vilsack or Edwards? Or was Kerry going to be there anyway?

I am saddened, disgusted and shocked!

On the very same page where Bush/Cheney is inviting Americans to share their memories of our 40th President, they are asking for donations!

Why is Bush not apologizing for his campaign's blatant attempt to politicize the death of Ronald Reagan?

It's a shame that Lieberman was picked to represent the Democrats on Larry King tonight. Oh wait...

Too perfect.

UN RESOLUTION ON RIGHT TO FOOD PASSES WITH ONE NATION OPPOSED; GUESS WHO?

UNITED NATIONS: In a resolution (E/CN.4/2004/L.24) on the right to food, adopted as orally amended and by a roll-call vote of 51 in favour and one opposed, with one abstention, the Commission considered it intolerable that there were around 840 million undernourished people in the world and that every seven seconds a child under the age of 10 died, directly or indirectly, of hunger somewhere in the world when, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the world produced more than enough food to feed its entire population.

I don't think it is in Bush's nature to accept responsibility for things that go wrong, but what if his advisors are able to trump his judgement (it's safe to say that's possible) and convinve him to just acknowledge that he bears some of the responsibility for 9/11?

If he does this, what do you think will happen as a result?

I will be attending a meeting with John Kerry before Super Tuesday, and I am looking for suggestions of questions I could ask him. As a Dean supporter, my mind leaps to questions about Torricelli, or Kerry's misrepresentations of Dean. But I suspect there are better ways to use this opportunity.

Just now, it seems like a question about a gay marriage Constitutional amendment might be an obvious choice.

Any suggestions?