Olbermann and Bernie Sanders on Bill Maher's Show

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Friday March 20, 2009 · 8:15 PM PDT

2009/03/20 · 20:15

Quite a gathering tonight, if you missed it -- or perhaps you are watching it now on the re-run. Bill welcomed Bernie Sanders on the panel with Keith O coming on halfway through and sticking around.

An early highlight: Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright was asked to describe some world leaders in a single word.

For Bush, she quickly chose "nuts." (Pretty strong stuff, Maddy.) Hugo Chavez was merely a "demagogue," and Bin Laden was no worse than "nuts" himself.

GregMitch

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Thursday March 19, 2009 · 7:49 AM PDT

2009/03/19 · 07:49

More than most in the media, I have followed the disturbing rate of suicides among our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and here at home for nearly six years. Often I have hailed Mark Benjamin, who has kept close tabs on the same issue (and many others related to soldiers and vets) first for UPI and then for Salon.

Today, at the sixth anniversary of the start of the war, he does it again with a major piece at Salon on this subject. It follows his multi-part series last month chronicling the upsurge in acts of violence and suicides among vets back in the USA.

Thank goodness that someone is following this closely. I feel like I should do a sequel to my book of last year on Iraq and the media titled So Wrong for So Long and call it So GONE for So Long.

Last week here, I noted that the military had just reported that in the Army alone, 18 troops committed suicide in February -- down six from January's shocking high but still above what they expected. They say they are continuing to push forward with more and better counseling but, of course, multiple deployments to war zones continue.

GregMitch

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Wednesday March 18, 2009 · 12:20 PM PDT

2009/03/18 · 12:20

Perhaps revealing a masochistic streak, I spent a few minutes today in The New York Times archives looking over most of the articles and columns related to Iraq that appeared there in print or online on this day exactly six years ago on the eve of our invasion.

It's fascinating to read Judy Miller previewing how we would go about locating those WMDs she was so sure Saddam had. And Tom Friedman stating again that he backed the war but (surprisingly) also hitting Bush for not gaining enough allies or doing the right diplomatic work. Plus: the complete text of Bush's final pre-war speech to the nation, where he gave Saddam 48 hours to get out of Dodge -- and repeated the claims that he had WMD and helped al-Qaeda.

On the other hand: There was Paul Krugman.

GregMitch

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Tuesday March 17, 2009 · 12:11 PM PDT

2009/03/17 · 12:11

Last year at this time, I was complaining that the 5th anniversary of our invasion of Iraq was approaching with restrained media attention. But this year makes 2008's response look like a media orgy. Of course, what's new is the economic crisis, which does deserve prime play.

But still: Despite progress there, we still have as many troops in Iraq as we did two years ago with withdrawal coming very, very slowly. To get a fresh look at that, consider the following shocking new ABC/BBC/NHK poll out of Iraq.

GregMitch

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Monday March 16, 2009 · 8:01 AM PDT

2009/03/16 · 08:01

On Saturday, I posted here a reflection on how I had shocked myself in the past two years (as a former editor at Crawdaddy during the 1970s) to become, at this late stage, obsessed with Beethoven. That Saturday morning posting drew a surprising 165 comments so I thought I would here on the same subject on this very special day, for perhaps a different audience.

For Beethoven passed away on this date 182 years ago.

GregMitch

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Sunday March 15, 2009 · 7:22 AM PDT

2009/03/15 · 07:22

Before he left CNBC's Jim Cramer in the dirt, Jon Stewart had pretty much knocked CNN's "Crossfire" off the air and drawn blood from Chris Matthews and Bill Kristol, among others. No, he did not elect Obama, but he did play a role in helping him along, if only by demolishing the opposition.

Mainly it was through his show's withering and wicked mockery of President Bush and Vice President Cheney for several years, and much of the same directed at John McCain and Sarah Palin (Stewart suggested that she might be "tagged and released into the Alaskan wilderness"), along with its longtime criticism of the war in Iraq. Stewart had also given Stephen Colbert his own show, which provided its own subverting of the Republicans.

GregMitch

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Saturday March 14, 2009 · 8:28 AM PDT

2009/03/14 · 08:28

Jane Fonda has just opened on Broadway, to rave reviews, in the play 33 Variations, and I saw it on Thursday night, which kind of amazes me. I've always been a Jane fan, and even met her back in 1972, but a play about Beethoven where his music is the "real star"? Is that any place for a guy who was executive editor at the legendary Crawdaddy from 1971 to 1979, when my generation's main exposure to Ludwig Van was via Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange?

As it happens, I have become obsessed with Beethoven in the past two years. Yes, there is a bit of the political to it -- this is the man who always took the part of average folk and famously promoted the view (in his Ninth Symphony) that "all men are brothers." His "Ode to Joy" accompanied the tearing down of the Berlin Wall -- and was played when Kosovo declared its independence. (See this film trailer for more of the global influence.) But it is much more than that.

GregMitch

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Friday March 13, 2009 · 8:03 AM PDT

2009/03/13 · 08:03

Exclusive: In a feature piece coming this Sunday in The New York Times Magazine, James Traub explores the uproar over the soon-to-arrive "Freedom Institute" established by former President George W. Bush at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, which will sit along side his presidential library there.

Critics on and off campus have denounced it for various reasons, including the fact that it has been set up to pursue and defend his policies and record, not for scholarly research.

GregMitch

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Tuesday March 10, 2009 · 3:07 PM PDT

2009/03/10 · 15:07

I have just posted the full transcript, airing much later tonight, of the Geithner sitdown with the PBS talk show host.

Geithner has a lot of 'splainin to do, for left, right, and middle -- and has been notoriously weak with the press and in public.

So how does he do?

GregMitch

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Monday March 09, 2009 · 8:15 AM PDT

2009/03/09 · 08:15

The military reported last week that, in the Army alone, 18 troops committed suicide in February -- down six from January's shocking high but still above what they expected. They say they are continuing to push forward with more and better counseling but, of course, multiple deployments to war zones continue.

For almost six years over at Editor & Publisher, and then here and then elsewhere, I have covered the disturbing number of military suicides and accidental deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, starting well before most in the media appeared to notice. Many of the sources for the columns were local newspapers, which often embrace the difficult task of looking behind those vague Pentagon announcements of deaths in "noncombat" situations with "an investigation" promised.

In a wild coincidence, two of the cases that most haunted me, involving an Army medic named Roselle Hoffmaster and an Army sergeant, Ryan Maseth, recently received updates on the same day.

GregMitch

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Sunday March 08, 2009 · 9:02 AM PDT

2009/03/08 · 09:02

We knew David Brooks was uptight but not to this extent. In her NYT column today, Maureen Dowd recounts a taxi ride she shared with Brooks this past week where the conversation turned to Michelle Obama daring to go bare...with her arms, at least.

Thanks to this taxi cab confidential, we now know that Brooks favors another White House Coverup.

This from a man who last October said at a forum that Sarah Palin was completely unqualified for higher office -- but refused to put this in print. Perhaps Brooks only speaks the truth when he thinks he is in a semi-private zone. And we thought he believed in the right to bare arms!

GregMitch

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Saturday March 07, 2009 · 7:48 AM PST

2009/03/07 · 07:48

Hello again. If you missed my appearance with Rachel last night, I have linked to the 7-minute clip below.

We talked about the sorry state of newspapers and the growing influence of new media and the fine journalism now appearing there.

But Rachel is a big believer in the need for a free and watchdog press, and she makes this obvious in the clip (as do I). As she observes, most of the important scoops that we all link to or cite still come from newspapers.

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Olbermann and Bernie Sanders on Bill Maher's Show

Suicides Skyrocketing at 6th Anniversary of Iraq War

6 Years Ago on Eve of War: Paul Krugman's Amazing Column

Amazing poll: Iraqis still against U.S. invasion, want us out

Beethoven Died on This Day 182 years Ago

Jon Stewart Wrecked Cramer--But Did He Elect Obama?

How a Former Rocker (Me) Got Hooked on Beethoven

Coming in Sunday's 'NYT': Uproar Over Bush 'Freedom Institute'

Exclusive: Transcript of Tim Geithner on Charlie Rose Tonite

Soldier Suicides Remain High--and 2 that Still Haunt Me

David Brooks Offended by Michelle Obama's Arms!

I Was On with Rachel Maddow Last Night -- Here is Video