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1. Olbermann: Bush Extending 'Senseless' War to Aid 'War Profiteers' On Tuesday's Countdown, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann used his latest "Special Comment" attack on President Bush to accuse the President of extending the "senseless, endless" war in Iraq as part of an ulterior motive to transfer money to "war profiteers" because "you can't sell [the Army] any more [Humvees] until the first thousand have been destroyed." Olbermann: "The service men and women are ancillary to the equation. This is about the planned obsolescence of ordnance, isn't it, Mr. Bush? And the building of detention centers? And the design of a $125 million courtroom complex at Gitmo, complete with restaurants. At least the war profiteers have made their money, sir." After proclaiming that "this country has already lost in Iraq" because of its "crushing impact on our safety here," which has "fomented new terrorism," "stoked paranoia," and "pitted Americans one against another," Olbermann accused Bush of first sending troops to Iraq for the President's "lie," and now for his "ego." 2. Couric During Ford Funeral: Billy Graham 'Remarkably Partisan' Billy Graham may seem like an American icon to some, but not to Katie Couric, who scorned him during live Ford memorial service coverage on CBS Tuesday morning. She complained about him for writing a "remarkably partisan" letter comforting Gerald Ford after he lost to her hero Jimmy Carter in 1976. Who is Couric to judge "remarkably partisan," since she leans exactly the other way when it comes to her hero, President Carter? 3. Rosie O'Donnell, Katie Couric, 'Supposed' Fans of Gun Control? On the "Federal Page" in Tuesday's Washington Post, Jeffrey Birnbaum, who covers lobbying, suggests it's not "genuine" for the National Rifle Association to sound the alarm on threats to gun rights at the moment: "No one expects gun legislation to pass this year." But in dismissing the "not-so-imminent threat" (as the article's headline describes it), Birnbaum wen too far: "The document is filled with sinister-looking caricatures of supposed anti-gun figures such as filmmaker Michael Moore, comedian Rosie O'Donnell, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (R) and CBS News anchor Katie Couric." Supposed? Doesn't Birnbaum remember Rosie trying to wallop NRA spokesman Tom Selleck into submission? Obviously, he doesn't remember then-NBC host Katie Couric asking NRA chief Charlton Heston to admit to the need for gun control in a June 1998 interview. 4. Matthews Lists O'Reilly with Kim Jong-Il as Worst Despots of 2006 During the year-end awards edition of his weekly syndicated chat show, Chris Matthews asked his panel to vote on the "Dangerous Despot" of 2006, and then listed the nominees: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il, Venezuelan boss Hugo Chavez, Iran's nuclear-seeking threat Mahmoud Ahmedinejad -- and Fox News Channel host Bill O'Reilly. "How in the hell did this guy get in there?" Matthews asked in mock surprise as O'Reilly's face popped up next to America's worst enemies. "How did he get in there?" Later in the same discussion, BBC Washington Correspondent Katty Kay pointed out "there's a despot missing from this crowd, too, and that's [Russian President] Vladimir Putin," who is suspected of ordering the killings of political opponents. "We bumped him for O'Reilly," Matthews interjected, eliciting laughter from the rest of the panel. "What do you think?" 5. "Top Ten Things Heard Outside Saddam Hussein's Execution"
Letterman's "Top Ten Things Heard Outside Saddam Hussein's Execution." Olbermann: Bush Extending 'Senseless' War to Aid 'War Profiteers' On Tuesday's Countdown, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann used his latest "Special Comment" attack on President Bush to accuse the President of extending the "senseless, endless" war in Iraq as part of an ulterior motive to transfer money to "war profiteers" because "you can't sell [the Army] any more [Humvees] until the first thousand have been destroyed." Olbermann: "Your second accomplishment, sir, is to have taken money out of the pockets of every American, even out of the pockets of the dead soldiers on the battlefield and their families, and to have given that money to the war profiteers. Because if you sell the Army a thousand Humvees, you can't sell them any more until the first thousand have been destroyed, can you? The service men and women are ancillary to the equation. This is about the planned obsolescence of ordnance, isn't it, Mr. Bush? And the building of detention centers? And the design of a $125 million courtroom complex at Gitmo, complete with restaurants. At least the war profiteers have made their money, sir." This item, by Brad Wilmouth, was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog with accompanying video, of the last four minutes of Olbermann's eleven-minute diatribe, which will be added to the posted version of this CyberAlert. In the meantime, to watch the Real or Windows Media video, or MP3 audio, go to: newsbusters.org ] After proclaiming that "this country has already lost in Iraq" because of its "crushing impact on our safety here," which has "fomented new terrorism," "stoked paranoia," and "pitted Americans one against another," Olbermann accused Bush of first sending troops to Iraq for the President's "lie," and now for his "ego." Olbermann: "First we sent Americans to their deaths for your lie, Mr. Bush. Now we are sending them to their deaths for your ego." Olbermann had earlier belittled Senator McCain's support of deploying more troops by referring to him "inuring himself to the hypocrisy" of seeking votes from the "irrational right" who want the National Park Service to promote Creationism. The Countdown host also warned Democrats that even if they try to cut off funding of the war, that Bush, who is "gifted at letting American troops be killed and then turning their deaths to their own political advantage," might make up the difference by diverting money from funding "meant to protect the troops." Olbermann: "And to the Democrats now yoked to the helm of this sinking ship, you proceed at your own peril, as well. President Bush may not be very good at reality, but he and Mr. Cheney and Mr. Rove are still gifted at letting American troops be killed, and then turning their deaths to their own political advantage....Yet you Democrats must assume that even if you take the most obvious of courses now, and you cut off funding for this war, Mr. Bush will ignore you for as long as possible, or will find the money elsewhere, or will spend the money meant to protect the troops and re-purpose it to keep as many troops there as long as he can keep them there." As Olbermann moved to accuse the President of the ulterior motives of trying to get the public to accept "endless war" and to help "war profiteers," he compared the administration's various rationales for the war to a "game of Colorforms." Olbermann: "That is what this 'sacrifice' has been for. To continue this senseless war. You have dressed it up in the clothing, first of a hunt for weapons of mass destruction, then of liberation, then of regional imperative, then of oil prices, and now in these new terms of 'sacrifice.' It's like a damned game of Colorforms, isn't it, sir? This senseless, endless war." Below is a complete transcript of Olbermann's eleven-minute "Special Comment" from the end of the January 2 Countdown on MSNBC:
"And finally tonight, a 'Special Comment' about 'sacrifice.' If in your presence an individual tried to sacrifice an American serviceman or woman, would you intervene? Would you at least protest? What if he had already sacrificed 3,003 of them? What if he had already sacrificed 3,003 of them and was then to announce his intention to sacrifice hundreds, maybe thousands, more?
Couric During Ford Funeral: Billy Graham 'Remarkably Partisan' Billy Graham may seem like an American icon to some, but not to Katie Couric, who scorned him during live Ford memorial service coverage on CBS Tuesday morning. She complained about him for writing a "remarkably partisan" letter comforting Gerald Ford after he lost to her hero Jimmy Carter in 1976. Who is Couric to judge "remarkably partisan," since she leans exactly the other way when it comes to her hero, President Carter? [This item is adopted from a posting by Tim Graham on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] At about 10:40am EST, Couric talked with liberal Carter-boosting historian Douglas Brinkley about Ford's religious faith, which brought out this exchange about Ford's relationship with the evangelist:
Brinkley: "He was a man of deep, deep religious faith. Many people associate Jimmy Carter with born-again Christianity, but he was a very churchgoing man, Gerald Ford, and he developed a great friendship with the Rev. Billy Graham. One of the interesting new documents to come to light are the correspondence between Billy Graham and Gerald Ford. In fact, when Ford lost to Jimmy Carter, Graham wrote an extraordinary letter to Gerald Ford saying that during the election, I prayed constantly for you, and for some mysterious reason, unknown to us, Mr. Carter won. And he went on to say that he just can't figure out why God did that to us, that I wanted you, Gerry -- a very nice letter. It meant a lot to President Ford to receive that."
Rosie O'Donnell, Katie Couric, 'Supposed' Fans of Gun Control? On the "Federal Page" in Tuesday's Washington Post, Jeffrey Birnbaum, who covers lobbying, suggests it's not "genuine" for the National Rifle Association to sound the alarm on threats to gun rights at the moment: "No one expects gun legislation to pass this year." But in dismissing the "not-so-imminent threat" (as the article's headline describes it), Birnbaum wen too far: "The document is filled with sinister-looking caricatures of supposed anti-gun figures such as filmmaker Michael Moore, comedian Rosie O'Donnell, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (R) and CBS News anchor Katie Couric." Supposed? Doesn't Birnbaum remember Rosie trying to wallop NRA spokesman Tom Selleck into submission? Obviously, he doesn't remember then-NBC host Katie Couric asking NRA chief Charlton Heston to admit to the need for gun control in a June 1998 interview.
[This item, by Tim Graham, was posted Tuesday morning on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] -- "Speaking of gun safety and children Mr. Heston, as you well know and in fact as everyone in this country knows there has been a spate of school shootings recently that have been quite disturbing to all Americans. Given the fact that these seem to be happening with greater frequency has it caused you to rethink your philosophy about children and guns and the accessibility of guns for children?" -- "But Mr. Heston, don't you think that if deep, if children are deeply disturbed, there might be another way for them to deal with conflict if guns were not so readily available to them?"
-- "Getting back to kids and guns, if you will indulge me for a moment. You cannot think of any other position the NRA could take in terms of trying to decrease the number of school shootings? You feel like this is not your bailiwick, this is not your problem?" For more, check the June 9, 1998 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org
Matthews Lists O'Reilly with Kim Jong-Il as Worst Despots of 2006 During the year-end awards edition of his weekly syndicated chat show, Chris Matthews asked his panel to vote on the "Dangerous Despot" of 2006, and then listed the nominees: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il, Venezuelan boss Hugo Chavez, Iran's nuclear-seeking threat Mahmoud Ahmedinejad -- and Fox News Channel host Bill O'Reilly. "How in the hell did this guy get in there?" Matthews asked in mock surprise as O'Reilly's face popped up next to America's worst enemies. "How did he get in there?" Later in the same discussion, BBC Washington Correspondent Katty Kay pointed out "there's a despot missing from this crowd, too, and that's [Russian President] Vladimir Putin," who is suspected of ordering the killings of political opponents. "We bumped him for O'Reilly," Matthews interjected, eliciting laughter from the rest of the panel. "What do you think?" [This item, by Rich Noyes, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] (The exchange brings to mind a nasty incident from the fall of 1998, in which ABC News posed the following question on their Web site: "If there were an Ig-Nobel Peace Prize, who would win it?" ABC gave the following options: "Slobodan Milosevic, Osama bin Ladin, Saddam Hussein, and Linda Tripp." How helpful of ABC to join in the character assassination of a whistle-blower by lumping her in with three of the worst mass murderers on the planet. See: www.mrc.org ) That wasn't the only shot at Fox News on the December 24 Chris Matthews Show. Earlier, in Matthews' "Take the Lead" award, he nominated Bill Clinton, whom he approvingly described as "credited by many Democrats, at least, of jump-starting their fall campaign by really blasting Chris Wallace on Fox News. I remember that one, when he said, 'Get that smirk off your face.'" MSNBC Chief Washington Correspondent Norah O'Donnell agreed with Matthews: "President Clinton, by taking on Wallace from Fox News, really put the backbone back in the Democratic party, and that's what I heard from Democrats. While even they were hopeful they would win in the November elections, they looked to Clinton -- 'Finally, we feel like we can fight back' -- and we saw more Democrats after that. He set the tone for Democrats." None of the panelists stuck up for their fellow journalist Wallace, a former NBC News White House correspondent and ABC News anchor. Matthews seemed to blame Wallace, not Clinton's thin skin, for the entire matter, as he later observed, "Did you see Chris Wallace picked a fight with Teddy [Kennedy] the other day, so this is an ongoing thing here." But at least Wallace wasn't named a "Dangerous Despot," as Matthews did with Bill O'Reilly. Here's the entire exchange from that portion of the show, which ended with Dan Rather bizarrely suggesting that the polonium-poisoned ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko may not have been murdered. "It's possible the man wasn't poisoned," Rather weirdly insisted. "We don't know for a fact it was murder." Here's the transcript:
Chris Matthews: "Next up, 'Desperate Despots.' 2006 was a big year in America's rogues gallery. North Korea's Kim Jong-Il launched a nuclear test. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez called President Bush 'the Devil' at the UN. Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rode a wave of Muslim anger over Danish cartoons to international celebrity. How in the hell did this guy get in there? Bill O'Reilly -- how did he get in there? Dan, I think we were thinking of you, maybe, here."
Matthews, interrupting: "We bumped him for O'Reilly. What do you think?" (Laughter)
"Top Ten Things Heard Outside Saddam Hussein's Execution" From the January 2 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten Things Heard Outside Saddam Hussein's Execution." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com 10. "Would it have killed him to wear a tie?" 9. "You know he left his entire estate to the Boys and Girls Club of New Jersey" 8. "$4 for a goat dog" 7. "I loved it when Chemical Ali sang 'Wind Beneath My Wings'" 6. "Not what I had in mind" 5. "Let's start the wave" 4. "Is it too soon to start hitting on his wives?" 3. "Ryan Seacrest did a nice job on the countdown" 2. "Uday and Qusay wanted to be here, but they were too busing rotting in Hell" 1. "He dropped faster than Bush's poll numbers"
-- Brent Baker
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