Sgt John Bruhns - Iraq War Veteran

Sgt John Bruhns - Iraq War Veteran
He has certainly earned the right to offer his experienced opinion about Iraq



Read his statement. You can read more about Sgt Bruhns here.

Novak suspended by CNN

Novak suspended by CNN

The pressure has gotten to reporter/pundit Bob Novak. He completely lost it today on the Strategy Session of CNN's "Inside Politics." You can see the video at Media Matters. He swore at James Carville, ripped off his mike, and walked off the set. I was watching and I could hardly believe he broke down like he did. Perhaps the thought of Ed Henry's upcoming questions about the outing of Valerie Plame were too much for him to deal with. Ed Henry and James Carville seamlessly and gracefully continued on with the rest of the segment. CNN has suspended Novak, asking him to "take some time off." I was beginning to feel that it was inappropriate for CNN to continue to use Novak as a reliable source while the Fitgerald investigation was going on, anyhow. I mean, how much could Novak really say about the case when he's involved? Let's hope for a pundit to take his place who had nothing to do with the outing of Valerie Plame.

UPDATE: Josh Marshall claims there may have been a copy of the infamous Who's Who (where the Plame name-game is in question) on the CNN desk when Novak lost it yesterday.

Headlines

Headlines


President Bush visits BSA Jamboree
photo by Daniel Giles

- My son, who is a Life Scout, was one of the children who saw President Bush last Sunday at the 2005 BSA Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill. He was also one of the 300 Scouts who were medically treated for heat exhaustion on the day the President was initially scheduled to appear but cancelled due to the extreme heat. My son says that the soldiers at A.P. Hill were welcoming and treated him very well. He is now home safely. We are very sorry about the Scout leaders who died at the Jamboree when their tent pole hit a live wire and they were killed. My heart goes out to their families.

- Osama Bin Laden's aide Ayman al-Zawahri said in a videotape that London will face more attacks because of Prime Minister Tony Blair's foreign policy decisions; claiming the recent attacks stemmed from Blair's decision to invade Iraq. [al Jazeera News]

- Discovery Commander Eileen Collins has described how widespread environmental destruction on Earth is visible from the shuttle. She says, "It's very widespread in some parts of the world. We would like to see, from the astronauts' point of view, people take good care of the Earth and replace the resources that have been used." [BBC News]

- Ohio families are fed up with the loss of so many of their Marines. [Minneapolis Star Tribune] [Chicago Sun-Times]


- Tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of the release of the infamous anti-Kerry Swift-boat ads. Steve Cobble has an idea for Teresa Heinz.

- This weekend the GOP kicks off its 2006 campaign cycle at the party's annual summer meeting in Pittsburgh, with Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum playing host. A right-wing wacky extremist is at the center of their effort to keep control of the Senate?! This goal - to hold on to power at any cost, while dragging America away from mainstream common values - how much longer can this spell success for the GOP?

- I liked Duncan's title on the new "GSAVE" moniker and President Bush's follow-up statement. I recently heard Air America writer/satirist Barry Crimmins recommend that the name of the Anti-War movement should be changed to the "Anti-Struggle" movement. (And Barry's book "Never Shake Hands with a War Criminal" can now be changed to "Never Shake Hands with a Struggle Criminal.") Thanks again to Barry, by the way, for the benefit he performed last week here in Syracuse for the Syracuse Peace Council. I had a wonderful time, and it was great to have met Barry in person.

- Drudge is reporting that the NYT is looking into the adoption records of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts as a part of the paper's "standard background check."

- My, how quickly things change with these fickle wackos. Once a 'Justice Sunday' hero - Bill is "Benedict Frist - Agent of Beelzebub" by the time the next 'Justice Sunday' rolls around. [CNN]

- What the hell was HE thinking?



- South Korean scientists have successfully cloned man's best friend (or in their case, man's best meat supply). "Snuppy" steak, anyone?

Update: Speaking of Man's Best Friends, Dark Syde has what I think is a great diary about them today at Daily Kos website.

Jeff Gannon-fake journalist- back in the news

Jeff Gannon-fake journalist-back in the news

At Salon, Tim Grieve has some very interesting comments about Jeff Gannon, at whom I have long pointed a questioning finger. As I've stated before, Gannon [aka Guckert] came into the picture at a curious time - just when a trashing of Joseph Wilson was "required" by the scum within the White House who were scrambling to cover political lies. Bob "Douchebag" Novak (nickname credit goes to Jon Stewart) has pulled false information out of an old Jeff Gannon article and is boldly using it as part of his ongoing and pathetic excuse-factory. Who does he think he's going to convince? I happen to think this has all been part of the M.O. of the "trash-Joe Wilson" group - to use Gannon's shite-bag "journalism" to lend credibility to the scummy lies of those who have been willing agents of the destruction of Joseph Wilson's reputation. And what a tangled web they've weaved. Patrick Fitzgerald certainly has his work cut out for him - but I happen to believe he sees through the tangled web, just as so many of us have. Point by point, bloggers are working together to dismantle the lies that have come off the "trash-Joe Wilson" conspirators' production line. If we can do it, I'm sure Fitzgerald and his team can do it. Recycling trash is what good conservationists do. Bob Novak is a committed recycler of Gannon trash. It’s clear that Bob Novak happens to want to conserve Gannon’s lies - along with his own tail.

As Bernard Weiner has recently written, in a satirical piece where he is the voice behind Karl Rove's diary:

"...we definitely don't want Fitz probing into Jeff-Gannon, how and why he was given key interviews and scoops, his Plame-story connection, and who supplied him overnight passes into the White House. Any one of those, especially the passes, could be more than just embarrassing; if provable allegations along those lines were thrown into this scandal soup, we'd really be done for, as the religious types would abandon us in droves."

See Peter Daou's report.

CSPAN showcases John Edwards this weekend

CSPAN showcases John Edwards this weekend

This Sunday, the CSPAN network will showcase former Sen. John Edwards, North Carolina Democrat, on his recent sojourn to New Hampshire to attend a birthday party for Democratic state Sen. Lou D'Allesandro - and two pig roasts. It's part of CSPAN's "Road to the White House" program. [WT]