Obama Addresses Earmark Obsession

I'm glad that President Obama came out yesterday and expressed a sense of weariness over the media's obsession with earmarks while he also outlined his proposal to reduce and reform their use in the future. President Obama said this as he announced that he would sign the $410 billion omnibus spending bill that does include earmarks (they make up less than 2% of the bill) when it arrived his desk.

I want to remind people because the media seems to have forgotten that earmarks were not Obama's issue during the campaign -- they were Republican candidate John McCain's. Seriously people, there are those who are complaining that President Obama did not keep John McCain's campaign promise. President Obama never promised to veto them, just reduce their number and make their sponsors more accountable. Now he did not reduce them in this bill, which was written before he was elected, but he did make them more transparent. We now know who was the author and sponsor of every earmark.

Keith Olbermann pointed this out on Countdown last night. He showed President Obama speaking about this, and then spoke with Newsweek's Richard Wolfe.

Watch it here:

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Here are President Obama's statement:

"Yesterday, Congress sent me the final part of last year's budget; a piece of legislation that rolls nine bills required to keep the government running into one – a piece of legislation that addresses the immediate concerns of the American people by making needed investments in line with our urgent national priorities."

"That is what nearly 99 percent of this legislation does – the nearly 99 percent you probably haven't heard much about."

In fact, President Obama came out and said quite clearly that earmarks have some value:

"Done right, earmarks give legislators the opportunity to direct federal money to worthy projects that benefit people in their district, and that's why I have opposed their outright elimination."

And he took a swipe at some of the bill's critics:

"I also find it ironic that some of those who railed the loudest against this bill because of earmarks actually inserted earmarks of their own – and will tout them in their own states and districts."

President Obama suggested new guidelines for earmarks that he said were consistent with his pledge to restore "responsibility, transparency, and accountability to the actions government takes." He said that earmarks should be announced and justified ahead of time, shouldn't go to private companies without competitive bidding and shouldn't be traded for political favors.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer wrote about the stupidity of the Republican's argument in a USA Today op-ed yesterday:

"Some politicians try to cultivate an image of fiscal discipline by railing against earmarks — and 'pork' also makes a great story for the news media. But as congressional scholar Thomas Mann recently noted, earmarks do not generally increase spending but simply allow members of Congress to direct a small part of a program's funding.

'Abolishing all earmarks would therefore have a trivial effect on the level of spending,' Mann explained, adding that 'hyperbolic attacks on earmarks are a disservice to the public, encouraging people to concentrate way too much attention and energy on a largely symbolic issue and ignore the critical decisions that we face.'"

Whistleblower exposes spying on Americans

Former analyst at the National Security Agency, Russell Tice, went on MSNBC's Countdown, and revealed exclusively to Keith Olbermann that American journalists were specifically targeted by the Bush administration for surveillance.

Keith Interviewed Tice over two days.
Here is Part 1

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Part 2

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Then Keith Olbermann interviewed a journalist James Risen who knows for sure he was spied upon.

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Obama signs the orders closing Guantanamo

Barack Obama has moved quickly to reverse Bush's toxic policies on the treatment of terror suspects. Today President Barack Obama signed an executive order to shut down Guantanamo Bay's prison within a year.

He signed an executive order to require that all U.S. interrogations of terror suspects must now conform to the U.S. Army Field Manual, a move meant to restrict what the CIA can do. The president created an inter-agency task force to advise him on detainee policy.

In addition, the man tapped to oversee U.S. intelligence is promising Congress there will be no torture, harsh interrogations and warrantless wiretapping on his watch.

The direct quote from Obama:

Any interrogations taking place are going to have to abide by the Army Field Manual. We feel that the Army Field Manual reflects the best judgment of our military -- that we can abide by a rule that says we don't torture. But that we can still effectively obtain the intelligence that we need.

This is me following through on not just a commitment I made during the campaign, I think, but an understanding that dates to our founding fathers. That we are willing to observe core standards of conduct, not just when it's easy but when it's hard.

President Obama also harkend back to the Founding Fathers.

"This is following through not just on a commitment I made during the campaign but an understanding that dates back to our Founding Fathers, that we are willing to observe core standards of conduct — not just when it's easy but also when it's hard."

In related actions, Obama:

• Created a task force that would have 30 days to recommend policies on handling terror suspects who are detained in the future. Specifically, the group would look at what do do with the 245 Guantanamo detainees.
• Required all U.S. personnel to follow the U.S. Army Field Manual while interrogating detainees. The manual explicitly prohibits threats, coercion, physical abuse and waterboarding, a technique that creates the sensation of drowning and has been termed a form of torture by critics. However, a Capitol Hill aide says that the administration also is planning a study of more aggressive interrogation methods that could be added to the Army manual — which would create a significant loophole to Obama's action Thursday.
• Directed the Justice Department to review the case of Qatar native Ali al-Marri, who is the only enemy combatant currently being held on U.S. soil. The directive will ask the high court for a stay in al-Marri’s appeals case while the review is ongoing. The government says al-Marri is an al-Qaida sleeper agent.

Watch Keith Olbermann discuss this with Retired General Paul Eaton:

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Keith Olbermann's Special Comment: Prosecute Torture

Last night Keith Olbermann gave his final Special Comment of the Bush Administration.

Keith Olbermann:

In point of fact, every effort to merely 'draw a line in the sand' and declare the past dead, has only served to keep the past alive -- and often to strengthen it.

We compromised with slavery in the Declaration of Independence -- and four score and nine years later we had buried 600,000 of our sons and brothers in a Civil War.

After that War's ending, we compromised with the social restructuring and protection of the rights of minorities in the South. And a century later, we had not only not resolved anything, but black leaders were still being assassinated in the cities of the South.

We compromised with Germany and the reconstruction of Europe after the First World War -- nobody even arrested the German Kaiser, let alone conducted War Crimes trials, and 19 years later there was an indescribably more evil Germany and a more heart-rending Second World War.

We compromised with the Trusts of the early 1900's, and today we have corporations too big to let fail.

We compromised with The Palmer Raids and got McCarthyism, and we compromised with McCarthyism and got Watergate, and we compromised with Watergate and the junior members of the Ford Administration realized how little was ultimately at risk, and grew up to be Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.

Watch Keith Speak about the need to Investigate and Prosecute those who have committed Torture:

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The Final Legacy: A Legend in His Own Mind

The final weeks of the Bush Administration has been a full court press of interviews, press conferences, and speech's, all in the attempt to burnish the disgrace that was President George W. Bush.

Mostly they were self-pity fests, but the one thing that comes through loud and clear is that George W. Bush is a Legend in His Own Mind. Man nothing was his fault, nothing he did was really wrong. He just was in the wrong place in the wrong time.

What does it say that this man claims to have never been down any day in office, when things like 911 happened on his watch, two wars started on his watch, a U.S. city was destroyed on his watch, hundreds of thousands of people died in one of the worst natural disasters when tsnamis hit Indonesia and India.

Looks like the Bush legacy tour has finally ended, and luckily so far all of this whining has not changed the mind of this nation. Thank goodness. Dspite all of their spin over the last few weeks by George W. Bush and his enablers, the P.R. blitz hasn't worked out very well for them.

Bush's poll numbers are still in the tank despite their best efforts.

Watch Keith Olbermann remember the Bush Administration in 8 minutes:


Rachel Maddow had a really interesting interview with Matt Taibbi on her MSNBC show. Matt Taibbi has written a very creative article for Rolling Stone, where he gives his views on how Bush will be remembered: Bush Apologizes: The Farewell Interview We Wish He'd Give..

Watch Rachel Maddow discuss the Bush Legacy with Matt Taibbi:

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Keith Olbermann Discusses Obama's Speech

Keith Olbermann reported on President-elects economic speech yesterday, and comments made by Nancy Pelosis.

Nancy made the declaration that if the stimulus package is not passed by President's Day, there would be no President's recess. Olbermann pointed out the rank hypocrisy of John Bohner who had no trouble running up deficits during the Bush years, and is now trying to paint himself as a deficit hawk.

Olbermann interviewed Howard Fineman about the growing debate within Democratic ranks over the stimulus. Watch it here:

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There is definitely a debate about the needs for tax cuts, which I think is good. I don't agree with including so much in tax cuts.


Rachel Maddow then gave her take on Obama's speech. She pointed out that Obama's speech was a break, not with just the outgoing Bush administration, but with the administrations of Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan. She also reported on the confirmation hearings.

Watch her analysis and interview Robert Reich:

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Obama: Aides 'did nothing inappropriate'

President-elect Barack Obama said Monday a review by his own lawyer shows he had no direct contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the appointment of a Senate replacement, and transition aides "did nothing inappropriate."

Obama said today he is prepared to make the review public, but decided to hold off because prosecutors asked for a delay and "I don't want to interfere with an ongoing investigation."
Controversy has swirled around the president-elect and his incoming White House chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, following Blagojevich's arrest last week on charges he schemed to trade Obama's Senate seat for personal gain.

Watch this NBC news clip:


Here is what Keith Olbermann said on his show today:

GOP's Strategy for Blocking Bailout Revealed

On today's Countdown guest host David Schuester revealed a new memo that explains the GOP's strategy for blocking a bridge loan to the auto industry:

Countdown has obtained a memo entitled "Action Alert - Auto Bailout," and sent Wednesday at 9:12am, to Senate Republicans. The names of the sender(s) and recipient(s) have been redacted in the copy Countdown obtained.

The Los Angeles Times reported that it was circulated among Senate Republicans. The brief memo outlines internal political strategy on the bailout, including the view that defeating the bailout represents a "first shot against organized labor." Senate Republicans blocked passage of the bailout late Thursday night, over its insistence on an immediate union pay cut.

From: Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 9:12 AM To: Subject: Action Alert -- Auto Bailout

Today at noon, Senators Ensign, Shelby, Coburn and DeMint will hold a press conference in the Senate Radio/TV Gallery. They would appreciate our support through messaging and attending the press conference, if possible. The message they want us to deliver is:

1. This is the democrats first opportunity to payoff organized labor after the election. This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it.

2. This rush to judgment is the same thing that happened with the TARP. Members did not have an opportunity to read or digest the legislation and therefore could not understand the consequences of it. We should not rush to pass this because Detroit says the sky is falling.

The sooner you can have press releases and documents like this in the hands of members and the press, the better. Please contact me if you need additional information. Again, the hardest thing for the democrats to do is get 60 votes. If we can hold the Republicans, we can beat this.

Watch David fill in for Keith Olbermann here:


The GOP is showing their true colors, and letting everyone know they will not work with the Obama administration to fix the problems of this nation. They killed the auto rescue plan Thursday night for purely partisan reasons. It never was about trying to help the automakers or the economy, but an effort to crush the working class and punish unions. There are many more people in line to suffer if the Big 3 go out of business, but Shelby and his band of brothers couldn't care less.

"Union Busting" is a high priority for these Conservatives fools that have allowed our country to be run into the ground. Can you name anything good that has come out of the eight years of Bush and Conservative dominance? So what is their solution? To take it out on the blue collars of America.

If anything this memo should be used as a reminder that the Employee Free Choice Act should be one of Obama's "high priorities" just after he takes office. Check out this video that explains a few things about it.

Update: Think Progress obtained the 20 senators who bailed out Wall Street but refused to rescue auto workers.»

Last night, the Senate failed to approve the auto rescue package, voting 52-35 in favor of the bill – just eight short of the 60 votes that were needed. Over on the Wonk Room, Dan Weiss takes a look at the 20 senators who voted for the Wall Street bailout but voted against the auto rescue last night (as well as the 10 others who skipped the vote last night, but voted for the financial bailout):

Yes to TARP, No to auto
Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT)
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Sen. Kay Hutchison (R-TX)
Sen. John Isakson (R-GA)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. John Thune (R-SD)

Yes to TARP, Absent for auto
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE)
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Sen.Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Sen. John Sununu (R-NH)

Senator Biden was tending to transition duties, while John Kerry was in Poznan, Poland, participating in U.N. climate change talks. Alexander was home recovering from surgery.

Why did these other Senators feel auto workers weren’t as deserving as Wall Street? We’d like to know.

Countdown: Bush's Real Legacy

Keith Olbermann took a look yesterday at the legacy of George W. Bush.

The Bush administration is attempting spin away his actual legacy. Luckily the LA Times was able to get their hands talking points memo that was handed out to staff:

A two-page memo that has been sent to Cabinet members and other high-ranking officials offers a guide for discussing Bush's eight-year tenure during their public speeches.

Titled "Speech Topper on the Bush Record," the talking points state that Bush "kept the American people safe" after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, lifted the economy after 2001 through tax cuts, curbed AIDS in Africa and maintained "the honor and the dignity of his office."

The document presents the Bush record as an unalloyed success.

Check out Keith Olbermann's take here:

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Krugman and Olbermann Discuss Transition

Keith Olbermann spoke with Professor Paul Krugman about Barack Obama, his press conferences, and the transition from Bush. It's a good discussion about the state of the economy and what could happen in the next two months.

Olbermann again gave a good break down of Barack Obama's press conference, highlighting the difference between Obama and Bush after their respective elections.

Krugman spoke to how much money Obama will be able to trim from the fat of the budget. I'm afraid that there is not enough fat for Obama to balance the new spending that is needed, but there is a lot that will be noticed by the public.

Watch their discussion here:

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Countdown's Take on Barack Obama's Press Conference

Keith Olbermann reported on President-elect Barack Obama's press conference, and then on comments made by President Bush on the transition. Olbermann's first guest was Countdown regular Richard Wolfe, and the two spoke about the politics of this situation. We are in very unique times, where the economic crisis has forced Barack Obama to speed up the process of putting together a cabinet and an economic team. Richard Wolfe made the bold statement that we are no longer a nation with only one President. Circumstances had forced the President-elect to act in ways that would normally be seen as out of bounds.

Keith Olbermann then spoke with Robert Reich about the New NEW DEAL, and the economics that might be a part of President-elect's stimulus plan. I am a huge fan of Robert Reich, and I like his idea's about the direction America's economy should take. In this discussion I believe Mr. Reich is correct that this nation really needs a seamless transition between President Bush and President Obama. I believe Professor Reich is correct that Obama's immediate challenge is to fill the leadership vacuum created by President Bush.

Here is Olbermann's discussion with Richard Wolfe:


Here is Olbermann's discussion with Robert Reich:

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Olbermann on Proposition 8

MSNBC Keith Olbermann did one of his Special Comments on California's Prop 8, gay rights, marriage, love and how those who voted yes on Prop 8 voted against all that they claim to uphold.

NBC/MSNBC Just Declared Barack Obama Has Won

Keith Olbermann has just declared California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii... this just after Virginia.

The Race is OVER.

Watch it here:

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Watch Obama supporters react to the news:

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Keith Olbermann Gets the SNL Treatment

Ben Affleck did a great satire of Keith Olbermann last night. Ben tries to hold onto Keith's gravitas as he delivers his his righteous indignation. I reall laughed as Ben did the "Worst Person in The World" and he delivered a hilarious Special Comment against the president of the co-op to which he applied for an excemption.

I lost count how many resignations he called for, each funnier than the last.

Watch it here:

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Sarah Palin is a Blithering Idiot

Yesterday Sarah Palin delivered her first (and probably last) major policy address in Pittsburgh, PA. This speech was about Children with special needs, which we are told will be an area she works on if this country is unlucky enough to have her as a Vice President. In the speech she promised to care for “children with special needs who have been set apart and excluded” and to “fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.”

During the speech Sarah Palin went off on a weird tangent and mocked fruit fly research, during a general tirade against earmarks. This was a speech about autism and disabilities, so why would Palin mock "fruit fly research" as wasteful pork? Didn't anybody in the campaign do any research? Fruit fly research, pardon the pun, has been very fruitful for scientific research. It is one of the foundations of modern biological research.

In her remarks Palin said:

This is a matter of how we prioritize the money that we spend. We've got a three trillion dollar budget, and Congress spends some 18 billion dollars a year on earmarks for political pet projects. That's more than the shortfall to fully fund the IDEA. And where does a lot of that earmark money end up? It goes to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good -- things like fruit fly research in Paris, France...

Here is what science blog BiochemicalSoul.com had to say:

The fruit fly (Drosophila) has probably been the single most important organism for the study of genetics for over a century now. Almost everything we know about genetics, development, cell biology, neuroscience, and every other field of biology has strong roots in previous and current work on Drosophila. The fruit fly is one of a small handful of “standard model organisms” used by thousands of scientists across the world to learn how our bodies, organs, genes, and proteins work. Most of what we know about how a single fertilized cell becomes the amazingly complex beings we are comes from studies initially done in Drosophila. Vast amounts of our understanding of the brain (and brain disorders, diseases, and defects) also come from initial studies in fruit flies.

In fact, recent research from my own graduate alma mater, the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, on fruit fly brains has had an impact on the understanding of autism and has boosted autism research:

“[S]cientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have shown that a protein called neurexin is required for..nerve cell connections to form and function correctly. The discovery, made in Drosophila fruit flies may lead
to advances in understanding autism spectrum disorders, as recently, human
neurexins have been identified as a genetic risk factor for autism.”

To decry research in [condescending and amazed tone] “the fruit fly” is a testament to the true idiocy of this woman and to the failure of our public education system.
In fact, her own father, Chuck Heath, was a biology teacher – obviously a complete failure of a biology teacher.

Keith Olbermann covered this on his show Friday night in his first segment, and the he interviewed Richard Wolfe of Newsweek. Richard had the best line when he said "This is the most mindless, ignorant, uninformed comment that we have seen from Governor Palin so far, and there's been a lot of competition for that prize."

Watch here:


Why has the Republican Party made the decision to not respect science? It is too pervasive throughout the party, to have not been a conscious decision by the party. It's one more example of the intellectual laziness that pervades the GOP. Why do modern Republicans respect stupidity and ignorance?

Palin’s dismissal of all earmarks in her remarks were also dishonest. A simple search of the Office of Management and Budget website shows that there are at least 19 autism-related projects in the 2009 budget:

- $250K to Parents as Teachers National Center, St. Louis, MO, to develop research-based materials and training for home visiting professionals for families of children with autism
- $200K for Southern Penobscot Regional Program for Children with Exceptionalities, Bangor, ME, for services for families with autistic children
- $100K to Marywood University, Scranton, PA, for campus-based autism education programs

Not every earmark is a waste of money, not every earmark is pork. And history shows that when it comes to priorities, there is little history that backs up Palin's grand statements in her speech.

John McCain and Sarah Palin run around all over the country giving speeches where they try to scare Americans about the dangers of expanding SCHIP and Medicaid for poor and sick children, yet this "evil socialism" would be avoided if the government is able to fund medical research or other special needs initiatives, to reduce disease and cure genetic disorders.

Palin’s rhetoric in the speech also does not square with her record, McCain’s individual market-centric health care plan, and penchant for gutting all forms of government programs.

Palin Has No Clue

As you know Sarah Palin has been kept away from most interviews by the media, having held no press conferences, no national interviews since the infamous Katie Couric, and even sit-downs with Fox and the rest of the Conservative Media has been few and sporadic.

This week we have more proof why.

Two days ago Sarah Palin sat for an interview with KUSA, an NBC affiliate in Colorado. In response to a question sent to the network by a third grader at a local elementary school about what the Vice President does, Palin erroneously argued that the Vice President is “in charge of the United States Senate“:

Q: Brandon Garcia wants to know, “What does the Vice President do?”

PALIN: That’s something that Piper would ask me! … [T]hey’re in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.

Watch it here:


What is funny is that Sarah Palin herself asked this same question during a national television interview in July (before she was tagged as the GOP VP candidate, and was still doing interviews), and she still hasn’t learned the correct answer.

Article I of the Constitution establishes an exceptionally limited role for the Vice President — giving the office holder a vote only when the Senate is “equally divided”:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but
shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

Moreover, the U.S. Senate website explains that the modern role of Vice Presidents has been to preside over the Senate “only on ceremonial occasions.”

ThinkProgress contacted Senior Assistant Paliamentarian Peter Robinson, who also disputed Palin’s characterization of the Vice President’s role:

In modern practice the Vice President doesn’t really control the Senate. … If
anyone has a responsibility to try to govern the Senate, it’s the responsibility
of the two leaders.

Keith Olbermann responded to this latest example thatSarah Palin is not ready to be the Vice President. Watch it here:

LibertyAir Blog

Keith Olbermann: Special Comment on the notion of 'Us vs. Them'

Keith Olbermann gave another fiery Special Comment, this time hitting the McCain Campaign and the Republicans for trying to divide this country, with the entire notion 'Us vs. Them' screed.

It will be forever John McCain's shame that he allowed his campaign and surrogates to divide Americans and America into "good" and "bad". He is no longer a man who can reach across the aisle.

Watch Keith Olbermann here:

Breaking News: Obama Campaign Calls for Special Investigator

Tonight on Countdown with Keith Olbermann it was reported that the Obama Campaign is not sitting still for this Republican attack on A.C.O.R.N. and the false voter fraud fantasy that conservatives are trying to sell the public. The Obama Campaign issued a letter to the Justice Department requesting that the Special Investigator Nora Dannehy expand her investigation to look into the McCain campaign's attempt at voter suppression. accused it "trying to create a much greater doubt about the electoral process altogether," by alleging that ACORN voter fraud could threaten the fabric of our democracy, as McCain claimed in the debate Wednesday night.

Keith tonight interviewed Bob Bauer, an elections lawyer with the Obama camp, who wrote the letter to the DOJ.

He basically told Olbermann that the Obama campaign are concerned that the DOJ's election-eve investigation into ACORN is a repeat of the politicization of the department that we saw in 2006 that led to the US attorney firings scandal.


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Earlier today Bauer released a letter that he sent on behalf of Senator Obama to Attorney General Michael Mukasey calling on him to have the issue taken on by Nora Dannehy, the prosecutor he appointed to investigate the US attorney firings.

Rachel Maddow followed up on this story with an interview of George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley.


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Olbermann: McCain is "a fraud"

This is a great Special Comment by Keith Olbermann from yesterday. Read the full transcript here and watch the video below.


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Keith Olbermann,'s Special Comment On Palin-McCain Terror Campaign

Keith Olbermann gave a great mocking special comment today about Sarah Palin, John McCain and their new terror political campaign, and the hypocrisy they are peddling.


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