I was watching Countdown last night and Keith Olbermann had said that 1000 people got free healthcare at the clinic in Hartford. Most of them had not had access to a Doctor in years. Whether it was the unemployed, the underemployed, the working poor. The common thread among them all is that access to medical professionals is beyond their financial reach because of our completely broken healthcare insurance for profit. MSNBC's Ed Schultz broadcast from there yesterday, their network had organized the fund raising for this effort, and he had some harsh words for the politicians that are ignoring these people that are in dire straights.
Lives were saved because of this.
American people that had been guilty of nothing more than slipping through the gaping cracks in our winner takes all "social safety nets", ever weakened safety nets because of an unbalanced "free market run amok" rigged to keep the poor in a permanent stasis of desperation, got much needed treatment they will never receive, ever again, if we don't fix things properly.
From the Keith Olbermann sponsored free clinic today in Hartford. Rep. Joe Courtney made a brief appearance on The Ed Show, while his wife Audrey (a nurse) attended the event. I'm told Ned Lamont also attended.
I don't know what they are doing in Washington.
I know that there aren't any house members here and there aren't any senators here. And I can tell you one piece of information here in Connecticut, the house and the senate passed Universal care for everyone and the governor vetoed it. The public option in this state polls overwhelmingly well, but in Washington, Joe Lieberman, not only is he not here tonite, but he's against the public option.
7:17 minutes: I could look Joe Lieberman in the eye, and Senator, I don't care if it costs me my job, I don't care, you are a coward.
Yes... They were spying on journalists, as many people speculated.
More to come tomorrow on Countdown.
Expect this to be the first in a long line of whistle blowers to come forward with information on specific crimes committed by the criminal Bush administrations. They no longer have worry about retribution from the most corrupt administration to ever seize power in the USA.
Earlier today, President Obama issued his first set of executive orders. One of these orders instructs “federal agencies to handle requests for information from the public and press under the Freedom of Information Act [FOIA] with an eye toward disclosure, not refusal.” The order reportedly returns to “pre-Bush administration policies” regarding FOIA.
In response to the “new standard of openness,” conservative talker Rush Limbaugh said that he fears that the more open FOIA rules will make it easier for Bush to be held to account for any misdeeds he committed as president:
LIMBAUGH: What I’m afraid of is that what Obama did with this executive order is actually make it easier for the media to go get Bush documents. Because you know Pelosi and some of the guys over in congress are talking about war crimes trials and charges and so forth. […]
What I’m afraid of is what Obama’s done here is made the gathering of the information for this kind of stuff– This is not American. This is not America. This is not what America does. We don’t– This is Banana Republic kind of stuff.
Oxy-Rush can't handle the truth getting out and I really think he may be smoking bananas.
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann interviewed a former National Security Agency analyst tonight. The analyst says that, under the ruse of making sure that the NSA did NOT target American media and journalists, they actually collected information on every communication those journalists and media organizations had 24/7.
This is extremely complicated stuff, and appears to be a rather significant story. Ironically, we had reported back in 2005 on this very issue, asking whether the Bush administration was spying on American journalists. At the time, there was a specific question as to whether CNN's Christiane Amanpour was a subject of inquiry. At the time, CNN's David Ensor dismissed the story, saying that he had a contact in the intelligence agency who "looked into it" and said, nah, it's not happening, don't worry. Yes, because I'm sure the NSA would tell David Ensor if they were spying on him. Anyway, seems Mr. Ensor may get to do a follow-up story.
Here is a message to Barack Obama: You need to spend more time fighting back against the lies and smears of a Swift Boat campaign more ugly than the campaign against John Kerry, and less time having sweet-talk meetings with Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes followed by professorial discourse with Bill O'Reilly. This is war, Barack, and you had better fight back.
The sickness and dementia of a purported news network airing with smug laughs and happy chortles a naked appeal to hatred and bigotry in this attack on "a lesbian Air America host" is a low that even a Republican cable organization like Fox should never stoop to.
Mr. Olbermann, a 49-year-old former sportscaster, has become the face of the more aggressive MSNBC, and the lightning rod for much of the criticism. His program “Countdown,” now a liberal institution, was created by Mr. Olbermann in 2003 but it found its voice in his gnawing dissent regarding the Bush administration, often in the form of “special comment” segments.
As Mr. Olbermann raised his voice, his ratings rose as well, and he now reaches more than one million viewers a night, a higher television rating than any other show in the troubled 12-year history of the network. As a result, his identity largely defines MSNBC. “They have banked the entirety of the network on Keith Olbermann,” one employee said.
On the final night of the Republican convention, after MSNBC televised the party’s video “tribute to the victims of 9/11,” including graphic footage of the World Trade Center attacks, Mr. Olbermann abruptly took off his journalistic hat.
“I’m sorry, it’s necessary to say this,” he began. After saying that the video had exploited the memories of the dead, he directly apologized to viewers who were offended. Then, sounding like a network executive, he said it was “probably not appropriate to be shown.”
Get your fear on little GOPeeons... The desperation suits you well.
Because, unlike KO or Chris Matthews, who are likely nothing more than typical moderate conservatives that lean Democratic in their personal politics, Rachel Maddow is, IMHO, even closer to actually being a full-blown honest-to-God liberal. We know that has you wetting your pants on the spot. That is what the attacks on her are all about.
I watched Rachel's new show last night... And it was good. A few tweaks in time and Rachel Maddow's show could very well surpass all of the other cable news networks shows in ratings because it has been so long since there has been this kind of voice on any of those channels.
The American people are starving for this kind of truth to power editorializing from the failing punditocracy.
And where the Edward R. Murrow award winning - for his work in the aftermath of 911 - Keith Olbermann's ratings successes as MSNBC's flagship show have only scratched the surface of this serious problem, I believe that Rachel Maddow's show will tear a gaping wound open in the fallacy that is force fed like pablum to the brownshirt wingnuts at FOX trying to paint a false picture of Americans being conservative.
American politicians being crammed down the citizens' throats may be more conservative... But American citizens being more liberal than than any of the politicians and most of the TV news available have proven to be fed up with that situation.
The simple fact that Blogosphere is dominated by the left - Yes! COMPLETELY DOMINATED BY THE LEFT as all of the biggest and most popular political Blogs are left leaning.
Very few of the right wingnut Blogs even come close to the top left Blogs - which tells you all you need to know about the leanings of American activists, voters and citizens. Hopefully it will not be long before the true voices of the people are dominating the news cycles again.
This may scare the hell out of the far right wingnuts and many in the media, spurring their vicious attacks and fear mongering on even further with their formulaic poison pill of feeding into the scared and bigoted viewers they rely on.
In the end, and as the failed Traditional Media becomes more and more exposed to the viewers - the citizens that the Media are supposed to speak truth to power for - for what they truly are, we can only hope they will change their ways, hope they will stop flacking for corporations and talking point politicians and hope they will stop working against the real interests of Americans or they will continue to slip into the obscurity of failure and irrelevancy that they have epitomized in their spiraling downfall.
The Maddow Show:A website called "The Progressive Puppy" calls it the quote, "single smartest move ever made by a television network." 'The Nation' already identified her in these terms: "Everything about her radiates competence and a deft, bright careerism." And at the website Daily Kos, there was, upon the news late this afternoon, posted this poem: "For Unto Us, a Star is Born. "A Gift is Given. "And she shall be: Wonderful, Confident, the Mighty Women, the Everlasting Progressive, the Princess of News." In our third story on the Countdown: but around these parts, with all due modesty, I think I've summed it up best: we just call her "Next!"
We hope to continue to see some of the sharpest and brightest opinions to grace that network's cast of part time pundits coming forth from Rachel Maddow on a full time basis.
MSNBC has just doubled its credibility as a real news source.
On Countdown last night, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow sum up just how stupid this bush stunt was:
Radio talk show host Rachel Maddow discusses President Bush’s speech at his final Gridiron Dinner in which he made light of his own failures which have damaged America.
KO mentions at the end of the clip that there will be a special comment coming up tonight on the Ferarro/Clinton insanity. ctblogger has a lot up on that:
Ferraro said, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
It gets worse as Geraldine Ferraro goes batshit crazy against Senator Chris Dodd saying the senior senator supports Obama because "the guys stick together" while throwing the race card in Congressman Rosa DeLauro saying the reason for DeLauro supporting Obama is because of her black constituents.
There has been quite a bit of news on the statement by Hillary Clinton that she and McCain had experience, and Obama simply has a speech.
"I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002," Clinton says.
This has gotten a lot of criticism on the web. And Keith has just weighed in. I don't have a link yet, but we've got what was just discussed on Countdown. He and Rachel Maddow were incredulous at her 3AM video, as well as her statements.
Rachel Maddow:
"That's what you say when you want to be John McCain's Vice Presidential choice. That's not what you say when you are trying to become the democratic nominee for president."
Keith:
"Unbelievable."
Absolutely on point. Hillary's statement is outrageous, essentially cutting an ad for McCain in the general if Obama is the nominee. Olbermann openly wondered why she was playing this card, and also cited the inability of Hillary advisers to point to where she has been tested on foreign policy.
And some Democratic supporters wonder why many independents look at her campaign and say they will never vote for her? She and her campaign are the epitome of the reasoning behind some in the left voting for 3rd party candidates.
Keith Olbermann brings on Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson to discuss the horrific history behind Bill O’Reilly’s casual and callous use of the phrase “lynching party” in reference to Michelle Obama’s quote about being really proud of this country and the implications one may draw from it.
You know what lynching was?Lynching was a horrific practice of murder, torture, dismemberment, burning alive, hanging, and the only purpose of lynching was to perpetuate white supremacy in the Jim Crow south.It wasn’t…the idea of course, wasn’t to lynch all black people, but by lynching a few black people…not a few, by lynching some black people to demonstrate to other African Americans that this could happen to you, that you have no power, that we have all the power, and that we can take anything we want from you, including your life.There’s nothing funny about lynching.There’s certainly nothing at all funny or remotely appropriate about the use of a lynching reference to talk about Michelle Obama.And the word “unless” followed by “we’ll track it down,” is way beyond the pale.
I have written on this subject before, and I agree with Eugene Robinson on this topic, but I also think that it goes beyond just the racial issues:
I'm sure race has nothing to with the recent surge of nooses in the news since we are soooo over bigotry in the U.S.
Police are looking for whoever dangled a 3-foot rope with a small loop at its end from a tree outside a campus cultural center that is home to several black organizations. The incident is being treated as a possible hate crime.
"This is bigger than a noose," Black Student Union President Altmann Pannell told his fellow students, many of whom were wearing "Terps as one" buttons."
"This is bigger than a noose because we as a community know that something else is going on in this country," Pannell said to murmurs of agreement. linkage
That "something else" is not missed by minority communties, especially when the disparities in justice are blatantly tied to the color of one's skin.
For a year, Jena (pronounced JEEN-uh), a poor mining community of 3,000 people, has been embroiled in racial tensions pitting the black community against white school officials and a white prosecutor. It began last August when a black student asked at an assembly if black students could sit under a tree where white students usually sat. The next day, two nooses hung from the tree.
Black parents were outraged by the symbolism, recalling the mob lynchings of black men. They complained to school officials. District superintendent Roy Breithaupt and the school board gave three-day suspensions to the white students who hung the nooses, overruling the recommendation of then-principal Scott Windham that the students be expelled.
The case of the Jena Six has been covered extensively by fellow bloggers, such as Hello, Negro with information on how to donate to the defense fund; also My Right Mind! who offers a slew of tips to assist these young teens.
Nooses are more than just complex slip knots in a rope - they are both symbolic and directly representative of torture, murder and racist mob rule.
But before you go there, I want you to think about this:
Lynching is sometimes justified by its supporters as the administration of justice (in a social-moral sense, not in law) without the delays and inefficiencies inherent to the legal system; in this way it echoes the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, which was justified by the claim:
"Terror is nothing other than prompt, severe, inflexible justice."
What are some of the possible reasons why racism seems to be on the rise in the Good Ol' USA? Hey! It's not like anyone in our government would ever encourage this kind of terrorizing behavior with its own actions and ideologies...
The "traditional" conservative Claes G. Ryn has argued that neoconservatives are "a variety of neo-Jacobins." Ryn maintains that true conservatives deny the existence of a universal political and economic philosophy and model that is suitable for all societies and cultures, and believe that a society's institutions should be adjusted to suit its culture, while Neo-Jacobins
are attached in the end to ahistorical, supranational principles that they believe should supplant the traditions of particular societies. The new Jacobins see themselves as on the side of right and fighting evil and are not prone to respecting or looking for common ground with countries that do not share their democratic preferences. (Ryn 2003: 387)
Further examining the relationship between Neoconservatism and moral rhetoric, Ryn argues that
Neo-Jacobinism regards America as founded on universal principles and assigns to the United States the role of supervising the remaking of the world. Its adherents have the intense dogmatic commitment of true believers and are highly prone to moralistic rhetoric. They demand, among other things, "moral clarity" in dealing with regimes that stand in the way of America's universal purpose. They see themselves as champions of "virtue." (p. 384).
Thus, according to Ryn, neoconservatism is analogous to Bolshevism: in the same way that the Bolsheviks wanted to destroy established ways of life throughout the world to replace them with communism, the neoconservatives want to do the same, only imposing free-market capitalism and American-style liberal democracy instead of socialism.
Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, had the following to say in a December, 2005 interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel:
"They are not new conservatives. They're Jacobins. Their predecessor is French Revolution leader Maximilien Robespierre."
Sheeple see... Sheeple do... Or some terrorizing thought like that?
His statement makes Bill O'Reilly both racist and a homegrown terrorist, IMHO. The Jacobins used lynching to terrorize the people during the French revolution, and the neoconservatives/Jacobins do it today.
The prospect of even a symbolic press lynching party is a horrible and disgusting message for O'Reilly to send to Michelle Obama and it is meant to go to the entire African American community in the USA... But it is also part of the "Fear Campaign" meant for the consumption and terrorizing of all Americans and to spill over to the rest of the world.
Remnants of Republicans hearing about the latest from the McCain Silly Walk Express, of course! Via ctblogger, Keith Olbermann speculates on McCain/Lieberman for 2008...
They aren't really fighting to win an election in 2008... They are fighting amongst themselves trying to decide how AND if they can keep their base together with this pitiful crop of GOP candidates.
A Kansas City grand jury has charged a defunct charity in Columbia with sending money to an Afghan terrorist with ties to al Qaida and the Taliban.
snip
George Bush, SR and Siljander
The new charges also accuse Mark Deli Siljander, who represented Michigan in Congress from 1981-1987, of receiving $50,000 from the charity in 2004. Siljander, who operates a Washington D.C. public relations firm, was hired to lobby Congress to remove the charity from a U.S. Senate Finance Committee list of non-profit organizations suspected of being involved in supporting international terrorism.
Also charged in today's superseding indictment is Mark Deli Siljander, 57, a former U.S. Congressman from Michigan (1981-87) who serves as the owner/director of Global Strategies, Inc., a planning, marketing and public relations company located in the Washington, D.C. area.
Bob Dole and Silander
Other defendants named in the indictment are Ali Mohamed Bagegni, 53, formerly of Columbia, Mo, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Libya and a former member of IARA's board of directors; Ahmad Mustafa, 55, of Columbia, a citizen of Iraq, and a former fund-raiser for IARA; Khalid Al-Sudanee, 56, a citizen and resident of Jordan, and the regional director of the Middle East office of the Islamic African Relief Agency (also known as the Islamic Relief Agency, or ISRA); and Abdel Azim El-Siddig, 51, of Palos Heights, Ill., a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Sudan, and formerly vice president for international operations for IARA.
On March 6, 2007, IARA, along with five officers, employees and associates were charged in a 33-count indictment for illegally transferring funds to Iraq in violation of federal sanctions. They were also charged with stealing government funds, with misusing IARA's charitable status to raise funds for an unlawful purpose, and with attempting to avoid government detection of their illegal activities by, among other things, falsely denying in a nationally-televised interview that a procurement agent of Osama bin Laden had been an employee of IARA. These charges are included in the superseding indictment returned today.
snip
Today's superseding indictment adds to the original charges by alleging that IARA and its former executive director, Mubarak Hamed, engaged in prohibited financial transactions for the benefit of Specially Designated Global Terrorist, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan mujahideen leader and founder of the Hezb-e-Islami-Gulbuddin (HIG), who has participated in and supported terrorist acts by al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Hekmatyar has vowed to engage in a holy war against the United States and international troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. government designated Hekmatyar as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on Feb. 19, 2003, thereby blocking all property and interests in property of Hekmatyar.
Yeah... You read that right!A republican tied into a group that funded Osama Bin Laden.And they paid their Republican buddy with the US GOVERNMENTS OWN MONEY!Money that was supposed to be used for "relief and aid" in Africa by the group, and this republican turd knew this when he took the $50,000.00 from them!!!
The former Republican congressman from Michigan, Mark Deli Siljander, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.
When Ronald Reagan became President he tapped Congressmen David Stockman to be his budget director, creating an opening in Stockman's SW Michigan district. Siljander was one of the first Congressional creations of the radical religious right.
"I'm part of the silent majority that was heard Nov. 4 [when President Reagan was elected]," says Siljander. "My support comes from morally concerned citizens who are sick of the situation in this country." Siljander pledges to battle the Equal Rights Amendment, pornography, abortion, school busing and "big spending." He will champion the neutron bomb, the MX missile and prayer in public schools.
Once in Congress, he became one of the most radical wingers, someone who in today's Republican caucus would fit in. For instance, in1984 he unsuccessfully tried to amend a civil rights bill "to define the term ''person'' under the bill to include ''unborn children from the moment of conception.'" But back then, in the early days of the radical religious right's takeover of the GOP, he attracted a lot of attention, too much for some, so in 1986 plutocrat Fred Upton defeated him in a Republican primary, helped by the crazy news that Siljander had issued a tape recording to fundies asking them to "break the back of Satan" by fasting and praying for his victory.
Their prayers weren't answered. He lost, but Reagan cushioned his landing by appointing him a position at the United Nations.
Ronald Reagan and Siljander
dKos has more on Siljander's fundy ties. And the WaPO reports in their story, Ex-Congressman Indicted In Terrorism Funding Case, that 'His attorney, James R. Hobbs of Kansas City, Mo., said in a statement yesterday that his client "denies the allegations in the indictment and will enter a not-guilty plea."' WaPo also covers more of his Christian Fundy traits. Typical wacko Republican...
Brian David Anderson was arrested in Spain in March, but you don't hear a thing as his ties to the card carrying Republican Al Qaeda terrorist Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari are going unreported in the American MSM. Hundreds of people defrauded, MILLIONS in fraud, terrorism ties, BUT nothing from the MSM.
A Canadian under investigation in British Columbia and Ontario for allegedly scamming millions from investors was arrested in Spain yesterday for his suspected role in financing terrorist training camps.
Spanish police said they had arrested businessman Brian David Anderson at a Madrid hotel for his alleged involvement in financing terrorist camps in Afghanistan.
The arrest followed a joint investigation led by the FBI, which arrested Mr. Anderson's business partner, Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari of New York, on terror financing charges last month.
Terrorism charges brought Friday against the administrator of a loan investment program claimed that he secretly tried to send $152,000 to the Middle East to buy equipment such as night vision goggles for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.
Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, 53, of Ardsley, N.Y., pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to an indictment accusing him of terrorism financing, material support of terrorism and other charges. The charges carried a potential penalty of 95 years in prison.
But would you really believe me if I told you he was a Republican?
CBS News has confirmed that Alishtari is a donor to the Republican Party, as he claims on his curriculum vitae. Alishtari gave $15,500 to the National Republican Campaign Committee between 2002 and 2004, according to Federal Election Commission records. That amount includes $13,000 in 2003, a year when he claims to have been named NRCC New York State Businessman of the Year.
Alishtari also claims to be a lifetime member of the National Republican Senate Committee's Inner Circle, which the NRCC describes as "an impressive cross-section of American society – community leaders, business executives, entrepreneurs, retirees, and sports and entertainment celebrities – all of whom hold a deep interest in our nation's prosperity and security."
The Republican party needs to be placed on "The List" of terrorist related organizations and watched very carefully.
It is pretty apparent that the FBI and Homeland Security are wasting their time watching us liberal/peacenik/Quaker/progressive/etc. types. Just ask Ken Krayeske...
"A Westchester businessman and purported peace activist was nabbed by the feds for allegedly plotting to funnel more than $150,000 to terrorists at training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan."
Peace activist my ass! This guy is so up to his eyeballs in the GOP and full of it. As it turned out Alishtari actually donated more than the originally reported $15,500 to the Republican party coffers... About $35,000.00 in total.
Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, indicted two weeks ago for financing terrorists in Afghanistan among other charges, gave more than $35,000 to Republican campaign committees, not $15,000 as was reported earlier.
A $20,000 contribution from Alishtari to the National Republican Senatorial Committee on August 29th, 2003, was not previously reported because his name was misspelled ("Allshtari") on the NRSC's disclosure form to the Federal Election Commission (unfortunately, such misspellings are fairly frequent). Alishtari's online CV stated that he was named an "Inner Circle Member for Life" of the NRSC.
As for Anderson's accused involvement in terrorism funding with the Republican terrorist, they haven't released much on that yet, but it appears like Alishtari may have been planning on using his ponzi scheme investments for more terrorist funding, "IF" I am reading this correctly:
The connection between Mr. Anderson's alleged investment scheme and terrorist financing surfaced at a hearing held on Feb. 26, when the commission introduced as evidence the U.S. allegations. The Ontario Securities Commission has also accused Mr. Anderson of violating provincial securities law.
snip
At least $25,000 was transferred from a New York bank account to an account in Montreal "with the intent that the funds be used to provide material support to terrorists," the U.S. prosecutors said, adding the money was to be used for, among other things, the purchase of night-vision goggles.
The indictment says Mr. Alishtari transferred the money "in exchange for payment," suggesting his alleged involvement in the scheme may have been motivated by profit rather than support for the terrorist cause.
The indictment also accuses Mr. Alishtari of committing a "massive fraud" by operating a loan program called the Flat Electronic Data Interchange, which was part of Mr. Anderson's Alpha Program.
Anderson supposedly used a pressure sales pitch and had reportedly tried to bilk people out of their money, sometimes as much as $125,000.00 from marks, in the "Alpha Program" in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, London and Portland, as well as in Canada.
I am wondering why we have heard so little of this card carrying Republican terrorist and his partner in crime in the American MSM considering the amounts of money and terorism charges involved?
Well, except for Keith Olberman on Countdown, (h/t ctblogger) who gave Alishtari the Bronze when his terrorist links first broke in February:
As was pointed out by standingup at EpluribusMedia: Anderson is a Baptist minister and it is notable that they targeted many Baptist parishoners to be fleeced in their ponzi scheme. But sadly, this doesn't follow the MSMs' carefully scripted storyline that the "The Democrats support Terrorists" and the crickets chirp all throughout the media.
Any more news on Paris Hilton? 'Cause the world really needs more of that. sigh
Republican terrorists are everywhere...<<< I ain't kidding about that! And just what does Karl Rove have the gaul to say in his most recent propaganda piece?
Last night’s broadcast of Countdown on the mothership, NBC, was a major coup for Keith Olbermann and his MSNBC program.
For all the clamoring for attention that goes on amongst the cable news kiddies, they are all fighting for slices of a relatively small pie. The ratings leader, Bill O’Reilly, averages about 2 million viewers a day. The lowest rated network news program (CBS) pulls in over 6 million. So graduating to the network opens millions of doors to a cablecaster.
Olbermann, not surprisingly, benefited from this. The early results show him with 4.1 million viewers. That only earned him a third place finish, behind “60 Minutes” and “America’s Funniest Videos,” but it was good enough to quadruple his average MSNBC audience. What’s more, (and this has to hurt) it is twice what Bill O’Reilly does on an average night.
Lies about Countdown are most assuredly forthcoming from Rupert Murdoch's Republican stooge, O'Liely, any minute now... You can read more at News Corpse about why there is still room for growth in those numbers for KO and Countdown.
This is a good showing for a brand new entry in the time slot. I suspect that the football game shown afterwards may have helped his numbers a little with people tuning in expecting a pre-game show, or just not wanting to miss kick off. I wonder how his numbers compared to the game's numbers?
The key here is to see if he can replicate (or increase) those numbers when he gets slots like that again. Another good measure of how well he did might be if there is a spike, even a little one, on his regular 8 pm (EST) and midnight slots. That might be some of those NBC viewers going out of their way to find his show on MSNBC. I hope that does happen... One of his Special Comments on a prime time network would probably shake a few viewers out of their seats.
This week News Corpse comes back with numbers showing that the NBC broadcast was a resounding success and it showed in Countdown's recent ratings numbers on MSNBC:
On August 26, 2007, Keith Olbermann's Countdown was broadcast on NBC. Despite a scattered schedule wherein the program was delayed or preempted in many markets, it performed respectably, delivering 4.1 million viewers. But what I was waiting for, was to see if there would be any afterglow that reflected on his MSNBC airing. There was:
For the week ending August 31, Countdown averaged 278,000 viewers in the key 25-54 demo. That's a 17% increase over the program average for the 2nd quarter of 2007. It is fair to conclude that this spike was due almost entirely to the promotional value of the NBC broadcast. None of the other programs on MSNBC's schedule enjoyed a comparable bounce. Olbermann's numbers exceeded his 2nd quarter average (230K) as well as his prior week average (242K).
If you haven't seen Countdown before, here is a clip of Keith Olbermann's most recent Special Comment. These Special Comment editorials have become a fan favorite and hallmark of the show:
"Just over 500 days remain in this Presidency.
Consider the dead who have piled up on the battlefield.... in these last 500 days.
Consider the singular fraudulence of this President's trip to Iraq yesterday, and the singular fraudulence of the selling of The Petraeus Report... in these last 500 days.
Consider how this President has torn away at the fabric of this nation in a manner of which terrorists can only dream... in these last 500 days.
And consider again how this President has spoken to that biographer: that he is "playing for October-November"… the goal in Iraq is "To get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence"… and consider how this revelation contradicts every other rationale he has offered... in these last 500 days.
In the context of all that… now, consider… these next 500 days.
Mr. Bush, our presence in Iraq must end.
Even if it means your resignation.
Even if it means your impeachment.
Even if it means a different Republican to serve out your term.
Even if it means a Democratic Congress -- and those true Patriots among the Republicans -- standing up and denying you another **penny** for Iraq, other than for the safety and the safe conduct home of our troops.
This country cannot run the risk of what you can still do to this country... in the next 500 days…
Last night’s broadcast of Countdown on the mothership, NBC, was a major coup for Keith Olbermann and his MSNBC program.
For all the clamoring for attention that goes on amongst the cable news kiddies, they are all fighting for slices of a relatively small pie. The ratings leader, Bill O’Reilly, averages about 2 million viewers a day. The lowest rated network news program (CBS) pulls in over 6 million. So graduating to the network opens millions of doors to a cablecaster.
Olbermann, not surprisingly, benefited from this. The early results show him with 4.1 million viewers. That only earned him a third place finish, behind “60 Minutes” and “America’s Funniest Videos,” but it was good enough to quadruple his average MSNBC audience. What’s more, (and this has to hurt) it is twice what Bill O’Reilly does on an average night.
Lies about Countdown are most assuredly forthcoming from Rupert Murdoch's Republican stooge, O'Liely, any minute now... You can read more at News Corpse about why there is still room for growth in those numbers for KO and Countdown.
This is a good showing for a brand new entry in the time slot. I suspect that the football game shown afterwards may have helped his numbers a little with people tuning in expecting a pre-game show, or just not wanting to miss kick off. I wonder how his numbers compared to the game's numbers?
The key here is to see if he can replicate (or increase) those numbers when he gets slots like that again. Another good measure of how well he did might be if there is a spike, even a little one, on his regular 8 pm (EST) and midnight slots. That might be some of those NBC viewers going out of their way to find his show on MSNBC. I hope that does happen... One of his Special Comments on a prime time network would probably shake a few viewers out of their seats.
"We didn't announce it...and it's not that big a deal, but we're going to do a real-time live blog for tonight's show. For all you folks on the West Coast, tune into Countdown AFTER the game for the big show."
Go on over and give'em all some well wishes and kudos for their efforts and successes. And since many of you are probably interested in knowing... Here are the "Worst person in the world!" winners for the NBC broadcast:
Keith Olbermann looks at more republicans cutting and running from the insane bush administration's incompetent policies on Iraq and discusses General Odom's recent essay on impeachment:
General Odom was the Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) under Reagan (think "Minority Report," and you have the NSA). They're the super-duper secret spy agency that's way more top secret than even the CIA. This guy's credentials are beyond stellar. Here is an excerpt of his recent essay:
If the Democrats truly want to succeed in forcing to begin withdrawing from Iraq, the first step is to redefine "supporting the troops" as withdrawing them, citing the mass of accumulating evidence of the psychological as well as the physical damage that the president is forcing them to endure because he did not raise adequate forces. Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress could confirm this evidence and lay the blame for "not supporting the troops" where it really belongs – on the president. And they could rightly claim to the public that they are supporting the troops by cutting off the funds that he uses to keep U.S. forces in Iraq.
The public is ahead of the both branches of government in grasping this reality, but political leaders and opinion makers in the media must give them greater voice....
The president is strongly motivated to string out the war until he leaves office, in order to avoid taking responsibility for the defeat he has caused and persisted in making greater each year for more than three years.
To force him to begin a withdrawal before then, the first step should be to rally the public by providing an honest and candid definition of what "supporting the troops" really means and pointing out who is and who is not supporting our troops at war. The next step should be a flat refusal to appropriate money for to be used in Iraq for anything but withdrawal operations with a clear deadline for completion.
The final step should be to put that president on notice that if ignores this legislative action and tries to extort Congress into providing funds by keeping U.S. forces in peril, impeachment proceeding will proceed in the House of Representatives. Such presidential behavior surely would constitute the "high crime" of squandering the lives of soldiers and Marines for his own personal interest.
Impeachment is the strongest tool in the political toolbox that Congress has left to use against the criminal bush administration and, realistically, it is the only one left to use. It is time for Congress use all means necessary to protect the soldiers from the neocon chicken-chumps and their failed endless war strategies.
A preview of Keith Olbermann's Special Comment via The Newshole:
Our generation's willingness to state "we didn't vote for him, but he's our president, and we hope he does a good job," was tested in the crucible of history, and earlier than most.
And in circumstances more tragic and threatening.
And we did.... that with which history tasked us.
We enveloped our President in 2001.
And those who did not believe he should have been elected -- indeed those who did not believe he had been elected -- willingly lowered their voices and assented to the sacred oath of non-partisanship.
And George W. Bush took our assent, and re-configured it, and honed it, and shaped it to a razor-sharp point...and stabbed this nation in the back with it.
Were there any remaining lingering doubt otherwise, or any remaining lingering hope, it ended yesterday when Mr. Bush commuted the prison sentence of one of his own staffers.
Did so even before the appeals process was complete…
Did so without as much as a courtesy consultation with the Department of Justice…
Did so despite what James Madison -- at the Constitutional Convention -- said about impeaching any president who pardoned or sheltered those who had committed crimes "advised by" that president…
Did so without the slightest concern that even the most detached of citizens must look at the chain of events and wonder:
To what degree was Mr. Libby told: break the law however you wish -- the President will keep you out of prison?
In that moment, Mr. Bush, you broke that fundamental com-pact between yourself and the majority of this nation's citizens -- the ones who did not cast votes for you.
In that moment, Mr. Bush, you ceased to be the President of the United States.
In that moment, Mr. Bush, you became merely the President… of a rabid and irresponsible corner of the Republican Party.
And this is too important a time, Sir, to have a commander-in-chief who puts party over nation.
Brian David Anderson was arrested in Spain in March, but you don't hear a thing as his ties to the card carrying Republican Al Qaeda terrorist Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari are going unreported in the American MSM. Hundreds of people defrauded, MILLIONS in fraud, terrorism ties, BUT nothing from the MSM.
A Canadian under investigation in British Columbia and Ontario for allegedly scamming millions from investors was arrested in Spain yesterday for his suspected role in financing terrorist training camps.
Spanish police said they had arrested businessman Brian David Anderson at a Madrid hotel for his alleged involvement in financing terrorist camps in Afghanistan.
The arrest followed a joint investigation led by the FBI, which arrested Mr. Anderson's business partner, Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari of New York, on terror financing charges last month.
Terrorism charges brought Friday against the administrator of a loan investment program claimed that he secretly tried to send $152,000 to the Middle East to buy equipment such as night vision goggles for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.
Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, 53, of Ardsley, N.Y., pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to an indictment accusing him of terrorism financing, material support of terrorism and other charges. The charges carried a potential penalty of 95 years in prison.
But would you really believe me if I told you he was a Republican?
CBS News has confirmed that Alishtari is a donor to the Republican Party, as he claims on his curriculum vitae. Alishtari gave $15,500 to the National Republican Campaign Committee between 2002 and 2004, according to Federal Election Commission records. That amount includes $13,000 in 2003, a year when he claims to have been named NRCC New York State Businessman of the Year.
Alishtari also claims to be a lifetime member of the National Republican Senate Committee's Inner Circle, which the NRCC describes as "an impressive cross-section of American society – community leaders, business executives, entrepreneurs, retirees, and sports and entertainment celebrities – all of whom hold a deep interest in our nation's prosperity and security."
The Republican party needs to be placed on "The List" of terrorist related organizations and watched very carefully.
It is pretty apparent that the FBI and Homeland Security are wasting their time watching us liberal/peacenik/Quaker/progressive/etc. types. Just ask Ken Krayeske...
"A Westchester businessman and purported peace activist was nabbed by the feds for allegedly plotting to funnel more than $150,000 to terrorists at training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan."
Peace activist my ass! This guy is so up to his eyeballs in the GOP and full of it. As it turned out Alishtari actually donated more than the originally reported $15,500 to the Republican party coffers... About $35,000.00 in total.
Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, indicted two weeks ago for financing terrorists in Afghanistan among other charges, gave more than $35,000 to Republican campaign committees, not $15,000 as was reported earlier.
A $20,000 contribution from Alishtari to the National Republican Senatorial Committee on August 29th, 2003, was not previously reported because his name was misspelled ("Allshtari") on the NRSC's disclosure form to the Federal Election Commission (unfortunately, such misspellings are fairly frequent). Alishtari's online CV stated that he was named an "Inner Circle Member for Life" of the NRSC.
As for Anderson's accused involvement in terrorism funding with the Republican terrorist, they haven't released much on that yet, but it appears like Alishtari may have been planning on using his ponzi scheme investments for more terrorist funding, "IF" I am reading this correctly:
The connection between Mr. Anderson's alleged investment scheme and terrorist financing surfaced at a hearing held on Feb. 26, when the commission introduced as evidence the U.S. allegations. The Ontario Securities Commission has also accused Mr. Anderson of violating provincial securities law.
snip
At least $25,000 was transferred from a New York bank account to an account in Montreal "with the intent that the funds be used to provide material support to terrorists," the U.S. prosecutors said, adding the money was to be used for, among other things, the purchase of night-vision goggles.
The indictment says Mr. Alishtari transferred the money "in exchange for payment," suggesting his alleged involvement in the scheme may have been motivated by profit rather than support for the terrorist cause.
The indictment also accuses Mr. Alishtari of committing a "massive fraud" by operating a loan program called the Flat Electronic Data Interchange, which was part of Mr. Anderson's Alpha Program.
Anderson supposedly used a pressure sales pitch and had reportedly tried to bilk people out of their money, sometimes as much as $125,000.00 from marks, in the "Alpha Program" in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, London and Portland, as well as in Canada.
I am wondering why we have heard so little of this card carrying Republican terrorist and his partner in crime in the American MSM considering the amounts of money and terorism charges involved?
Well, except for Keith Olberman on Countdown, (h/t ctblogger) who gave Alishtari the Bronze when his terrorist links first broke in February:
As was pointed out by standingup at EpluribusMedia: Anderson is a Baptist minister and it is notable that they targeted many Baptist parishoners to be fleeced in their ponzi scheme. But sadly, this doesn't follow the MSMs' carefully scripted storyline that the "The Democrats support Terrorists" and the crickets chirp all throughout the media.
Any more news on Paris Hilton? 'Cause the world really needs more of that. sigh
Keith Olbermann will add a fifth voice to the studio on NBC's Sunday-night football highlights show in the fall, the network said Monday.
Bob Costas anchors the show, with Cris Collingsworth and now Olbermann as co-hosts. With Jerome Bettis and Tiki Barber as analysts, the former NFL players will outnumber Costas and Olbermann by 3-to-2.
Olbermann, who first became known as a host on ESPN's "Sportscenter," has shuffled between news and sports during his career. His "Countdown" show on MSNBC has been hot lately, with Olbermann drawing attention for commentaries taking on the Bush administration.
He talks sports regularly each weekday afternoon on former ESPN partner Dan Patrick's radio show.
I hope he does well with this move back into TV sports. Definately a notch above, and a little more politically centered, than the previous political pundit that rushed off of the telecast in an Imus moment.
The sad part about this is, in light of OxyRush's bigoted statements and his subsequent debachle, look for the far right wingnuts to scrutinize Keith's words syllable by syllable in an effort to discredit him and get him tossed from the show as retribution for the failure of one of their favorite bigots.
I am almost ashamed to say that I missed KO last night, I watch him almost every night, since Countdown had a little something in it I would have gotten a kick out of according to ctblogger:
Here's where it all started. My favorite town drunk from New Milford picked up on an interesting story on a big-time Republican donor who was slapped with terrorism charges...well, I'll let him tell the story.
Terrorism charges brought Friday against the administrator of a loan investment program claimed that he secretly tried to send $152,000 to the Middle East to buy equipment such as night vision goggles for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.
Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, 53, of Ardsley, N.Y., pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to an indictment accusing him of terrorism financing, material support of terrorism and other charges. The charges carried a potential penalty of 95 years in prison.
But would you really believe me if I told you he was a Republican?
CBS News has confirmed that Alishtari is a donor to the Republican Party, as he claims on his curriculum vitae. Alishtari gave $15,500 to the National Republican Campaign Committee between 2002 and 2004, according to Federal Election Commission records. That amount includes $13,000 in 2003, a year when he claims to have been named NRCC New York State Businessman of the Year.
Alishtari also claims to be a lifetime member of the National Republican Senate Committee's Inner Circle, which the NRCC describes as "an impressive cross-section of American society – community leaders, business executives, entrepreneurs, retirees, and sports and entertainment celebrities – all of whom hold a deep interest in our nation's prosperity and security."
The Republican party needs to be placed on "The List" of terrorist related organizations and watched very carefully.
It is pretty apparent that the FBI and Homeland Security are wasting their time watching us liberal/peacenik/Quaker/progressive/etc. types. Just ask Ken Krayeske...
The blogger does a follow-up on how the conservative media covered the story.
Late Update: Funny. TPM Reader B points out that the New York Post chose a rather different way of reporting this story. Their lede: "A Westchester businessman and purported peace activist was nabbed by the feds for allegedly plotting to funnel more than $150,000 to terrorists at training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan."
No mention of Republican ties. Let me know when they follow up ...
Don't' hold your breath, it's the New York Post.
Over the last 48 hours, that particular blog posting from received a great deal of attention from such national blogs as Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, and Raw Story, which in turn gave this New York Story a great deal of national attention. Last night, Keith Olbermann grabbed the ball and gives this blog posting new legs. Take a look.
Make no mistake about it, the blogs pushed this story hard and it all started from a blogger from New Milford. As we approach the 2007 and 2008 elecitons, you'll see more blog postings from progressive blogs popping into the mainstream media. If the 2006 elections told bloggers anything, it's that if blogs generate loud enough of a buzz, the mainstream media will take notice.
Once again, People Powered Media strikes again...I'm buying that drunk a shot!
I highly doubt KO read it here, or even knows my Blog exists for that matter, but I am glad this story got some national attention before the cobbwebs and dust could settle on it in the bush-spin-world media.
And ctblogger is 100% dead on that all together we can make enough noise on some things and make them pay attention to what is going on. The thing is, in order to get them to notice, we have to be paying enough attention to catch these little things, and we really have to shout it out everywhere.
The NRCC did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment Tuesday about whether it would return the donations.
snip
Alishtari was detained pending a court appearance this week. Prosecutors said he was a danger to the community and a flight risk.
Well, no kidding... If the last decade has proven one thing: All Republicans are dangers to their communities. Unfortunately for us, they are our communities too.
Josh Marshall has a press release:
Here at the right you see the man himself. And if you click this link you'll see the 'press release' the Republican National Committee sent out when Mr. Alishtari was appointed to the NRCC's 'Business Advisory Council'.
Alishtari had the document posted on his company's website GlobalProtector.Net.
His site also apparently had copies of signed photos from President Bush as well as a note from President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush thanking Alishtari for contributing to the Republican party.
And over at at TPM Muckraker they have the NRCC's latest statement on donations they put out:
the National Republican Congressional Committee has released a statement to CNN about the $15,000 in contributions it got from Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, the man indicted last week for financing terrorists in Afghanistan:
"We are extremely concerned and disturbed by these charges but we need to be careful not to rush to judgment as the judicial process moves forward. If the individual in question is actually found guilty of a crime, it is our intent to donate the money to charity."
Just because you're the subject of a federal indictment, in other words, doesn't mean your money's not good enough for the NRCC. That's no surprise from the group that has refused to return the money contributed by ex-Reps. Mark Foley (R-FL) and Bob Ney (R-OH).
[update]A little time with Google found a few references to him being a Shaikh/Sheik/Sheikh:
Toronto Kicks Off; "Moon" Deal; Palm Springs Picks Shorts & More Shaikh Abdul Taw'ala Ibn Ali Alishtari of GlobalProtector.net founded the festival. CROWDS HIT CANADA: The Toronto International Film Festival officially ...
