John Burns: I think there’s been a civil war in Iraq for some time…

After reading today’s story of 87 bodies found in Iraq, I decided to post the video of John Burns on Real Time.“The question is just the scale of it.” So said  John F. Burns, Bureau Chief of The New York Times on Bill Maher’s live Friday night HBO program.

                                                     Video-WMP  Video-QT

E&P:  “…he now feels that the failure of the American effort in Iraq “now seems likely.” The chances that it will reach “a satisfactory conclusion” appears “improbable.”

 “Asked if a civil war was developing there, Burns said, “It has been for some time,” adding that it’s just a matter of “scale.” He said the current U.S. leaders there-military and diplomatic-were doing their best but sectarian differences may doom the enterprise…Burns observed that he had been on the ground for 24 hours and, of all the people he had interacted with so far, “no one supports this war.” read on“

Taylor Marsh has more of the transcript

………………………………………………………….GASSED HIS OWN PEOPLE Russ Feingold on The Daily Show

Jon Stewart had on Russ Feingold tonight and let’s just say that he rocked. He rocked because he spoke truth to power. He made his case simply and to the point.

                                                 Video-WMP Video-QT

Feingold: I was taught that the congress makes the laws and the president is supposed to sign them and enforce them. He’s not supposed to make them up.—How many times are we going to let George Bush and Dick Cheney say you guys don’t support the troops, you’re not patriotic and let them push us around?

He stood up with conviction and said we’re not going to take it any longer. He gave a clear and precise answer to James ” less tainted” Boehner, (who had his hands dirty with tobacco money) and said the President needs to be responsible for his actions and has to follow the law. Something that this administration fails to recognize and something many of the “consultant-led” Dems need to learn from.

FDL:

     “Feingold did an end-run around the party bosses. The audience at the Daily Show was effusive; you could hear the the ardor he inspired.  Feingold was funny without being glib and he came across as self-effacing, principled, and just awkward enough with the format to be thoroughly charming.  And his message set the crowd to cheering….read on

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Olbermann slams Ingraham Olbermann slams Ingraham   The segment started out focusing on Bush and his “attacking the messenger” strategy, but it shifted to Laura Ingraham after she went on “The Today Show” and O’Reilly, blasting the media.                                                Video-WMP Video-QT (Transcipt by Lynne) Keith said: “A note about Laura Ingram’s comments. I’ve known her a long time.  I’ll in fact give you the caveat that I’ve know her socially. But that hotel balcony crack was unforgivable. In was unforgivable to the memory of David Blum, it was unforgivable in considerable of Bob Woodruff and Doug Vought, unforgivable in light of what happened to Michael Kelly and what happened to Michael Weiskopft. It was unforgivable with Jill Carroll still a hostage in Iraq.  And it was not only unforgivable of her; it was desperate and it was stupid.” Laura seems to have forgotten that some eighty journalists have been killed in Iraq. ……………………………………………………………………………………. Richard Engel: “The situation on the ground is worse than the images we project on television” NBC covered the many complaints from the right wing noise machine (Laura Ingaham) in their efforts to blame the media for the failures of the Bush administration in Iraq. Richard Engel files a report on what it’s like to be a reporter in Iraq on The “TODAY SHOW,” this morning.                                                           Video-WMP Video-QT Gregory: Do we miss the overall story about what’s going on in Iraq, or does security remain the overall story? Engel: I think the security problem is the overall story and most Iraqi’s I speak to say-actually most reporters get it wrong-it’s the situation on the ground is actually worse than the images we project on television. We’ll see more and more reports coming out by the media explaining how they are covering the war and I think the Bush administration overplayed their hand in trying to blame their problems on the media.

Russ Feingold on Charlie Rose Russ Feingold on Charlie Rose  Russ talks to Charlie Rose about his censure motion.                                                     (Click here for the video) Feingold: “The President got out and said basically, “tough luck,” I’m going to do what ever I want to do here, whether it’s within the law or not. That to me demands a response and I decided that we had to look at the possibility of letting the President know on the record, that what he has done here is illegal and wrong. And that’s why I proposed censure.” Way to go Russ. That’s holding Bush’s feet to the fire and exposing the Republicans for supplying that good old fashioned-rubber stamp of approval that he’s been used to since 2000. They might hoot and holler occasionally, but when push comes to shove they side with Bush every time when it matters most. Even PNAC’s Bill Kristol agrees. Who would have thunk it? Update: Digby has more of the transcript: “How can we be afraid at this point, of standing up to a president who has clearly mismanaged this Iraq war, who clearly made one of the largest blunders in American foreign policy history? How can it be that this party wants to stand back and allow this kind of thing to happen?  And then add to that the idea that the president has clearly broken the law — and a number of Republican senators have effectively admitted that, by saying “you know, we need this program so let’s make it legal,”- so they are admitting it’s illegal.The idea that Democrats don’t think it’s a winning thing to say that we will stand up for the rule of law and for checking abuse of power by the executive — I just can’t believe that Democrats don’t think that isn’t something, not only that we can win on, but it does, in fact, make the base of our party, which is so important, feel much better about the Democrats…read

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Bush makes false claim about Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda

Olbermann: “Who does the President think he’s F’n kidding?”

I know it’s hard to believe Mr. President, but they have these things know that actually record what you say and are able to play back what they record. Even after a long period of time. Keith Olbermann and Countdown supply the evidence.

                                                Video-WMP Video-QT 

Today in his speech in Cleveland:

Bush: “First-just if I might correct a misperception, I don’t think we ever said, at least I know I didn’t say that there was a direct connection between September 11th and Saddam Hussein.”

In days gone by-SOTU-three years ago:

Bush: “Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al-Qaeda.”

Now-anyone listening and watching his speech back then would make that connection easily enough since al-Qaeda was responsible for 9/11-don’t you think? Keith analyzes it very nicely.

Olbermann: “Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda in the same sentence separated by seven words. Sept. 11th and Saddam Hussein -two sentences later, separated by six words. In a moment Craig Crawford joins me to discuss the fundamental remaining question. Who does the President think he’s F’n kidding?

This is sure to freak out the wingnuts.

©GASSEDHISOWNPEOPLE

Lapdogs, where once was greatness:::sheesh

 

http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/washpostblog/2006/01/new_blog_maryla.html

 

How to become a runner

READ MORE: Exercise, Fitness, How To, Running

Marathoner Brandon Seils puts together a great guide to becoming an avid runner.

I’ve always thought runners the ultimate masochists, because any time I try to get into running I wind up face down on the carpet clutching my legs wondering why anyone would ever subject themselves to that much pain voluntarily. But Brandon says to become a runner, you have to break through a wall:

For most runners, there’s a wall at the three mile mark. This goes for the most beginner runners up to and probably including the long-time marathoners. The first three miles of any run are the most difficult and painful to get through. After this point, however, it’s easy to “just keep going.” Back when I was training for the Boston Marathon, and would go out for 2+ hours on a 20 mile run, the hardest miles were the first three. It’s also these first three miles that make it difficult for running to become habit. You really have to struggle past this, in order to develop a tolerance for the sport.

The health benefits of the sport and tall tales of endorphin-induced “Runner’s High” keep me trying to get past that three mile mark using Coolrunning’s Couch to 5K program. Any new or seasoned runners out there have more advice for newbie runners? Do share.

Learning how to run [Diatribe]

 

I got myself up to 5 miles not long ago but I started experiencing knee pain so I took some time off. I’m only now starting to pick it up again. very gingerly, with 2-mile runs. So far so good. The Couch to 5-K article was really neat, but by the time I’d found it I was already at 5k, so for me it was more descriptive of what I’d done already than prescriptive of what I should do in the future. I think I’m going to take Brandon’s advice and get an expert shoe fitting.

by Scott D. Feldstein on 03/20/06 11:57 AM

Running’s great but its a much higher-impact sport than, say, swimming or cycling. Because of this, I find the following steps to be of high importance:

A) Invest in an expert shoe fitting (as mentioned) – most runner’s shops will do this for free as they help you pick out your shoe. Don’t go in with a price in mind – go in with getting the right shoe in mind. You may pay $30-40 more than you planned on, but your knees are worth it.

B) Stretch. A lot. I prefer to do a warm-up jog of a few hundred yards, then stop for a full 5 minute stretch. After my full run, I cool down with a slightly longer stretch session. Not only does this help maintain flexibility and prevent injuries, it significantly reduces muscle pain over the next few days.

C) Water. A lot. I can feel a much larger wall at 3-4 miles when I haven’t been hydrating.

D) Technique. Grab a book, join a club, maybe even get lessons. Little tricks can make all the difference in the world. Some of my favorites are breathing out on the left foot-fall, keeping the feet in a straight line, smaller arm-swings to conserve energy, etc…

by allkindsoftime on 03/20/06 12:46 PM

The “Stitch”, or that pain in your side, was the hardest obstacle to overcome. Men’s health says to exhale when your left foot hits the ground. It takes some practice, but helps me a lot.

by Jeff Welch on 03/20/06 01:37 PM

I notice a lot of talk about stretching. Saturday I ran 10 miles in the park with my wife and Sunday I ran my standard 22 mile “at pace” marathon training run (7:10/mile). Total amount of stretching – 0. I am 44 and have been running all my life, but I haven’t stretched since high school cross country. Most of my running partners stopped stretching years ago also. A quick google of stretching and running will show that the community is about evenly split, with some even saying that stretching does more harm then good. I wouldn’t go that far, but for me it is a waste of time, and I would steer clear of people who profess it to be a requirement for everyone.

by MarkMcC on 03/20/06 01:40 PM

Wednesday, March 22, 2006 GOP’s attack ad on Feingold GOP’s attack ad on Feingold If anyone thinks the Republicans aren’t afraid of Russ Feingold, just go over to GOP.com and listen in to their newest attack ad. They are using of course 9/11, and saying that Russ doesn’t want to pursue members of al-Qaeda or protect the country against terrorism. The desperation shows. postCount(‘7626’);comments  permalink8:46:45 PM

The Mysterious “Official One”

Woodward’s Plame-Leak Deep Throat

By JASON LEOPOLD

He is referred to as “official one” and he is the mysterious senior Bush administration official who unmasked the identity of an undercover CIA operative to Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Bob Woodward in mid-June 2003 and conservative columnist Robert Novak a month later.

The identity of this official is shrouded in secrecy. In fact, his name, government status, and the substance of his conversation with Woodward about the undercover officer are under a protective seal in US District Court for the District of Columbia.

But Woodward tape-recorded the interview he had with “official one.” Woodward gave a copy of the tape to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, according to a Feb. 24 federal court hearing, a transcript of which was obtained by this reporter.

Woodward emerged as central figure in the leak of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson in November. For the better part of two years, Woodward had publicly discounted the importance of the Plame Wilson leak and had referred to Fitzgerald as a “junkyard dog” prosecutor in interviews during the course of the investigation. He then revealed in November that he had been told about Plame Wilson’s CIA employment in June 2003–before any other journalist.

Woodward wrote a first-person account in the Washington Post in November about the individual who told him that Plame Wilson worked for the CIA. He identified his source as a “senior administration official.” He also said that the interview with the official who told him about Plame Wilson had been set up simply as “confidential background interviews for my 2004 book ‘Plan of Attack’ about the lead-up to the Iraq war, ongoing reporting for the Washington Post and research for a book on Bush’s second term to be published in 2006.”

White House officials who are sympathetic to I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff who is charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying to a grand jury and FBI investigators about his role in the Plame Wilson leak, say “official one” is former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

But numerous senior officials at the State Department, the CIA, and the National Security Council have said that “official one” is National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Hadley had been a source of information for Woodward when he wrote Plan of Attack, according to the book’s footnotes.

Hadley was also a member of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG), which was formed in August 2002 by Andrew Card, President Bush’s chief of staff, to publicize the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. WHIG operated out of Cheney’s office. The group has become wrapped up in Fitzgerald’s investigation. The special prosecutor last year subpoenaed the WHIG’s emails and other documents.

But news reports over the past week have given more weight to Armitage as Woodward’s source, based solely on the fact that former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee gave an interview to Vanity Fair suggesting that it’s fair to assume Armitage was Woodward’s source. Bradlee issued a statement a day after the article was published saying he was misquoted and never mentioned Armitage.

One thing is for sure, neither Hadley nor Armitage are commenting, not even to issue a denial. Last week, Armitage’s assistant at his lobbying firm, Armitage International, said last week that Armitage would comment on the “rumors” once Fitzgerald completed his investigation. Hadley’s spokesman would not confirm or deny anything related to the National Security Adviser’s involvement in the leak.

It does appear, however, that Libby’s defense team is actively trying to shift the blame for the leak onto other parts of the government, including the State Department, the CIA and the National Security Council. They have engaged in a game of semantics, saying that when Libby testified that he heard about Plame Wilson from reporters his testimony wasn’t limited to a specific reporter.

With Woodward’s tape-recorded interview now in the hands of the special counsel, the attorneys representing Libby have zeroed in on three words “official one” apparently uttered during his conversation with Woodward: “Everyone knows it.”

But one of the attorneys on Libby’s defense team wasn’t supposed to mention the existence of the tape-recorded interview in open court because it may cause the unknown government official to come under intense media scrutiny.

“Your Honor, there is one thing that I neglected to mention and again this is subject to filings that have been made under seal but there is, in fact, a transcript of a tape recording that involves official one,” Libby’s attorney William Jeffress said during the two and a half hour hearing.

“In the particular transcript there is, and the government filed something else yesterday, there is a factual dispute as to what is said or what is meant by a portion of the transcript wherein it appears the official saying, “everyone knows it,” referring to the wife’s employment at the CIA,” Jeffress added. “We have not heard that tape. If, in fact, as the transcript suggests that one official said, ‘Everyone knows it,’ who did he mean by ‘Everyone knows it?'”

Libby’s attorneys argued that those three words refer to reporters, meaning that it was common knowledge among journalists that Plame Wilson was employed by the CIA, even though her status was classified.

Fitzgerald disagreed with the interpretation.

“Your Honor, now that we have sort of burned what was sealed, my understanding of that conversation, there are people talking over each other, my understanding is that was a reference that everyone knows it, that Mr. Wilson is the unnamed ambassador,” Fitzgerald said. “Mr. Wilson didn’t reveal himself as the unnamed ambassador until July 6. This was prior to that time. We turned it over in an abundance of caution but I don’t believe that says it, and frankly there is a very limited number of reporters that we found out who had known it. I can’t represent we know every reporter because we took seriously the attorney general guidelines.”

“Official one” faces no criminal charges in the ongoing investigation into the leak of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson and is said to be cooperating with the special counsel’s two year-old probe.

But Libby’s defense attorneys suggested during the February 24 court hearing that “official one” is responsible for the leak.

Jeffress and Theodore Wells, another attorney on Libby’s defense team, have argued that Fitzgerald should provide the defense with all of the evidence his investigation has obtained regarding “official one” because it’s crucial in proving that Libby wasn’t lying when he testified that he heard about Plame Wilson’s CIA work from reporters.

“Your Honor, simply it is a fact that is key to this case to know what reporters out there knew or had heard about Wilson’s wife, what they were saying to each other, what they were saying to government officials,” Jeffress said. “And here is a key person, the first person that we know of, according to the evidence, actually discussed Mr. Wilson’s wife’s employment with a reporter and not only did it then but did it again with a separate reporter later. This is some person not in the White House.”

At the February 24 court hearing, Jeffress, Libby’s attorney, in arguing that the defense should be provided with additional evidence such as handwritten notes, transcripts, letters, emails and phone logs Fitzgerald collected during the investigation, said “official one” discussed Plame Wilson’s CIA status with at least two reporters, one of whom told Libby that “official one” told him that Plame Wilson was a CIA officer.

Sources close to the case have identified Woodward and Novak as the reporters “official one” spoke to about Plame Wilson.

Fitzgerald argued that Libby’s attorneys are routinely circumventing the facts surrounding the case against Libby, which is about perjury not who first unmasked Plame Wilson’s identity.

“Your Honor, the one thing that is clear is we should focus on what the allegations are,” Fitzgerald said. “The indictment alleges that on Monday Mr. Libby told [former White House press secretary Ari] Fleischer this information about Mr. Wilson’s wife and indicated that it wasn’t widely known, on a Monday.”

“On Wednesday he claims to have learned it as if it were new for the first time from [“Meet the Press’s” Tim] Russert in his conversation even though we’ve alleged six different conversations, more than six conversations in the month before he discussed it with everyone from the vice president to people at the CIA, to ranking officials at the State Department,” Fitzgerald added.

Jason Leopold is the author of the explosive NEWS JUNKIE, to be published in April on Process/Feral House books.

Eric Alterman |

 

Despite his lies and incompetence, Bush remains more popular with elite media than Clinton or any other political leader who sought to save us from the Iraq catastrophe. Why won’t they connect the dots?

 

Lies About Blowjobs, Bad. Wars? Not So Much.

“Bush’s War on the Press.” ::: ALTERMAN

 

the Washington Post’s Dan Eggen reported this past Sunday, the pushback against not only reporters, but also federal whistleblowers, has been swift and severe. Eggen’s found “dozens” of employees from the CIA, the NSA and other intelligence agencies who have been interviewed by FBI agents “investigating possible leaks that led to reports about secret CIA prisons and the NSA’s warrantless domestic surveillance program.” What’s more, many employees at the CIA, FBI and the Justice Department “have received letters from Justice prohibiting them from discussing even unclassified issues related to the NSA program.”

 

Do Vanity Fair reporters have some kind of truth serum for their interview subjects? It seems as though people are always admitting things like eating disorders or revealing their sources in huge government scandals, and then, suddenly, they never said any of these things.

First it was Lindsay Lohan‘s “I never said I had an eating disorder.” Now we have Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee claiming that “he doesn’t remember” telling the mag that former State Department official Richard L. Armitage is the likely source who named Valerie Plame to Post assistant managing editor Bob Woodward.

In an article to be published in the magazine today, Bradlee is quoted as saying: “That Armitage is the likely source is a fair assumption.” Armitage was deputy secretary of state in President Bush’s first term.

This month’s VF “officially” hits newsstands today, and the tell-all issue also features Teri Hatcher‘s confession that she was molested as a child. And a bunch of other stuff that nobody remembers ever saying.

http://www.jossip.com/gossip/vanity-fair/the-case-of-vanity-fairs-mystery-amnesia-20060314.php

:::Magazine: Bradlee Knows Woodward’s Source on Plame Jim VandeHei, Washington Post:::

It’s GALLING…. 

She referred to hotel-balcony reporters not giving us the good stories in the middle of this war zone where just three days ago, the windows in NBC’s offices were shattered once again. She went there last month for a week or so and reporter Richard Engel has been putting his life on the line the last three years, living with shattered windows and kidnappings of the press and daily IED blasts. Over 50 journalists have been killed in Iraq, Ms. Ingraham.

There’s just Crazy Sectarian bloodshed and mass murders going on and the right-wingers, still to this day, remain dazed by the Kool-aide and she chalks it all up to Bush-hating and liberals actually wanting America to fail over there. That’s all they have left. And none of us forget those of you who were behind this war when there were sane voices warning us of this fate and they were bullied out. We remember and you don’t get to jump ship now with these sorry excuses for your equally lame excuses. O’Reilly had her on that night on his Peabody Award®-winning program, agreed with her, and said he’s really getting peeved about the tone in America. Former Senator Alan Simpson told Larry King that he sure didn’t like the partisanship permeating Washington.

Uh-uh. 

You don’t get to be pissed that we’re mad;

The Republicans created this harsh environment. The so-called weak Democrats can’t even get a hearing room from these hacks and Excuse me, but let’s just cut the old crap about how “both parties are the same” because that’s the kind of mindless drivel that goes right along with “everyone thought Saddam had WMD’s” and “the democrats can’t seem to do anything” ….and just for good measure:

“There ain’t no diference between Al Gore and George W. Bush”- idiot in America

But that kinda thinking wins out….

and we all lose.

BONUS :::BULL::::  

“Everyone knew she was a C.I.A. agent”

http://mediamatters.org/items/200603220013

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/nbc_today_ingraham_carville_gregory_060320a_320x240.wmv