Jon Stewart says farewell to the 109th Congress, which used its final session to “pass last-minute tax cuts, expand oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, clear GOP leadership of wrongdoing in the Mark Foley scandal, and pardon Hitler… .”
Don Imus veered into Mel Gibson territory on the Nov. 30 edition of his morning radio show, when he referred to the “Jewish management” of CBS Radio (which owns Imus’ flagship station) as “money-grubbing bastards.”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address should be required viewing at the White House. Decades later, his words of caution and hope still resonate.
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) on “This Week” elaborated on remarks he made earlier on the Senate floor, where he called the Iraq war “absurd” and possibly even “criminal.” Asked what had brought about his change of heart, Smith replied: “Waking up the other morning and turning on the news and hearing that yet another 10 of our soldiers died the same way that several thousand have ... and I went from steamed to boiled.” Watch it
Bill Moyers offers this gripping and comprehensive analysis of corruption in Washington and finds that “although Jack Abramoff [above] and Tom DeLay have been brought down, the system remains as vulnerable as ever.”
In this week’s installment, “Daily Show” correspondent John Oliver mocks Rumsfeldian “ironic distance” from the war; NBC’s David Gregory rakes the White House’s Tony Snow over a bed of coals; and “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert airs Bush’s dirty laundry on national TV.
Veteran journalist and Bush administration critic Seymour Hersh speaks to Amy Goodman on “Democracy Now” about what to expect from Robert Gates as defense secretary: “The reality is Gates is a fresh face and there’s a lot of people, [Brent] Scowcroft and James Baker among them, who are very worried about what’s going to happen in ‘08.” Watch it
Flipping through the news channels on Wednesday, one would have seen an endless parade of pundits and politicians praising the Iraq Study Group’s report. One exception was a man who was critical of the war before it was in style, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), who told “Countdown’s” Keith Olbermann: “The fact is, this commission was composed apparently entirely of people who did not have the judgment to oppose this Iraq war in the first place….” Watch it
Stephen Colbert mocks the Christian Coalition’s rejection of Joel Hunter (last week’s Truthdigger of the Week) as its president. Hunter wanted to expand the group’s agenda to address the AIDS epidemic and poverty—issues the Christian conservatives thought would cause people to confuse them with liberals, or perhaps Jesus. Watch it
“The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart and John Oliver riff on the now-infamous Rumsfeld memo, in which the former defense secretary offered alternatives to “losing” in Iraq. Watch it
In a surprisingly frank and irresponsible statement, Florida Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen calls for Fidel Castro’s death: “I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing, oppressing the people.” Watch it
As part of a series on assumed presidential candidates, “The Chris Matthews Show” followed a bout of McCain worship by treating Hillary Clinton like the girl who showed up at the prom wearing a burlap sack, criticizing everything from her public speaking style to the supposed unwillingness of the American people to tolerate Bill loafing around the White House. Watch it
Keith Olbermann handed L. Brent Bozell III the “Worst Person in the World” award for challenging NBC’s decision to refer to the Iraq war as a civil war. President of the Media Research Center, Bozell said of NBC’s decision, “Probably 100 generals in the field in Iraq would disagree.” Watch it
In this week’s roundup of Truthdig-flavored videos, an Australian atheist goes door-to-door in Mormon Utah; a documentary film crew tells the story of the rendition and torture of a Guantanamo detainee; and Jon Stewart holds forth on Iraq “civil war” semantics.
Australia’s John Safran goes door-to-door in Salt Lake City, trying to convert Mormons to atheism. Hysterical. (There are lots more Safran vs. religion videos in the YouTube “related” column.)
In the scene above, an old man hits Safran with a rake.
The Feminist Majority’s Lorraine Sheinberg created the 1999 documentary that first focused attention on the Taliban’s brutal oppression of women in Afghanistan. It’s worth another look now.
Michael Ware, who has been reporting from Iraq for three years now, describes the situation to Wolf Blitzer: “If this is not a civil war, Wolf, I don’t want to see one when it comes.”
From C&L: “During his annual TiVo cleanout, Colbert frantically tries to erase the history of the Iraq war/World War II analogies rejected by Cheney but promoted by Hannity, Condi and ‘Talking Points’ Mehlman. If only it were that easy.”
Is the Iraq conflict a “civil war” or “a minor linguistic flareup between two parties of different terminological points of view”? “The Daily Show” has the lowdown.
Why Do They Hate the West So Much, We Will Ask
Intro (2:15 min/2.3MB)
