Great Animated Cartoon Sent to me by David Shuster

Yes, David Shuster tweeted this to me.. lol along with a few hundred others I am sure. I don't know how many he has on his list.

He set this link out and I had to check it out..

Great Animated Cartoon by Mark Fiore It is very funny, about the Republican Party and their attempts to purify the party.

Check it out and see what you think.

Our President Would Like to Help You Feel Better

Our President wants to help reassure us and for me he does. This H1N1 flu is something new and has taken over the news. It has grown to overwhelming proportions and as we are now seeing has been over hyped by all the media.

The President is also announcing new ways of following the White House through different mediums and offer different ways of communication. Those are FaceBook.com, Twitter.com and MySpace.com. Check them out if you are so inclined. You will have to have an account for each to join the White House page.

Here is our President.

Must Read Today About Ali Soufan

Here is a Blog Post I got from Twitter that you must read today. I posted about Ali Soufan, the FBI agent who interrogated and obtained the information legally and without torture from Abu Zubayda.

Here is some background information on him from another blogger and a link to a story in Newsweek that is wonderful.

They are both MUST READS.

Here is the link to TAPPED by Adam Serwer

Here is the link to the Newsweek story, "We Could Have Done This The Right Way"

Like I said both very interesting and both must reads. This is a man who protested the torture tactics and said they weren't needed and would only harm the prisoners and our Country. In 2002, he said that. BEFORE THE MEMOS WERE WRITTEN!!!! That can't be stated enough. They knew what they were doing was wrong.

Joe Trippi Updates about Roy Bennett

Image by Zach_ManchesterUK via Flickr

Joe Trippi sent me another message today about Roy Bennett. He has another blog post up. You can read it here.

Just some of what he says:

On the Mutare prison. “Emerging from the gates of Mutare remand prison and struggling to hold back tears yesterday, he said that his incarceration had been “a harrowing experience”.

He said: “I would not wish it on my worst enemy. There are people there who look worse than the photographs of prisoners in Dachau and Auschwitz. They get a handful of sadza [thick maizemeal porridge] and water with salt. Five people died while I was there, and their bodies were collected after four or five days. There are people there who have been awaiting trial for three years.”

I was receiving updates on Roy throughout his imprisonment that began on February 13th. I knew that a prisoner died in Roy’s cell and that the body remained in the cell for days before it was removed. A week or so later I learned that another prisoner had died in the cell next to Roy’s and that the body was left in the cell for days again. And I knew that food was scarce.

I learned stuff that I have to say didn’t make much sense to me. I learned that Roy had gotten so fed up with the conditions that he had started to organize the prison — and convinced the guards to let him lead his fellow prisoners in cleaning up the place. And I learned that a few days later the attitude of the guards changed and that they started to jump in with the prisoners in the cleaning effort. Could this possible be true? The first part sounded true — and my source was a friend I trusted but did he really win over the guards? I wasn’t sure until i read what The Times reporter found when he got to the Mutare Prison:

“The demeanour of the guards at the prison, which is close to Zimbabwe’s eastern border with Mozambique, was a testament to how fast the mood in the country is evolving. One of them told me excitedly when I arrived at the gates: “Mr Bennett is getting out today. Yes, we are happy.”

You really have to read Joe's blog to get the full impact. He is very passionate about this and we all should be. Robert Mugabe is a very evil man. I hope you will all read his blog and talk about this.

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• Judge's land taken back by Mugabe's wife (guardian.co.uk)
• Zimbabwe judge held over MDC bail (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Zimbabwe: Roy Bennett bailed then sent back to jail (telegraph.co.uk)

Roy Bennett Released in Zimbabwe Thanks in Large Part to Joe Trippi

Image via Wikipedia

I follow Joe Trippi on Twitter. He has been very active in trying to get Roy Bennett released from a Zimbabwe Prison, where he was unlawfully detained by Mugabe.

There is a story finally in the New York Times today about this. The only media figure who has reported on this has been David Shuster on 1600 Pennsylvania on MSNBC.

Joe also has a blog and I have been following his posting on there about this too. He has posted on there and so have others who work with him. This is something that has been very important to him and to others.

David has talked about this several times on his show and even interviewed Heather Bennett one day about it. I am so glad that finally Mr. Bennett has been released on parole and hopefully now is safe, at least for the time being. We have to keep up the pressure to make sure that others who were held are released and that this kind of thing stops.

This is one of those things that was ignored by the Bush Administration. Hopefully Pres. Obama will not ignore it and will start looking into these things and the UN will start getting involved in this too.

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This is who we need on MSNBC instead of the Joke

Image by BlastMagazine.com via Flickr

Carlos Watson is a fairly new anchor on MSNBC, but I really like him. He is a good counter to some of the ones they have on during the day. He holds his own with the Joke of the Morning too. He has a new piece up on Huffington Post that is a must read.

Let's Press Reset on Rush & Co.: We Need Practical Optimism from the Chattering Class -- Now

I have degrees from Harvard and Stanford, am an anchor on a major network, have a little money in the bank, and I'm young. By all accounts, I should be able to survive this recession. But even my confidence is shaken. We're not in a good place. The reality of the matter is, bad as things are, we all know they're likely to get worse. Much worse--both overseas and in the poorest areas here in the US.

It all comes back to 30-40: Our homes were overvalued 30-40%, our salaries are being cut 30-40% (if we still have them), our portfolios, when they finally rebound, will still be down 30-40%. Like any sane person in his 30s or 40s, I'm starting to wonder the obvious: What will it take to turn things around? One answer is signs--about 6-10 million of the "help wanted" variety. But another part of the solution just came to me last night.

The answer is Rush Limbaugh. Yes, that Rush, the Man from Missouri. Because what he reminded us of in the last few weeks is what will keep most of us down: negativity and mindless carping. Beyond a banking fix or a housing plan, our floundering $12 trillion economy needs a fundamental reset of the public commentator class. And I predict we will see that over the next six months, from YouTube to CNN, Twitter to the site you're reading. I genuinely think America is hungry for practical optimism. I know I am.

I know I am too...and I think most of us are ready for some optimism. That's what I have been saying all along. Yes, things are tough. But, come on, we can't just sit around and talk about how bad it is. We have to try to do something about it and look for the good parts. If all we are going to do is sit and talk about how bad it is we might as well be republicans.

He goes on to finish like this:

This new class of public commentators will be distinguished not by their ability to describe the depths of our pain, but by their capacity for offering clear, compelling, credible visions of how individuals, companies, governments, and groups can move beyond it. They will be people of accomplishment who can help us find practical ways ahead, entrepreneurs and writers who can both build a business and tell a good story. We'll respond to them because they are not hype entertainers, but sharp, clear, relatable visionaries who can help us see how we can truly turn things around in this challenging environment.

I like Suze Orman, but I'm not talking about her. I like Professor Nouriel Roubini, but I'm not talking about him. I'm picturing Steve Jobs and Lou Gerstner--imagine those two on a split-screen breaking down the economy. Think I'm joking? Then you're forgetting the outsized role that J.P. Morgan (the man, not his bank) played following the panic of 1907, or the role that the "new" Southern Governors played after the tumultuous 1960s, or the role that John Steinbeck played as we came out of the Depression. We need help turning the page. We need a dramatic revolution in our public commentators. We need Buddy Fletcher, Arte Moreno, Sheryl Sandberg, and others to become the next chattering class.

Who would you like to see on the airwaves? Let me know at twitter.com/carloswatson.

So, now is your chance.. let him know who you want to see on your TeeVee Machine.. I did.. I told him I would rather see him than the Joke of the Morning...lol

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Bill Maher Gives Us New Rules

Why is it that people like Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert are the ones who are telling us what we need to hear and the so called Main stream Media are giving us things like "class warfare", "socialism vs free enterprise", "Mayor sends Watermelon greeting card".

Yes, those are some actual stories from MSNBC's web site. Then we have the stories you have seen here on my blog from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. They have more often than not really hit the truth and nailed the feelings of everyday people, much more so than anything the media has ever done.

Well, last night we can add Bill Maher to that list. I won't say I agree with him all the time and I didn't see the show, so I don't know what all he said earlier. But this clip is certainly SPOT ON!!! Watch if you have not seen it and see what you think. BTW...it is not safe for work. But remember it is Bill Maher...lol



The snuggie is a little hard to take.. but other than that I have to agree with what he says..

Santelli is a Fraud and a Rethuglican Cheat

I think we all have seen the rant from the floor of the Board of Trade by Rick Santelli the other day. How he called on Pres. Obama to stop with the Mortgage Fix he proposed and yelling about how it was forcing him to pay his neighbors mortgage.

Well, even though he was totally wrong about all his facts, he says he has a following. Maybe he does. As long as he is surrounded by people on the trading floor and they have to answer to him, and support what he is saying.

But, if he had really read the plan as it was proposed, and realized that it was not a reward for bad behaviour and not going to bail out the speculators and the ones who were flipping houses and lieing on their applications as he said, maybe he might have a leg to stand on.

This morning, I was reading over at Bob Cesca's GDAB and noticed a link to PoliticalCarnival. So I clicked over and was reading some of the posts there. Well, guess what I found. I found where someone had discovered that Santelli's rant was scripted and he had been outed.

It was posted to twitter by someone and here it is:

@Meryl333 the Santelli rant was totally scripted Meryl and the reaction on Internet press and twitter exactly what CNBC wanted. Cramer 2
about 11 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to Meryl333

I have hammered Chris Matthews lately about his treatment of Pres. Obama but at least he did point out that Santelli was off in his rant on this matter. He questioned his motives and then questioned his politics. Santelli admitted that he was a Republican and voted for McCain.

There was also an interview of Santelli by Brian Williams, Matt Lauer and Steve Liesman talked to him about his rant.. watch it below:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

He shows his ignorance and his selfishness. It's all about him and no one else.. typical rethuglican ignorance and it's ok if it is us doing it not you.

Day 5 of the Israeli/Gaza Conflict with no resolution in sight.

Day 5 is here. Talks of a cease fire were around last night but nothing came of them. They were even having a press conference through Twitter. How funny is that. Speaking in 140 characters. That's harder than you might think if you haven't tried it.

I am sharing a video clip of Rachel Maddow and Richard Engel talking about the conflict. Rachel is one of the smartest people on the TeeVee machine. I also have a lot of respect for Richard. He is one of the few reporters that really does get his hands dirty in the business of reporting on wars and conflicts. He knows what he is talking about when it comes to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.

So, enjoy:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy