Are You Paying Attention?

Rachel Maddow Awards for '08

2009-01-01T07:58:00.003-05:00

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

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T07:20:00.001-05:00

CNN Poll: Three out of four Americans glad to see Bush go

2008-12-28T14:50:00.000-05:00

Does it get any lower?

(CNN) — As President George W. Bush gets ready to leave the White House in three-and-a-half weeks, and a new national poll suggests that three out of four Americans feel his departure is coming not a moment too soon.

Seventy-five percent of those questioned in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they're glad President Bush is going, with 23 percent indicating they'll miss him.

"Earlier this year, Bush scored some of the lowest presidential approval ratings we've seen in half a century, so it's understandable that the public is eager for a new president to step in," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

The three-quarters of Americans surveyed who say they won't miss Bush is 24 points higher than the 51 percent who said they wouldn't miss Bill Clinton when he left office in January 2001. Forty-five percent of those questioned at that time said they would miss Clinton.

"As President Bush prepares to leave office, the American public has a parting thought: Good riddance. At least that's the way three-quarters feel," says CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.

The poll indicates that Bush has been compared poorly to his predecessors, with 28 percent saying that he's the worst ever when compared to other presidents in American history. Forty percent rate Bush as poor and 31 percent feel he's been a good president.

Only a third of those polled want Bush to remain active in public life after he leaves the White House, with two-thirds saying they don't want him to stay active in a public way. That 33 percent figure who want Bush to remain in the public eye is 22 points lower than those questioned in 2001 who wanted Bill Clinton to retain a public role.

"Bush has dropped on a number of measures but possibly the biggest is that only one in five say he inspires confidence. That's an important figure when the country is facing its biggest economic crisis in a generation," says Holland.

When running for the White House in the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush promised to be a uniter, not a divider.

But the poll suggests that 82 percent feel that Bush did not unite the country, with 17 percent saying he did.

"The vast majority of Americans believed he betrayed his promise to unite the country," says Schneider. "He took a country that was divided under President Clinton and he divided it worse."

Only 27 percent of those questioned in the poll approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president, with 72 percent in disapproval. Bush's job approval rating has been at or below freezing since the beginning of the year, says Schneider — one of the lowest ratings for any president, ever.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted December 19-21, with 1,013 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Got Shoes?

2008-12-27T13:36:00.003-05:00

Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out either!

Thank YOU America!

2008-11-05T06:17:00.002-05:00

2012? Heaven Help us!

2008-11-02T14:19:00.003-05:00

McCain Turns to Race Baiting....

2008-10-25T11:57:00.002-05:00

What else if left when your campaign is in the toilet?

McCain Communications Director Gave Reporters Incendiary Version Of "Carved B" Story Before Facts Were Known

By Greg Sargent - October 24, 2008, 5:12PM
John McCain's Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established -- and even told reporters outright that the "B" carved into the victim's cheek stood for "Barack," according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain's Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, "You're with the McCain campaign? I'm going to teach you a lesson."

Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the "B" stood for Barack. According to Verrilli, the spokesperson also told KDKA that Sarah Palin had called the victim of the alleged attack, who has since admitted the story was a hoax.

The KDKA reporter had called McCain's campaign office for details after seeing the story -- sans details -- teased on Drudge.

The McCain spokesperson's claims -- which came in the midst of extraordinary and heated conversations late yesterday between the McCain campaign, local TV stations, and the Obama camp, as the early version of the story rocketed around the political world -- is significant because it reveals a McCain official pushing a version of the story that was far more explosive than the available or confirmed facts permitted at the time.

The claims to KDKA from the McCain campaign were included in an early story that ran late yesterday on KDKA's Web site. The paragraphs containing these assertions were quickly removed from the story after the Obama campaign privately complained that KDKA was letting the McCain campaign spin a racially-charged version of the story before the facts had been established, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

A source familiar with what happened yesterday confirmed that the unnamed spokesperson was communications director Peter Feldman. Feldman was also quoted yesterday making virtually identical assertions on the Web site of another local TV station, WPXI. But those quotes, which we also preserved here, are also no longer available on WPXI's site, for reasons that are unclear.

This is problematic because the McCain campaign doesn't want to have been perceived as pushing an incendiary story that not only turned out to be a hoax but which police officials said today risked blowing up into a "national incident" and has local police preparing to file charges against the hoaxster.

There's no evidence that anyone from McCain national headquarters put out a version of events like this.

After the story appeared on KDKA's site and this and other pieces in the local press started flying around the political world, an Obama spokesperson in the state angrily insisted to KDKA that it was irresponsible for the station to air the McCain spokesperson's incendiary version of events before the facts were fully known, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

After that, KDKA went back to McCain's Pennsylvania spokesperson, Feldman, and asked if he stood by the story as he'd earlier told it, but he started backing off the story, a source familiar with the talks says. That prompted KDKA to remove the grafs.

Feldman couldn't immediately be reached, and a McCain HQ spokesperson
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com
/2008/10/mccain_aide_gave_reporters_inc.php

The McCain Campaign Farce

2008-10-25T11:52:00.002-05:00

Rachel Maddow breaks it all down.

The "Fun" of this Election

2008-10-19T12:41:00.004-05:00

This is worth watching. It was fun to see both McCain & Obama poke fun at themselves and this volatile campaign season.

The Palin Song

2008-10-19T11:52:00.002-05:00

I found this on Crooks & Liars and it's very funny. It's worth a minute of your time.

McCain and Women's Health

2008-10-16T17:58:00.003-05:00

Suffice it to say McCranky's statement threw me over the edge last night. I'm glad to see I wasn't the only bothered by his remarks. Obama clearly pointed out the problem with partial birth abortion bill.

Any decent human being is "not for partial birth abortion". Can we just get that off the table? The problem with the bill as it was written was, there was no provision for a woman who could die from carrying out a birth due to complications. THAT is what the issue is/was. McCain's tone as if this didn't matter and mocked it as an excuse....just did not sit well with me one bit.

Here's the clip and commentary from Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow.

More Springsteen from Obama rally in Columbus

2008-10-06T06:06:00.002-05:00

Bruce - Vote For Change....'08

2008-10-06T05:09:00.001-05:00

The following are my comments from the stage at yesterday's Vote For Change rally in Philadelphia:

Hello Philly,

I am glad to be here today for this voter registration drive and for Barack Obama, the next president of the United States.

I've spent 35 years writing about America, its people, and the meaning of the American Promise. The Promise that was handed down to us, right here in this city from our founding fathers, with one instruction: Do your best to make these things real: opportunity, equality, social and economic justice, a fair shake for all of our citizens, the American idea, as a positive influence, around the world for a more just and peaceful existence. These are the things that give our lives hope, shape, and meaning. They are the ties that bind us together and give us faith in our contract with one another.

I've spent most of my creative life measuring the distance between that American promise and American reality. For many Americans, who are today losing their jobs, their homes, seeing their retirement funds disappear, who have no healthcare, or who have been abandoned in our inner cities, the distance between that promise and that reality has never been greater or more painful.

I believe Senator Obama has taken the measure of that distance in his own life and in his work. I believe he understands, in his heart, the cost of that distance, in blood and suffering, in the lives of everyday Americans. I believe as president, he would work to restore that promise to so many of our fellow citizens who have justifiably lost faith in its meaning. After the disastrous administration of the past 8 years, we need someone to lead us in an American reclamation project. In my job, I travel the world, and occasionally play big stadiums, just like Senator Obama. I've continued to find, wherever I go, America remains a repository of people's hopes, possibilities, and desires, and that despite the terrible erosion to our standing around the world, accomplished by our recent administration, we remain, for many, a house of dreams. One thousand George Bushes and one thousand Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that house down.

They will, however, be leaving office, dropping the national tragedies of Katrina, Iraq, and our financial crisis in our laps. Our sacred house of dreams has been abused, looted, and left in a terrible state of disrepair. It needs care; it needs saving, it needs defending against those who would sell it down the river for power or a quick buck. It needs strong arms, hearts, and minds. It needs someone with Senator Obama's understanding, temperateness, deliberativeness, maturity, compassion, toughness, and faith, to help us rebuild our house once again. But most importantly, it needs us. You and me. To build that house with the generosity that is at the heart of the American spirit. A house that is truer and big enough to contain the hopes and dreams of all of our fellow citizens. That is where our future lies. We will rise or fall as a people by our ability to accomplish this task. Now I don't know about you, but I want that dream back, I want my America back, I want my country back.

So now is the time to stand with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, roll up our sleeves, and come on up for the rising.

SNL Biden/Palin Debate

2008-10-05T06:22:00.001-05:00

Rachel Maddow Breaks Down Palin's Debate Blunders

2008-10-05T06:14:00.001-05:00

McJokster?

2008-09-29T06:03:00.001-05:00

Tina Fey Nails Palin...AGAIN!

2008-09-28T14:21:00.000-05:00

Surprise - Bush war Crimes

2008-09-27T11:00:00.002-05:00

I LOVE Rachel Maddow - at least someone is paying attention to the dirt flying under the radar.

Hockey Mom's and Witchcraft

2008-09-25T18:03:00.002-05:00

Palin Exposed - Pt 2

2008-09-25T18:02:00.002-05:00

Palin Exposed Pt 1

2008-09-25T18:00:00.003-05:00

Interview Pt 1

Free Sarah Palin

2008-09-24T18:24:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago the McChicken campaign pulled all interviews from CNN when Campbell had the audacity to ask questions about Palin to one of the McChicken advisors. Well...today, Campbell swings back and dead on I might add! Nice to see the press has some ovaries on this one.

Life is Stranger than Fiction

2008-09-23T16:14:00.007-05:00

Time to take a break from my political rantings or whatever we should call them.

So, we moved to MA in 2005. We found the perfect house, it just needed a few things done - a roof being one of them. I had been here a whopping two weeks, having to fire our first roofer in the middle of the job. We were also getting some electrical work done and the electrician suggested we call Scesny Construction. She knew them well (or so thought) and they completed the work that was left undone by the other roofer. A few years go by and lo and behold, here's the news we hear about Alex.

It's taken us about 5mns not to be completely freaked out by all of this. You start recalling every conversation in your head that took place with him. It's still hard to think this guy was here at our house being accused of rape and possibly a serial murderer. I spent an entire week and half with him and his crew. Obviously, I've been thanking god a lot lately. Here's today's news.

Say What God?

2008-09-16T17:15:00.001-05:00

Sarah Palin's Churches and The Third Wave from Bruce Wilson on Vimeo.

McCain's Brain

2008-09-14T07:13:00.002-05:00

See more funny videos at Funny or Die