The Associated Press seems to think that Bush's terror related questions are mere election ploys, solely talking points being cast about to help Congressional Republicans to win elections in the upcoming 2006 midterms.

Bush has been undertaking an intense effort to clear up the issues surrounding both his NSA surveillance questions as well as questions surrounding the legal rights that captured terrorists have and just how the Administration might treat them once in US custody. These are questions that have been brewing since the attacks on 9/11/01 and, with recent Supreme Court decisions, dents have been put in the President's conception of what he can and cannot do causing the president to seek solid answers.

The Fitzpatrick Plame investigation has spurred the New York Times into examining how their reporters conduct themselves. Apparently, the Gray Lady wants her staff to act more like terrorists and drug dealers. Reporters are being told to delete emails, destroy notes, and use disposable cell phones in order to stymie future investigations.

In his culture column this week, Brent Bozell offers a preview of Monday's premiere of NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." (The premiere, on DVD, was available from Netflix.) Why critique it? The first plot of this "Saturday Night Live"-derived show from "West Wing" producer-writer Aaron Sorkin centers around a canceled skit entitled "Crazy Christians," which apparently was a laugh riot:

When his skit is axed, the outraged fictional "SNL" producer [played by Judd Hirsch] bounds onto the stage and unleashes a lecture on live television. It’s what Sorkin has probably wanted to say about network executives (and their alleged overreaction to those crazy Christians) many times. "The two things that make them scared gutless are the FCC and every psycho religious cult that gets positively horny at the very mention of a boycott." Sorkin was so impressed with his own insult that it reruns later in the show in fictional news clips.

Today's starter: Noel Sheppard and I noted Thursday, the Republicans' electoral fortunes are beginning to look up. Now comes word that online gambling sites that allow wagers on elections are starting to favor Republicans retaining control of the House. The GOP's poll numbers are also up as well. Have the Democrats peaked?

Regardless of whether Nancy Grace contributed to the recent suicide of a guest or not by way of her very abrasive and Gestapo style of questioning, the fact is she is a disgrace to intelligent, professional, poised and thoughtful women in this world. In no way should she be held up as a good example of ethical and principled success, rather an example of what manipulations can lead to; the appearance of success but a person without a decent conscience.

I was watching the nightly news this past thursday. One of the stories was that one of our spyplanes accidentally came upon a taliban funeral in afganistan.

In attendance were a couple of hundred high ranking taliban idiots(sorry) officials.

I'm a fairly peaceful person with strong ideas. I'm a registered nurse,most of the time I am a life saver not taker but if it's us or them"I choose us"

1. Should we have taken advantage of the opportunity to blow them away?

2. they mentioned the reason for not taking out the terrorist camp/graveyard at that time was due to the fact that it went against some american policy. Can someone explain this to me.

I'm truly confused and it's making me nuts. 

Privatization Of The Fire Service At SRQ Airport-Part II... ::: From the Newsbull Weblog of: Matt Bruce
::: Read & Respond @: http://www.newsbull.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=36625 Matt Bruce
Managing Editor & Publisher, News Sarasota   A Newsbull Contributing Columnist 

SUNCOAST FIRE FIGHTERS & PARAMEDICS TO PROTEST PRIVATIZATION OF THE AIRPORT'S FIREFIGHTERS...

SARASOTA, FL. (NS/IAFF2546) -

Representatives from the Suncoast Professional Firefighters & Paramedics and their members will be at the Sarasota-Manatee Airport on Tuesday September 19, 2006 to protest the recent hiring of "Rural Metro" to replace Fire Department employees; many with 20 + years on the job at the Airport...

"Our members are committed to making the community aware of the injustices that are occurring at this airport," said Mike Stephenson, President for the S.P.F.P. "Professional Firefighters (Currently Florida Certified) are being replaced by private industry firefighters who have up to one year to achieve the certifications currently held by each Airport Firefighter, and that is wrong." We believe the reduction
of service by not requiring Emergency Medical Technician or Florida's structural firefighting certifications is unwarranted as a means to save money, and put's the lives of the traveling public and the Airport's tenants at greater risk...

"The protest will begin at noon with Firefighters from Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte Counties being joined by the brother and sister Firefighters and Paramedics from across the State" said Donald Seiler, Secretary for the S.F.P.F. "The Airport Firefighters are receiving support from across the country as well as elected officials, and now
we need to raise the level of public debate regarding the injustice to both the Firefighters and the flying public they serve," Seiler said...

Stephenson added, "Decisions affecting Sarasota and Manatee county taxpayers are being decided by a Governor appointed board. Taxpayers deserve more input into how their airport is managed. Safety should never be sacrificed to save a few dollars."...

The Suncoast Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics represent more than 900 professional firefighters, and EMS personnel from nine fire departments located in Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee Counties...

Recently the IAFF 2546 has gotten FL. Gov. Jeb Bush involved and he has turned over the files sent to him by the Firefighters to his Chief of Staff...

The main issue here is Public Safety which IS in question when you place lesser qualified and unfamiliar Firefighters in a new and different surrounding...

On Friday's C-SPAN morning show "Washington Journal," host Brian Lamb interviewed columnist Robert Novak in the hour of 9 to 10 AM Eastern time on his column on the unraveling of the Plamegate scandal. (Novak was in Urbana, Illinois, at his alma mater, the University of Illinois.) Perhaps the most entertaining parts were his harsh takes on Chris Matthews and Jon Stewart, whom he called "a self-righteous comedian taking on airs of grandeur."

After a supportive call mentioning Matthews, Novak said "Hardball" was unwatchable:

"Well, thank you. My problem here, sir, is that I never watch Chris Matthews' program because I don't feel that I can possibly learn anything from all that shouting and blathering and interrupting people. So I haven't watched his program in years. I don’t know if he said much about this and I don’t care. I can imagine that Mr. Matthews believes that being mistaken in journalism means never having to say you’re sorry. So I don’t think he’ll say much of anything."

This one is too delicious for words…but I’ll try. The Star Ledger reported on Wednesday that a person dressed up as Cher, and scheduled to sing and dance at a Democrat Party convention in Atlantic City, created quite a stir. Why might that be? Well, do you remember the film “The Crying Game?”

She wore a slinky black dress with silver sparkles, just like Cher.

She had curly black hair, too. And canned music so she could sing along with Cher's greatest hits.

But this was not your traditional impersonator. Because underneath it all, this lady was a man.

Hypocritically, the party that strongly supports gay rights and same-sex marriage didn’t find this amusing:

The saga of Rosie O’Donnell and her bizarre views on Christianity and the war on terror continues. On Friday, the Republican National Committee responded to the furor in an article entitled “DEMS' ‘ROSIE’ VIEW ON WAR ON TERROR; Cut-And-Run Defeatocrats Across The Country Take Their Cues From Hollywood Friends And Advisors.”

The point of the piece was to demonstrate just how powerfully the views of liberal Hollywoodans impact politics in this nation. To drive this point home, the article listed political contributions made by Rosie during this election cycle:

On the chat show "Inside Washington" on PBS station WETA last night, the spin was in: Plamegate was a massive zero. No one was more enthusiastic than Newsweek's Evan Thomas. I'm sure the reporting of his colleague Michael Isikoff has him completely persuaded. But here's what didn't come up: how much ink did Newsweek spill hyping this "zero" story up? (Hint: here's just one example.)

When the show's substitute host Kathleen Matthews (wife of Chris Matthews) asked what the bottom line was on Plamegate, Thomas declared: "Nothing! Nothing! This is a big zero of a story that most of the American public has ignored, Washington has been feverishly consumed by, and it means something for Scooter Libby, who may go to jail, so it has some personal consequences, but in the great sum of American body politic, it means nothing."

Though one does not want to unduly interfere with the affairs of an autonomous church and though I am ambivalent about lady preachers, I can’t help but feel that a 81 year old Sunday school teacher dismissed in large part because she is a woman has somehow gotten a raw deal.

What makes this case most vexing is not so much that the church in question forbade women from the get-go from ascending to positions of dogmatic instruction but that this lady was relieved of her duties after fifty years of service.

So why was it OK for her to be teaching all this time then all of a sudden her classroom ministrations transfigured into an ecclesiastical outrage that could no longer be countenanced?

Though I cannot be absolutely certain, methinks I catch a whiff of Purpose Driven Warrenism in the air or at least the stench of the church growth movement.

In a surreal clash of the sacred and the profane, the New York Times - that citadel of secularism - has declared in its editorial of this morning that Pope Benedict "needs to offer a deep and persuasive apology," for having quoted a 14th century Christian emperor who said:

“Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

The Times is only being fair and balanced, I suppose.  After all, hardly a week goes by that you can't pick up the paper and read an editorial condemning this or that mullah, imam or ayatollah for the latest fatwa ordering the death of such-and-such infidel or the destruction of entire countries found to be an annoyance.  Or not.

On Friday night's Countdown show, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann renewed his "Special Comment" attack on President Bush, replaying the original comments from Monday's show, and adding a condemnation of Bush for an awkwardly worded, off-the-cuff remark made by the President during Friday's news conference that it is "unacceptable to think" the actions of America can be compared to those of terrorists. Not catching on to the President's likely meaning that it is "ridiculous to claim" the actions of America are similar to those terrorists, Olbermann referred to a favorite topic of his, George Orwell's 1984, as he attacked Bush's "chilling" words. Olbermann: "'It's unacceptable to think.' Sounds like something straight out of George Orwell's 1984. Instead, it was something straight out of George Bush's mouth. ... And not only issuing those chilling words, 'It's unacceptable to think,' but doing so in answer to the call to conscience from his own former Secretary of State, Colin Powell." (Transcript follows)