On Monday’s Countdown show, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann delivered his latest "Special Comment," in which he called on President-elect Barack Obama to prosecute President Bush and administration members on a charge of torturing prisoners, and invoked extreme examples such as slavery leading to the Civil War, and the handling of Germany after World War I leading to the rise of Nazism and World War II, to illustrate that "this country has never succeeded in moving forward without first cleansing itself of its mistaken past," and that Obama must try to prosecute Bush for the sake of the country’s future. After quoting Bush’s recent words about the interrogation techniques he authorized against 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and statements by Obama expressing reluctance to pursue prosecutions against the Bush administration, Olbermann began invoking extreme examples from history.

This country has never succeeded in moving forward without first cleansing itself of its mistaken past. ... We compromised with slavery in the Declaration of Independence, and, fourscore and nine years later, we had buried 600,000 of our sons and brothers in a civil war. After that war’s ending, we compromised with the social restructuring and protection of the rights of minorities in the South. And a century later, we had not only had not resolved anything, but black leaders were still being assassinated in the cities of the South. We compromised with Germany in the reconstruction of Europe after the First World War. Nobody even arrested the German kaiser, let alone conducted war crimes trials then. And 19 years later, there was an indescribably more evil Germany and a more heartrending Second World War.

As I post this, it is late on January 19th, and the Bush Presidency has roughly 15 hours left.

While Bush was no real conservative, and we on NB's can find many things we disagree with him on, I still think at the bottom of it all, he was a good, moral man.

Now the Obama years begin, and conservatism is at an nadir that has never existed in my lifetime.  I was down in 1992-3, but everyone was in a fighting mood and eager to regain what was lost in 1992.  New ideas were brimming, and everyone just knew that hard work and good candidates could reclaim victory in 1994.

However, now is decidedly not that time.  Republicans and Conservatives are more depressed than ever, and are strangely quiet and nonchalant at this political apocalypse.  Perhaps it is because of Obama's immense popularity that scares them, perhaps it is something else.

And Obama was drawn by the spirit of Alinsky into southside Chicago to be tempted of Governor Blagojevich. After he had labored among the peasantry 40 days and 40 nights he began to hunger for greater power. So Democrats came to him saying, “if you are president material, buy a seat in the state House to begin your career.”

But Obama answered and said, “nay, I shall not buy it, but run for election.” And they marveled at his courage. Obama won election by running uncontested and triumphantly entered the Illinois House.

Then the Democrats took him to the holy city of Washington DC and said to him, “you are a pro-choice Democrat; ravage women, drive drunk, and skip paying taxes. If you are truly liberal you will face no consequence.” But Obama answered them, “I shall mold myself into a clean character and run for Senate.” And the people were astonished.

Is there anything President-elect Barack Obama's very aura cannot make better? Apparently, he has eliminated road rage -- and even honking.

ABC's David Muir, over video of stuck traffic followed by the sound of singing, in a Monday World News story on the crowds coming to Washington, DC:

So many of the streets are closed those that are open are clogged. But there were no car horns, no shouting. Instead, the San Francisco Boys and Girls choruses practicing for their Inaugural moment on the steps of the Capitol.

Look no further than New York Times columnist Bob Herbert's recent appearance on "The Rachel Maddow Show" for why its namesake should invite guests who don't share her worldview more often than the current once-monthly clip, the better to sharpen the discourse.

Herbert appeared on Maddow's MSNBC program Jan. 13 to describe why he opposes President-elect Barack Obama's plans to double US troop strength in Afghanistan from the current 30,000 soldiers.

What follows is a transcript of the conversation between Maddow and Herbert, with my criticism afterwards. Words that are italicized indicate emphasis by the speaker, words in bold represent my emphasis --

In Glenn Beck's first program on Fox News he demonstrated why he's so popular with conservatives.

He's a real guy talking about real issues to real people interested in the truth.

This is why it wasn't surprising at all to see Beck choke up and get tears in his eyes as he was introducing Gov. Sarah Palin and the fact that they have a common bond being parents of special needs children (video embedded below the fold courtesy our friend MsUnderestimated):

In a 7:43AM commercial break during Monday’s CBS Early Show, the network aired a promo for a new episode of the show ‘Two And A Half Men,’ that used an Obama campaign slogan: "Can CBS show you the funny side of families?...Yes we can." The words appeared on screen in red, white, and blue, soon followed by a flash of the CBS logo in the same colors, looking very similar to Obama’s campaign logo.

At the end of the promo, the screen displayed the cast of the show in red and blue, similar to a famous Obama portrait, with the show title and time. The bottom of the screen declared: "Yes We Can Monday."

For years -- especially, it seems, the past eight years -- the "news" media have made a habit of asking liberal celebrities about their political views -- in essence, handing the microphone over to a small, unrepresentative group of left-wing Bush-bashers, blame-America-firsters and enviro-wackos. Thus, actors and singers and comics are elevated in our national discourse above the military, businessmen and scientists.

Those same celebrities are now giddily celebrating Barack Obama's arrival as the 44th president, but this weekend singer Bruce Springsteen got in his last licks as he vented to a British newspaper about how the Bush years have been a "nightmare" in which "thousands and thousands of people died, lives were ruined" because of Bush's policies.

Never mind how Barack Obama will magically bring “diversity,” “excellence” and “unity” to America, “Santa Claus” loves the incoming administration. Seconds before 5 PM EST Monday afternoon on MSNBC, anchor Tamron Hall asked a woman in the crowd around MSNBC's platform on Washington's Mall: “What do you think this next administration brings to the country?” The woman, wearing a Santa Claus hat more than three weeks after Christmas, excitedly replied:

I think they bring diversity. I think they bring a spirit of excellence. I think they bring unity and they bring love. Santa Claus loves them.

You'd think Santa Claus would be jealous of Obama for intruding on his specialty of giving away stuff. But maybe the woman was mixed up and meant to say that Obama is just as great as Santa Claus because she expects to get hand outs from him too.

And the media, 'one of Barack Obama's major constituencies,' don't complain.

The Obama Inauguration Committee sold coverage of inaugural events, effectively limiting the number of Americans who can view them and undercutting Obama’s claims of accessibility, according to Business & Media Institute VP Dan Gainor.

“Barack Obama, in his last radio address before he becomes president says this is going to be the most accessible administration in history,” Gainor said in an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Weekend Live” on Jan. 18. “Well, they’re already proving the lie to that.”

HBO paid $5 million to broadcast Sunday’s concert from the Lincoln Memorial. That meant that only HBO subscribers and the 37 percent of cable customers that have digital cable could watch. The Inauguration committee made a similar arrangement for coverage of a children’s concert scheduled for Monday night. Even C-Span was denied access to the events.

It is understandable that most would take an interest in the peaceful transitions of power that take place in the United States between one administration to the next as it is a skill less civilized countries have failed to master; however, what is taking place right now in relation to Barack Obama is downright frightening and almost idolatrous in its implications

About the most disgraceful piece of commemorative inaugural memorabilia I've seen is a flag with Obama's visage emblazoned across it.

The flag is a symbol of the United States that ought to remain above the holders of the office sworn to protect it.

To defile it in this manner is an act as almost disgusting as burning it.

It has been my contention that if Obama is not the Anti-Christ, he is certainly a stand in for the dress rehearsal as Satan works out the kinks.

A plot element central to the narrative of the Book of Revelation is something known as the "Mark of the Beast" that all dwelling upon the earth must receive as a sign of loyalty to this tyrannical regime.

Interestingly, Obama worshipers are not without their own version as a story on Fox and Friends on 1/18/09 chronicled someone disfiguring their body with an Obama tattoo.

On Monday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez asked Sunday Morning liberal commentator Nancy Giles about the incoming Obama Administration and Giles could not resist bashing Bush: "Well, Barack Obama's going to have his hands full with a lot of the carnage that was left by the previous administration." Republican strategist Bay Buchanan was seated next to Giles and Giles defended her statement: "I had to put it that way, Bay. It is carnage." Buchanan joked: "I was told it would cease-fire here for two days." Giles replied: "I know, I'm sorry, carnage just slipped out, but I mean, he's going to have his hands full."

Co-host Harry Smith then chimed in, saying to Giles: "I spent the entire afternoon yesterday talking to people, and there were actually very few people who were echoing the sentiments you were echoing...There were some people who were angry and still carrying grudges. But moreover, it was a sense of for the moment, no more Republicans, no more Democrats, we're all on the same page, at least for a moment."

In contrast to her view of Bush’s "carnage," Giles praised Obama: " Barack Obama said something last year that I heard him say about his definition of homeland security and national security. It had to do with making education a real important thing. He felt that educating our young people would make the nation that much more secure. And I love that way of thinking."

It is understandable that most would take an interest in the peaceful transitions of power that take place in the United States between one administration to the next as it is a skill less civilized countries have failed to master; however, what is taking place right now in relation to Barack Obama is downright frightening and almost idolatrous in its implications

About the most disgraceful piece of commemorative inaugural memorabilia I've seen is a flag with Obama's visage emblazoned across it.

The flag is a symbol of the United States that ought to remain above the holders of the office sworn to protect it.

To defile it in this manner is an act as almost disgusting as burning it.

It has been my contention that if Obama is not the Anti-Christ, he is certainly a stand in for the dress rehearsal as Satan works out the kinks.

A plot element central to the narrative of the Book of Revelation is something known as the "Mark of the Beast" that all dwelling upon the earth must receive as a sign of loyalty to this tyrannical regime.

Interestingly, Obama worshipers are not without their own version as a story on Fox and Friends on 1/18/09 chronicled someone disfiguring their body with an Obama tattoo.

On Monday's "Good Morning America," co-host Robin Roberts chose to tout only Democratic politicians in a piece honoring the civil rights movement and those "warriors" who made Barack Obama's election as president possible. Not a single Republican was mentioned or featured in the segment. Roberts began by announcing, "And on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we thought it would be appropriate to look back at all the warriors, black and white, who made this moment where we are today possible."

All the warriors? The piece went on to feature clips from eight Democratic politicians: Harry Truman, Hubert Humphrey, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, Barbara Jordan and Barack Obama, in addition to a number of non-political civil rights pioneers. Republican Abraham Lincoln went unmentioned, so did New York Governor Thomas Dewey who signed one of the nation's earliest civil rights laws in 1944 and President Ronald Reagan who made Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a federal holiday in 1983.

The piece also ignored the inconvenient fact that a higher percentage of Congressional Republicans voted for the historic 1964 Civil Rights Act than did Democrats. Another point left unmentioned was the heroic effort by the conservative GOP minority leader in the Senate, Everett Dirksen, in supporting that legislation:

It's going to be unseasonably cold when Barack Obama takes the oath of office Tuesday, which is in keeping with a long-term trend for Democrats.

In fact, it's normally almost 7 1/2 degrees warmer when a Republican is sworn in on a January Inauguration Day than when a Democrat raises his right hand.

So said a 2001 study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:

On Saturday’s CBS Evening News, correspondent Bill Whitaker devoted a full story to an environmental activist in Utah, Tim DeChristopher, who disrupted an oil lease auction by illegally making bids that he knew he could not pay, which slowed down the process making it possible for Barack Obama to block President Bush’s directive allowing the auction. Anchor Russ Mitchell introduced the report: "The Bush administration has less than three days left, but almost to the end, it’s been taking actions that have environmentalists fuming. One young activist used an unorthodox tactic, as we hear from Bill Whitaker."

After recounting that DeChristopher moved to Utah to attend college and became enamored with the beautiful landscape, Whitaker continued: "But where DeChristopher sees beauty, others see bounty. When one of the last-minute acts of the Bush administration was to auction off some of this land for oil drilling, the 27-year-old student said he had to act."

A 14-picture slideshow of "Historic Moments of Inaugurations Past" that begins with an illustration of Washington's 1793 swearing-in and mostly includes flattering photos of other commanders-in-chief ends not with a photo of President George W. Bush but of left-wing protestors at his first inauguration. (h/t e-mail tipster Chris Lowery)

Even President Nixon was shown flashing his "classic double victory salute" to inauguration attendees in 1969. Of course,the  caption accompanying that picture noted that he "was greeted with less than warm feelings from the crowds. Protestors threw smoke bombs, sticks and stones at the presidential limo on its way to the Capitol Building."

Yet when it came to portraying President Bush's inauguration, ABCNews.com photo editors decided to show protestors at the 2001 inaugural, including one holding a "Hail to the Thief!" sign (depicted above at right). The caption accompanying that photo:

On Monday, both The New York Times and The Washington Post noticed a long-simmering trend: Time and Newsweek have increasingly abandoned news reporting in favor of being more opinionated "thought leaders." In the Post, reporter Howard Kurtz bluntly declared, "The rival editors are turning out weeklies that are smaller, more serious, more opinionated and, though they are loath to admit it, more liberal."

Newsweek editor Jon Meacham and Time editor Rick Stengel didn’t want to admit a bias. "I'm not ideologically driven by any means," claimed Meacham. "I'm really conscious of trying to be fair and balanced," argued Stengel, although Kurtz noted he was at one time an aide to the Bill Bradley 2000 presidential campaign.

In the run-up to Barack Obama's inauguration, the New York Times has run several articles praising the President-elect's "eloquence," the most visible being Monday's front-page story by the paper's lead book critic (and prominent Bush-basher) Michiko Kakutani, "From Books, New President Found Voice," who praised Obama for...reading:

In college, as he was getting involved in protests against the apartheid government in South Africa, Barack Obama noticed, he has written, "that people had begun to listen to my opinions." Words, the young Mr. Obama realized, had the power "to transform": "with the right words everything could change -- South Africa, the lives of ghetto kids just a few miles away, my own tenuous place in the world."

Much has been made of Mr. Obama's eloquence -- his ability to use words in his speeches to persuade and uplift and inspire. But his appreciation of the magic of language and his ardent love of reading have not only endowed him with a rare ability to communicate his ideas to millions of Americans while contextualizing complex ideas about race and religion, they have also shaped his sense of who he is and his apprehension of the world.

Next time someone dismisses the idea that mass media can exert influence on American culture, point to a Jan. 18 New York Times article titled, "How the Movies Made a President." In that piece, Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott argue that fictional depictions of black U.S. presidents helped pave the way for a real one.

“The presidencies of James Earl Jones in ‘The Man,’ Morgan Freeman in ‘Deep Impact,”’ Chris Rock in ‘Head of State’ and Dennis Haysbert in ‘24’ helped us imagine Mr. Obama’s transformative breakthrough before it occurred,” the authors wrote. “In a modest way, they also hastened its arrival.”

Furthermore, Dargis and Scott say that a number of black filmmakers and movie stars have “helped write the prehistory of the Obama presidency.”

If the authors are correct and Hollywood did help lessen the role of race in the electoral equation, then it has performed a service to the nation and is to be commended. The mass media clearly holds tremendous power to influence public attitudes, and did so in this case for the better.

On the eve of becoming the nation's 44th President, Barack Obama went to Sasha Bruce Youthwork, a Washington, D.C., residence for homeless, runaways, and troubled youth, and actually assisted in painting the walls what appeared to be an aqua blue (video embedded right).

Watching the proceedings on various cable news networks, my heart welled with pride as I realized my new president was a much better painter than Winston Churchill.

For those missing the joke, this is what fictional playwright Franz Liebkind told Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom as they discussed producing his "Springtime for Hitler" in the Mel Brooks classic "The Producers":

Imagine for a moment that Sen. John McCain won the election in November and that John Hagee gave a sermon at Jerry Falwell-founded Liberty University the Sunday preceding the inauguration wherein he slammed the "egregious menage a trois of homosexuals, Hollywood, and hell-bound atheists" for destroying the United States.

The coverage would be non-stop and President-elect McCain would be pressed to repudiate the remarks from his stalwart evangelical supporter, even though he's already distanced himself during in the campaign.

Yet it's a vastly different story when it was Rev. Jeremiah Wright at Howard University's chapel and the "egregious menage a trois" was that of "racism, militarism and capitalism."

While his colleague Michelle Boorstein helpfully edited Wright's more embarrassing rhetoric (see more below the fold), Washington Post's Dana Milbank reminded readers just how loopy Rev. Wright is in his page A9 January 19 article, "You Thought the Jeremiad Was Over?" (emphasis mine):

People don't even worship God like they worship Barack Obama.

So said comedian Jackie Mason in his most-recent video blog just posted at YouTube.

But that's not all. According to Mason, "Mao Tse Tung wasn't so venerated and people weren't so fearful of disagreeing with him as the Congress of the United States including the Republicans who are afraid to disagree with anything he says or does because they'll be called a racist."

Mason also deliciously went after "a yenta like Hillary Clinton" for being completely unqualified to be Secretary of State, and Timothy Geithner, "a thief that never paid his income taxes [who's] now going to be in charge to make sure you pay your income tax." 

Strap your seatbelts tightly, folks, for the video embedded below the fold addresses inconvenient truths Obama-loving media dare not:

NBC News personalities were clear on Sunday’s Meet the Press that Barack Obama needs to bring the fiscal "pain" and sacrifice to the voters with higher taxes. In his interview with incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, host David Gregory suggested Obama’s middle-class tax cut promises should be abandoned in the current state of affairs: "Is that the responsible thing to do on top of the debt burden that we talked about, on top of the deficit I just outlined?"

In the roundtable segment, Tom Brokaw agreed it was time for "pain" and time for an end to "ideological food fights" with Obama now that "even Republicans are cheering him on." New White House reporter Chuck Todd added that Obama’s latest speech on a stimulus plan was dry and weak, since "it didn't ask for any sacrifice from the country."

Catching up with something from Saturday I just came across, Newsweek's Howard Fineman pointed out on MSNBC just before 6 PM EST, as the Obama-Biden train arrived at Washington, DC's Union Station, that he was reading “the pool reports that have been filed by reporters on the train and they refer to Barack Obama as PEBO, which is short for 'President-elect Barack Obama.'” Fineman felt that illustrated how “there's an intimacy and a familiarity on that train,” presumably between the journalists and Obama, one shared by Fineman who hailed Obama's “many gifts” and saw “a down-home folksiness that belies the tremendous hopes that not only the country, but the whole world, have for him.”

Full quote, which matches an MP3 audio clip (160 Kb, 26 secs):

I've been reading the pool reports that have been filed by reporters on the train and they refer to Barack Obama as PEBO, which is short for “President-elect Barack Obama” and there's an intimacy and a familiarity on that train, a down-home folksiness, that belies the tremendous hopes that not only the country, but the whole world, have for him.