David Shuster may not be back on air for remainder of contract

By GottaLaff

I was just witness to Pat Buchanan defending slavery on MSNBC (I'll post the video when it becomes available). Yes, resident Old White Racist Punditiot Guy still has regular work as contributor while David Shuster gets the cold shoulder for shooting a CNN pilot before his contract with MSNBC was up in December.

I guess contractual issues trump despicable ratings-inducers:

Now that David Shuster has been suspended indefinitely by MSNBC, it looks like he may not be back on the air for the remainder of his contract – up at the end of this year.

The pilot that led to his MSNBC demise was just the latest in a series of run-ins with management.

According to Mediaite, Shuster also got into a scrape or two over at ClusterFox when he erased one of Rita Cosby's scripts about the disbarring of President Clinton.

Whether David is guilty of these things or not (which I do not condone), we do know one thing: Buchanan's disdain for anyone who doesn't look like him is egregious enough to pull him off the air permanently. Where is the logic?

And where is the logic in CNN's exposing their viewers to RedState's Erick Erickson?

I mean other than jacking up ratings at any cost. I mean other than money. I mean other than selling out.

Never mind.

SOTU memories: "They are in dire need of the services of a good proctologist and psychiatrists"

By GottaLaff

I got this via a friend, who passed it on to me in an e-mail. I don't need to add a thing.

What do I remember most about last night’s State Of The Union Address? Let’s see: Mitch McConnell’s uninterrupted Horses’ Ass/Smirking Chimp arrogant sneer of contempt, John Boehner’s liquid-supper red-faced constant snide chattering to anyone around him who would listen, Senator Grassley falling asleep…only one step from his usual demeanor and John McCain giggling like a demented old man. Now there are a bunch of folks who really have our welfare at heart…arrogant corrupt son-a-bitches.

They need to be supporting healthcare because they are in dire need of the services of a good proctologist and psychiatrists; damn I forgot; they have full coverage by the best plan in America. They should avail themselves of those essential services.

What do you suppose would be the outcome of a complete psychiatric examine of every member of congress? How many sociopaths would we find? How many alcoholics would be exposed? How many perverts would we find? And if we investigated all of them; how many common criminals would we find?

Just now on Countdown, Jonathan Alter: Their party is in decline... They're "sour".... They have nothing, they offer nothing...

How did he know I was writing this post?

Reid "didn't say anything many Americans -- especially us Negroes -- don't already know"

By GottaLaff

Sandy Banks, a regular contributor to the L.A. Times, wrote about her feelings regarding the Harry Reid "Negro" remarks:

Harry Reid doesn't owe me an apology.

Sure, it was a little odd to see the term "Negro" used outside of a history class or documentary. Sounds like Reid is stuck in the last century.

But the Senate majority leader didn't say anything many Americans -- especially us Negroes -- don't already know.

If you're black, it is easier in this country to be light-skinned. [...]

Obama came by his light skin and dialectical flexibility differently -- as a biracial, bicultural son. But he's a political beneficiary of our color-conscious society; to pretend otherwise is disingenuous.

Reid was stating a fact, however indelicate and impolitic.

Original post about Reid's apology here. Follow-up saying he's not going anywhere here.

But I don't know why I should be offended.

If anyone is insulted, it should be whites -- whom Reid accused implicitly of being willing to vote for a black man only if he talks like them and is not too black.

I think the next apology ought to come from Michael Steele -- the light-skinned, dialectically flexible African American head of the Republican National Committee. [...]

Either Steele is playing politics with a combustible case, or he thinks Americans are so incapable of thinking intelligently about race that we can't tell the difference between Lott and Reid.

Now that offends me.

Please read the whole thing here.

Reid's talking points, intended to blunt fallout here.

Reaction to President Obama's Speech on Afghanistan

By GottaLaff

Taegan's not feeling all that positive about President Obama's speech, thinks we'll be there for years, and doesn't think the president changed any minds. He also gives us some input from a few others:

Andrew Sullivan: "I confess I do not feel those highest hopes. I do not share his confidence in American military and civilian power to turn the roiling region of Afghanistan and Pakistan into something less threatening. I see no reason after the last eight years to see how this can happen, even with these new resources. But if you rule out withdrawal right away, then this seems to me to be about the smartest strategy ahead. But I see absolutely no reason to believe that it will mean withdrawal of any significant amount in Obama's first term."

David Kurtz: "I know many progressives are disenchanted with this decision, but I'm struck again by how Obama is crafting a new progressive narrative for foreign policy and national security. Not just reality-based, though it is that. But an affirmative, positive rationale. Not a reaction to the conservative foreign policy orthodoxy, though it certainly acknowledges it."

John Aravosis: "I think Obama did a good job, especially for a Democrat, on a major military speech. Democrats enter this territory with certain disadvantages. That's why, I think, that Obama did a great job of using the pomp and circumstance of office, as Bush and other Republicans always do, to lend an air of dignity to the evening.

As Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell) said on Countdown tonight, "He came up with the least worst" option. This, to me, seems to be the consensus.

Steve Clemons (also on Countdown) opined that "the Pashtun needs to be more of Obama's target".

Post-Afghanistan speech commentary

By GottaLaff

Livebloggin MSNBC:

Rachel Maddow: This was an anti-oratorical speech... prose. We're used to poetry when it comes to war, the military. No bumper stickers. Pragmatic, down to earth, not soaring rhetoric. A practical approach.

Chris Matthews: There's no clear cut enemy. An indirect war. Don't think he made the point of what we can do relative to what we can't do.

Rachel: One major problem... can't make a coherent case of why were not just leaving. He fudged Pakistan and Afghanistan together. We have a war fought by CIA in Pakistan, by military in Afghanistan.

Chris: Many are against this war. The Cheney rights will hate him, the independents are war weary, left is against the war. So he could be alone.

Rachel: I disagree. He neutralized the opposition... helped left by promise of ending. And right by sending in troops.

Chris: He'll be called the reluctant warrior by the Cheney types... ditherer.... Not a lot of warmth in crowd, especially in older viewers. A strange venue.

Rachel: We're used to Bush jingoistic speeches. He liked the adulation. Obama talking about balancing military with other needs of nation is maybe the most adult thing told to American audiences on the military issue.

Waterboarding and murder: We've done both

By GottaLaff

Your daily dose of BuzzFlash:

Hannity's Waterboarding Distraction Trivializes Torture, Minimizes Murder and Appeals to the Sadist in Us All

Take a look.

Post-100 Days Presser MSNBC commentary

By GottaLaff

On MSNBC, a quick recap with commentary:

Keith Olbermann: He's seen the docs that Cheney referred to. And he's working on the States Secrets doc.

Rachel Maddow: His framing was surprising, one that liberals will be disappointed in.

Keith: Did previous administration sanction torture? He didn't really answer.

Rachel: "Whatever legal rationales were used, it was a mistake." A mistake isn't a crime. But he accepted framing that torture is the quick way, shortcut to get info, but one that might be efficacious in some way.

Keith: He avoided ... calling it a "mistake", like Republicans... dichotomous answer. Specific and informational, but a sidestep.

Rachel: The way I've seen it is not the way Obama sees it.

Tee Vee commentary and open thread post March 24 Obama press conference

By GottaLaff

Keith Olbermann: Obama described this nation as the "big ocean liner". [not a speed boat] "I like to know what I talk about before I speak".

Nice to see Keith quoted that line.

Presidential reassurance conferences, says Keith.

Rachel Maddow: A "bear with me moment"... I'll explain the details when I have to, but just know that I know where I'm going, bear with me.

Keith: "If this were easy, we'd have already gotten it done." He's saying "problems is hard".

Rachel: He wants an ongoing back and forth convo. Not say something and walk away from it.

Keith: Sort of equivalent to the FDR chats, in a faster world.

Chris Matthews: He's not running for prom king. He has a very coherent plan here. He's going to force the Senate to vote up or down on his budget, not piecemeal. A reconciliation matter requiring 50 votes to do it. I'm a transformative president, I'm not here just to get by. I'm not gonna wait for 60 votes, I'm gonna get 50. We're gonna jam this thing through, Harry Reid. He'll use the budget process that Reagan used.

Keith: Plus a preemptive criticism about doing too much, to jump start the economy you have to address it all at once.

Chris: If you don't care if this country succeeds, then put it off. If you want to lose, put it off. He's 64% in the polls, he'll be in the 50s or high 40s in a few months. "We can't wait." I love that quote.

And he does know he's African American. He knows he can't be a good president, but a great one.

Post Mama's Boy, "the anointed one": Open thread

By GottaLaff

CORRECTION: The "anointed" line was referring to Obama. I didn't catch that until the replay some time after I posted this.

Your turn.

Chris Matthews just swallowed it whole: He called him a maverick. He has effectively divorced himself from BushCo, he said. THIS MAN HAS LAUNCHED HIMSELF, I SEE HIM BEING AHEAD IN THE POLLS.

Kool-Aid much, Chris?

Now Kelly O'Donnell is saying his aides are the one who "convinced him" to use his P.O.W. story, and making it a metaphor for change... Has everyone gone mad?

Andrea Mitchell is completely buried under balloons. Hilarious. Keith: The political equivalent of a Chuck E. Cheese. Ha! Brian Williams: The Where's Waldo of this convention.
She just said, "this is the least partisan speech I've heard."

I repeat: Has everyone gone stark raving mad?

Keith: It worked inside the hall. But outside the hall?

Brian: We'll find out. Tom Brokaw and I used the word "warrior" tonight about McCain. He was wedded to the teleprompter. The unfortunate green screen appearance. The song Barracuda that came on after him. The protesters. But this is what it's all about, on the floor. No mention of Bush.

HILLARY:

Statement of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Thursday, Sep 4, 2008

The two party conventions showcased vastly different directions for our country. Senator Obama and Senator Biden offered the new ideas and positive change America needs and deserves after eight years of failed Republican leadership. Senator McCain and Governor Palin do not.

After listening to all the speeches this week, I heard nothing that suggests the Republicans are ready to fix the economy for middle class families, provide quality affordable health care for all Americans, guarantee equal pay for equal work for women, restore our nation's leadership in a complex world or tackle the myriad of challenges our country faces. So, to slightly amend my comments from Denver: NO WAY, NO HOW, NO McCAIN-PALIN.

We have to win. Period.

"There was more spontaneous enthusiasm for Palin than for McCain."-- Michael Gerson. "He talked about being a past maverick. How will he be a future reformer? He didn't answer that." Gerson, a former Bush writer, wasn't impressed.

MSNBC's Ron Allen: He lost them in the middle, but got them back at the end.

Jeff Toobin, CNN: Worst speech by a presidential nominee since Carter. Boring, pointless... I wonder if they sent all their speechwriters over to Palin and forgot about McCain.

Chuck Todd: He should have inserted a Democratic idea to promote, after his line about accepting ideas from everyone. This convention won't be remembered for this speech, but for Palin. The 2 biggest applause moments were when he mentioned her name, and when she came up on stage. Nobody said he was a speechmaker. The producer was surprised there was no trademark McCain humor in this. He's probably relieved this is behind him, looks forward to debate. Said "fight" 25 times. Palin is providing the makeover he needed.

Keith: The green screen, then a plain blue screen (see last post)... What works in a hall doesn't always work on TV. Is it a problem if #2 gets more applause than #1?

David Gregory: Not right now. He accomplished being the leader of the Republican party tonight. This was about the base tonight. I am surprised there wasn't more of a blue print of policy issues. He used a Bush line from 2000 about education. His theme is transcending party, working for the people. The economy is Issue One. Hillary/Obama spoke to that.

People in the room booed when he talked about reaching out to Obama.

Say good night, Laffy. Good nigh, Laffy.