As is this place's wont, there's a celebrity diary at the top of the rec list with over a thousand comments and a long river of drool beneath it. Mind you, this one is by someone who a great many of us feel got his celebrity in a rare and honorable fashion: by deserving it, and for deeper reasons than how well he could play first base.

But it bugs me. The diary is of course Keith Olbermann's response to the a post by Glenn Greenwald, a post that was not linked to in said diary; Greenwald's name wasn't even mentioned until the ninth paragraph or thereabouts. It was a disappointing, childish, and John King-like response.

Please go Digg this story at Crooks & Liars. There's little to add [to this post about the John Cusack film War., Inc.]:

I think the above picture says it all. Sgt. Brent Sammann took this from his overseas Army base, location not divulged, where he wrote in to congratulate Cusack and Co. about the movie. NOTICE THE KBR FLAG, just under the American flag. You gotta be kidding me. On an ARMY BASE?

Why bother having the U.S. flag their at all?

Please go Digg this story. Let's make every decent American see this photo. And best of luck to the good sergeant.

Well, crap. Just got an email saying the truly special American folk hero hobo storyteller human Utah Phillips has passed away. His friend Chris Chandler says it in a way only he can:

Our pathetic excuse for a president said yesterday that he quit playing golf in August 2003 after the bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, which killed the UN's top official in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Bush said the event moved him to give up the game he loved out of respect for the men and women he sent to war. He said it "sends the wrong signal."

Damn.

Deborah Jeane Palfrey was convicted two weeks ago in her prostitution case. Last night she committed suicide.

Senator David Vitter was one of her customers, or, as he put it, he "made some mistakes" that were related to Ms. Palfrey's business.

I'm in a pissed off mood about awful crap today so I went to cheer myself up and watch live as a giant squid is unfolded and dissected in New Zealand. I think it's beginning now or soon. And here's a Squid Blog.

More under the fold

John McCain gave a speech this morning at the The Associated Press annual meeting in Washington. I caught just a bit of it and listened as McCain lectured the American press on "issues" that were issues only because the Right Wing Nonsense Machine said they should be.  

McCain actually specifically brought up the New York Times' revealing of the Bush administration's warrantless domestic spy programs, saying that it "crossed the line."

No fucking way.

You've probably seen this going around this morning.

Drudge is linking to a story in The Politico that has the headline: "Obama advance: 'Get me more white people'."

Fark is linking to a story at ABC's Politicial Punch (with Jake Tapper) that has the headline "We need more white people."

400 Right Wing bloggers are linking to the story.

Punchline: The comment was reportedly made by an unnamed "event coordinator"...at a Michelle Obama speaking event.

Easy contact info below. - *** Email address updated.

I blogged this a couple days ago and haven't seen it here. Even if it was here I haven't seen it on the rec list - and this is a pretty heart-stomping story.

Jayci Yaeger has late stage brain cancer. Her father, Jason Yaeger, is in federal prison on methamphetamine charges. The guy is due to be released to a half-way house in August - less than five months away - but they won't give him an "extraordinary circumstances" 30-day release to see his near-dead daughter.

More and contact info below.

This diary (and this diary) tells us the sordid tale of a new HRC ad which [gasping for air] pretends to be a news cast!

Except it doesn't.

The story was reported by The Politico, who got the transcript for the ad from the Obama campaign.

The Politico is now reporting that the transcript was not accurate, and that the aired ad starts with the words:

"I'm Hillary Clinton, and I approved this message."

Ouch.

Update: The Entire Apology [end update]

I just got a call from my Aussie other half and she said the Australian parliament is about to begin a session in which the new (dirty freaking hippie) PM Kevin Rudd will officially apologize to the Aboriginal people.

She'd gotten a call from her sis, in tears, and called me in tears just to let me know. Goddam, moments like these remind me why I'm on this side of the political sphere.

Links below.

UPDATED BELOW

Short diary warning: Shuster suspended from NBC for "pimp" comment.

Shuster Suspended For "Pimped Out" Comment
NBC NEWS STATEMENT REGARDING CHELSEA CLINTON COMMENT:

On Thursday's "Tucker" on MSNBC, David Shuster, who was serving as guest-host of the program, made a comment about Chelsea Clinton and the Clinton campaign that was irresponsible and inappropriate. Shuster, who apologized this morning on MSNBC and will again this evening, has been suspended from appearing on all NBC News broadcasts, other than to make his apology. He has also extended an apology to the Clinton family. NBC News takes these matters seriously, and offers our sincere regrets to the Clintons for the remarks.

>More from an insider: the suspension is temporary and includes Shuster's MSNBC appearances.

A tiny bit of commentary: I think it's too much. I think it was a truly shitty comment - just one beef being Chelsea is a grown woman and can make her own fucking choices, idiot - but damn, Chris Matthews has done worse than this a hundred times. Suspend his sorry ass.

That's all.

I just saw this at C&L and man, I find this very low:

In what may be Obama’s most direct and aggressive criticism of Bill Clinton’s presidency yet, the Obama campaign dropped a new mailer just before Super Tuesday that blasts “the Clintons” for wreaking massive losses on the Democratic party throughout the 1990s.

“8 years of the Clintons, major losses for Democrats across the nation,” reads the mailer, which goes on to list the post-1992 losses suffered by Dems among governors, Senators and members of the House of Representatives.

"The Clintons"? Was HRC co-president? [Update: HRC claims the experience, as commenters have pointed out, so it's fair game. You've changed me.]

Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal, in what has to be one of the most far-reaching and morally twisted arguments supporting waterboarding ever witnessed, says, just for starters, this:

The death last week of Paul Tibbets Jr., the pilot of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945, is an opportunity to revisit the debate about the strategic value and moral justification of the aerial bombardment of civilian targets in wartime. It also casts some light on the controversy surrounding Michael Mukasey's nomination to be the next attorney general of the United States.

You'll probably need time to let that sink in. Jump below when it has.

UPDATE: The story is gone from Drudge's front page. Completely gone. Not so "developing" anymore, it would seem. [End update]

Scott Thomas Beauchamp, the man the RW Wankosphere can't stop fantasizing about:

SHOCK DOCS: THE NEW REPUBLIC 'SHOCK TROOPS' STORY COLLAPSES  —  The DRUDGE REPORT has obtained internal documents from the investigation of THE NEW REPUBLIC'S "Baghdad Diarist", Scott Thomas Beauchamp, an Army private turned war correspondent who reported tales of military malfeasance from the Iraq War front.

Jump the fold for the Earth-shattering details.

Remember the letter Harry Reid wrote to clear Channel Communications, asking Rush Limbaugh to apologize for his "phony soldiers" comment?

It's for sale on eBay (by a Rush lover):

Dara and Bo Wilkerson had a baby, Bethany, in 2005. At three months she was diagnosed with a heart defect. The Wilkersons both work in a restaurant, have no medical insurance, and used the SCHIP program to pay for Bethany's treatment - and save her life. They appear in a new ad for the program, hoping, like the Frosts, that other children will benefit from it too. The Wilkersons say they expect attacks similar to those the Frosts endured, but don't fear them.

The NRO's Mark Hemingway begins the attacks today:

UPDATE: The Wilkerson's crush one of Hemingway's charges. See end. (End update.)

"IMMUNITY" IS NOT the word that should be being used to highlight and headline stories regarding the case of the telecoms and the FISA bill. "Retroactive immunity" is not even right. These terms put the focus of this story on the telecoms. It belongs on the White House. If the word is going to be used at all, it should be along the lines of "Bush seeking protection for possible White House crimes with immunity request."