Jan 22, 2011 || World News

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Re: Keith Olbermann Leaves ‘Countdown’, But His Legacy Remains on MSNBC

As an old radio talk show host Jerry Williams often would
ask ! " What's the matter Tommy ? You sound ANNOYED " !

***************************************************************************************************************************************

On Jan 22, 11:56 am, Tommy News <tommysn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Say Goodnight Faux Noise, Glenn Beck, Gretchen Van Snide of Mouth and
> The Rest Of The Crazy Wing Nut Unfair and Unbalanced Pundits
>
> On 1/22/11, Keith In Köln <keithinta...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Once Comcast completes the buy-out from G.E., rest assured that NBC, and
> > MSNBC will return to profitability, and hopefully, a sense of rationality.
> > I tend to believe this is the reason that Moonbat extradordiniare Olbermann
> > flew the coop now, versus being termianted. The writing was on the wall.
> > Say G'Night Maddow, Schultz, and the rest of the crazy
> > Anti-American's.....Your fifteen minutes of fame are over!
>
> >> Olbermann Leaves 'Countdown' on MSNBC
> >> By BILL CARTER
>
> >> Virginia Sherwood/MSNBC
>
> >> Keith Olbermann in November.
> >> 12:05 a.m. | Updated Keith Olbermann, the highest-rated host on MSNBC,
> >> announced abruptly on the air Friday night that he was leaving his
> >> show, "Countdown," immediately.
>
> >> The host, who has had a stormy relationship with the management of the
> >> network for some time, especially since he was suspended for two days
> >> last November, came to an agreement with NBC's corporate management
> >> late this week to settle his contract and step down.
>
> >> In a closing statement on his show, Mr. Olbermann said simply that it
> >> would be the last edition of the program. He offered no explanation
> >> other than on occasion "all that surrounded the show – but never the
> >> show itself – was just too much for me."
>
> >> Mr. Olbermann thanked his viewers for their enthusiastic support of a
> >> show that had "gradually established its position as
> >> antiestablishment."
>
> >> In a statement, MSNBC said: "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended
> >> their contract. The last broadcast of 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann'
> >> will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in
> >> MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors."
>
> >> NBC executives said the move had nothing to do with the impending
> >> takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast. With viewers and fans of Mr.
> >> Olbermann suggesting that Comcast was responsible for forcing Mr.
> >> Olbermann out, Comcast also released an official statement late Friday
> >> night:
>
> >> "Comcast has not closed the transaction for NBC Universal and has no
> >> operational control at any of its properties including MSNBC. We
> >> pledged from the day the deal was announced that we would not
> >> interfere with NBC Universal's news operations. We have not and we
> >> will not."
>
> >> MSNBC announced that "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell would
> >> replace "Countdown" at 8 p.m., with "The Ed Show" with Ed Schultz
> >> taking Mr. O'Donnell's slot at 10 p.m. Mr. Olbermann did not discuss
> >> any future plans, but NBC executives said one term of his settlement
> >> would keep him from moving to another network for an extended period
> >> of time.
>
> >> Mr. Olbermann signed a four-year contract extension in 2008 for an
> >> estimated $30 million. He had hosted "Countdown" at 8 p.m. since 2003
> >> and it became the foundation of the channel's surge to its status as
> >> the second-ranked news channel on cable television, after Fox News,
> >> surpassing the one-time leader CNN.
>
> >> Mr. Olbermann's outspoken, and sometimes controversial, support of
> >> liberal positions and Democratic candidates redefined MSNBC from a
> >> neutral news channel to one that openly offered a voice to viewers on
> >> the left, much as Fox News has done for conservatives.
>
> >> Mr. Olbermann challenged Fox News publicly on numerous occasions,
> >> especially the top-rated cable host Bill O'Reilly.
>
> >> Ratings for Mr. Olbermann's show grew, though he never approached Mr.
> >> O'Reilly's level of popularity. But he helped expand the MSNBC brand
> >> by his frequent invitations to Rachel Maddow, who was eventually
> >> offered her own show on MSNBC.
>
> >> Ms. Maddow became the 9 p.m. host following Mr. Olbermann and has
> >> built such a successful show that some NBC executives felt less
> >> concerned about losing Mr. Olbermann as the signature star of the
> >> network.
>
> >> According to several senior network executives, NBC's management had
> >> been close to firing Mr. Olbermann on previous occasions, most
> >> recently in November after he revealed that he had made donations to
> >> several Democratic candidates in 2010 — one of them, coincidentally,
> >> was Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who has been the subject of
> >> many of his recent shows after being shot in an assassination attempt.
>
> >> The top MSNBC executive, Phil Griffin, said the donations had violated
> >> NBC News standards and ordered Mr. Olbermann suspended. His fans
> >> responded with a petition to reinstate him that attracted over 250,000
> >> signatures. Mr. Olbermann returned two days later. In his response he
> >> said the rules on donations had been "inconsistently applied."
>
> >> More:
>
> >>http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last...
>
> >> Keith Olbermann out at MSNBC
> >> By Greg Sargent
> >> So Keith Olbermann is out. As best as I can tell, none of the news
> >> accounts about his departure have gotten to the bottom of what
> >> happened here. But Olbermann himself offered enough clues in his final
> >> broadcast for us to reasonably speculate that he abruptly got the ax,
> >> perhaps even as late as last night.
>
> >> A "knowledgeable official" at MSNBC told Howard Kurtz that the
> >> separation was "mutual." But it's hard to see how that squares with
> >> this, from Olbermann's last words on Countdown last night:
>
> >> "I think the same fantasy has popped into the head of everybody in my
> >> business who has ever been told what I have been told, that this is
> >> going to be the last edition of your show. You go directly to the
> >> scene from the movie 'Network,' complete with the pajamas, and the
> >> raincoat, and you go off on an existential, otherworldly journey of
> >> profundity and vision...
>
> >> "When I resigned from ESPN 13 and a half years ago, I was literally
> >> given 30 seconds to say goodbye at the very end of my last edition of
> >> "Sports Center." As God is my witness, in the commercial break just
> >> before the emotional moment, the producer got into my earpiece and he
> >> said, `uh, can you cut it down to 15 seconds, so we can get in this
> >> tennis result from Stuttgart? So I'm grateful that I have a little
> >> more time to sign off here."
>
> >> Between this and the shell-shocked look Olbermann had last night, it
> >> seems clear that he may have been abruptly informed that he was
> >> history, perhaps even during last night's show. That would also square
> >> with the experience of Josh Marshall, who was actually on Olbermann
> >> last night and had no sense that anything was amiss.
>
> >> We already know that MSNBC president Phil Griffin had been gunning for
> >> Olbermann for some time now. MSNBC was reportedly close to firing
> >> Olbermann on several occasions. Recall that during the ridiculous flap
> >> over Olbermann's political donations, in which he responded to his
> >> suspension with a show of public defiance, Griffin flatly told
> >> Olbermann's representative: "We are at war."
>
> >> Soon enough we'll have a clearer sense of why this happened, and we
> >> can deal with it then. But for now, let's thank Olbermann for all his
> >> hard work. He's rich, popular and has a huge following that's likely
> >> to follow him to his next endeavor. He'll be just fine.
>
> >> What of Olbermann's legacy? There's a great deal of crowing on the
> >> right about Olbermann's apparent ouster. But let's be clear on what he
> >> accomplished: He helped clear a huge space on the airwaves for
> >> "unapologetic liberalism," as Steve Benen puts it, when it remained
> >> anything but certain that such a space could be created with any
> >> measure of success.
>
> >> The unexpected popularity of Olbermann's show early on cleared the way
> >> for MSNBC to stack its nighttime lineup with pugnacious lefty hosts.
> >> Indeed, it was Olbermann who invited Rachel Maddow on repeatedly as a
> >> guest, raising her profile to the point where she got her own show.
> >> Olbermann, followed by Maddow, proved in the face of enormous
> >> skepticism that there's a huge audience out there for real liberal
> >> talk-show hosts to adopt the sort of take-no-prisoners approach once
> >> monopolized by the right. Only they accomplished this without
> >> descending into the crackpot conspiracy mongering and all-around
> >> ugliness of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
>
> >> Indeed, there's already talk that CNN might be interested in picking
> >> up Olbermann. While that seems unlikely, given CNN's more staid air,
> >> the mere fact that it's being discussed at all shows how much he
> >> helped change the landscape.
>
> >> Olbermann may be gone, but the space he did so much to help create is
> >> here to stay.
>
> >> More:
>
> >>http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last...
> >> --
> >> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> >> Have a great day,
> >> Tommy
>
> >> --
> >> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
> >> For options & help seehttp://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>
> >> * Visit our other community at
> >>http://www.PoliticalForum.com/<http://www.politicalforum.com/>
> >> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
> >> * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
>
> > --
> > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
> > For options & help seehttp://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>
> > * Visit our other community athttp://www.PoliticalForum.com/
> > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
> > * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
>
> --
> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> Have a great day,
> Tommy- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum

* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.

Re: Keith Olbermann Leaves ‘Countdown’, But His Legacy Remains on MSNBC

Uhm.......Lil'Tommie? Have you looked at the ratings recently?

On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 5:56 PM, Tommy News <tommysnews@gmail.com> wrote:

Say Goodnight Faux Noise, Glenn Beck, Gretchen Van Snide of Mouth and
The Rest Of The Crazy Wing Nut Unfair and Unbalanced Pundits

On 1/22/11, Keith In Köln <keithintampa@gmail.com> wrote:
> Once Comcast completes the buy-out from G.E., rest assured that NBC, and
> MSNBC will return to profitability, and hopefully, a sense of rationality.
> I tend to believe this is the reason that Moonbat extradordiniare Olbermann
> flew the coop now, versus being termianted. The writing was on the wall.
> Say G'Night Maddow, Schultz, and the rest of the crazy
> Anti-American's.....Your fifteen minutes of fame are over!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> Olbermann Leaves 'Countdown' on MSNBC
>> By BILL CARTER
>>
>> Virginia Sherwood/MSNBC
>>
>> Keith Olbermann in November.
>> 12:05 a.m. | Updated Keith Olbermann, the highest-rated host on MSNBC,
>> announced abruptly on the air Friday night that he was leaving his
>> show, "Countdown," immediately.
>>
>> The host, who has had a stormy relationship with the management of the
>> network for some time, especially since he was suspended for two days
>> last November, came to an agreement with NBC's corporate management
>> late this week to settle his contract and step down.
>>
>> In a closing statement on his show, Mr. Olbermann said simply that it
>> would be the last edition of the program. He offered no explanation
>> other than on occasion "all that surrounded the show – but never the
>> show itself – was just too much for me."
>>
>> Mr. Olbermann thanked his viewers for their enthusiastic support of a
>> show that had "gradually established its position as
>> antiestablishment."
>>
>> In a statement, MSNBC said: "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended
>> their contract. The last broadcast of 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann'
>> will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in
>> MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors."
>>
>> NBC executives said the move had nothing to do with the impending
>> takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast. With viewers and fans of Mr.
>> Olbermann suggesting that Comcast was responsible for forcing Mr.
>> Olbermann out, Comcast also released an official statement late Friday
>> night:
>>
>> "Comcast has not closed the transaction for NBC Universal and has no
>> operational control at any of its properties including MSNBC. We
>> pledged from the day the deal was announced that we would not
>> interfere with NBC Universal's news operations. We have not and we
>> will not."
>>
>> MSNBC announced that "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell would
>> replace "Countdown" at 8 p.m., with "The Ed Show" with Ed Schultz
>> taking Mr. O'Donnell's slot at 10 p.m. Mr. Olbermann did not discuss
>> any future plans, but NBC executives said one term of his settlement
>> would keep him from moving to another network for an extended period
>> of time.
>>
>> Mr. Olbermann signed a four-year contract extension in 2008 for an
>> estimated $30 million. He had hosted "Countdown" at 8 p.m. since 2003
>> and it became the foundation of the channel's surge to its status as
>> the second-ranked news channel on cable television, after Fox News,
>> surpassing the one-time leader CNN.
>>
>> Mr. Olbermann's outspoken, and sometimes controversial, support of
>> liberal positions and Democratic candidates redefined MSNBC from a
>> neutral news channel to one that openly offered a voice to viewers on
>> the left, much as Fox News has done for conservatives.
>>
>> Mr. Olbermann challenged Fox News publicly on numerous occasions,
>> especially the top-rated cable host Bill O'Reilly.
>>
>> Ratings for Mr. Olbermann's show grew, though he never approached Mr.
>> O'Reilly's level of popularity. But he helped expand the MSNBC brand
>> by his frequent invitations to Rachel Maddow, who was eventually
>> offered her own show on MSNBC.
>>
>> Ms. Maddow became the 9 p.m. host following Mr. Olbermann and has
>> built such a successful show that some NBC executives felt less
>> concerned about losing Mr. Olbermann as the signature star of the
>> network.
>>
>> According to several senior network executives, NBC's management had
>> been close to firing Mr. Olbermann on previous occasions, most
>> recently in November after he revealed that he had made donations to
>> several Democratic candidates in 2010 — one of them, coincidentally,
>> was Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who has been the subject of
>> many of his recent shows after being shot in an assassination attempt.
>>
>> The top MSNBC executive, Phil Griffin, said the donations had violated
>> NBC News standards and ordered Mr. Olbermann suspended. His fans
>> responded with a petition to reinstate him that attracted over 250,000
>> signatures. Mr. Olbermann returned two days later. In his response he
>> said the rules on donations had been "inconsistently applied."
>>
>> More:
>>
>> http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/?hp
>>
>> Keith Olbermann out at MSNBC
>> By Greg Sargent
>> So Keith Olbermann is out. As best as I can tell, none of the news
>> accounts about his departure have gotten to the bottom of what
>> happened here. But Olbermann himself offered enough clues in his final
>> broadcast for us to reasonably speculate that he abruptly got the ax,
>> perhaps even as late as last night.
>>
>> A "knowledgeable official" at MSNBC told Howard Kurtz that the
>> separation was "mutual." But it's hard to see how that squares with
>> this, from Olbermann's last words on Countdown last night:
>>
>> "I think the same fantasy has popped into the head of everybody in my
>> business who has ever been told what I have been told, that this is
>> going to be the last edition of your show. You go directly to the
>> scene from the movie 'Network,' complete with the pajamas, and the
>> raincoat, and you go off on an existential, otherworldly journey of
>> profundity and vision...
>>
>> "When I resigned from ESPN 13 and a half years ago, I was literally
>> given 30 seconds to say goodbye at the very end of my last edition of
>> "Sports Center." As God is my witness, in the commercial break just
>> before the emotional moment, the producer got into my earpiece and he
>> said, `uh, can you cut it down to 15 seconds, so we can get in this
>> tennis result from Stuttgart? So I'm grateful that I have a little
>> more time to sign off here."
>>
>> Between this and the shell-shocked look Olbermann had last night, it
>> seems clear that he may have been abruptly informed that he was
>> history, perhaps even during last night's show. That would also square
>> with the experience of Josh Marshall, who was actually on Olbermann
>> last night and had no sense that anything was amiss.
>>
>> We already know that MSNBC president Phil Griffin had been gunning for
>> Olbermann for some time now. MSNBC was reportedly close to firing
>> Olbermann on several occasions. Recall that during the ridiculous flap
>> over Olbermann's political donations, in which he responded to his
>> suspension with a show of public defiance, Griffin flatly told
>> Olbermann's representative: "We are at war."
>>
>> Soon enough we'll have a clearer sense of why this happened, and we
>> can deal with it then. But for now, let's thank Olbermann for all his
>> hard work. He's rich, popular and has a huge following that's likely
>> to follow him to his next endeavor. He'll be just fine.
>>
>> What of Olbermann's legacy? There's a great deal of crowing on the
>> right about Olbermann's apparent ouster. But let's be clear on what he
>> accomplished: He helped clear a huge space on the airwaves for
>> "unapologetic liberalism," as Steve Benen puts it, when it remained
>> anything but certain that such a space could be created with any
>> measure of success.
>>
>> The unexpected popularity of Olbermann's show early on cleared the way
>> for MSNBC to stack its nighttime lineup with pugnacious lefty hosts.
>> Indeed, it was Olbermann who invited Rachel Maddow on repeatedly as a
>> guest, raising her profile to the point where she got her own show.
>> Olbermann, followed by Maddow, proved in the face of enormous
>> skepticism that there's a huge audience out there for real liberal
>> talk-show hosts to adopt the sort of take-no-prisoners approach once
>> monopolized by the right. Only they accomplished this without
>> descending into the crackpot conspiracy mongering and all-around
>> ugliness of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
>>
>> Indeed, there's already talk that CNN might be interested in picking
>> up Olbermann. While that seems unlikely, given CNN's more staid air,
>> the mere fact that it's being discussed at all shows how much he
>> helped change the landscape.
>>
>> Olbermann may be gone, but the space he did so much to help create is
>> here to stay.
>>
>> More:
>>
>> http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/?hp
>> --
>> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
>> Have a great day,
>> Tommy
>>
>> --
>> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
>> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>>
>> * Visit our other community at

>> http://www.PoliticalForum.com/<http://www.politicalforum.com/>

>> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
>> * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
>
> --
> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>
> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
> * Read the latest breaking news, and more.

--

Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum

* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.

--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum

* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.

California Court Rules Ammunition Ban AB962 Unconstitutional

California Court Rules Ammunition Ban AB962 Unconstitutional
http://www.crpa.org/_e/page/1597/mr01_18_2011.htm

"In a dramatic ruling giving gun owners a win in an National Rifle Association/California Rifle and Pistol (CRPA) Foundation lawsuit, this morning Fresno Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hamilton ruled that AB 962, the hotly contested statute that would have banned mail order ammunition sales and required all purchases of so called "handgun ammunition” to be registered, was unconstitutionally vague on its face. The Court enjoined enforcement of the statute, so mail order ammunition sales to California can continue unabated, and ammunition sales need not be registered under the law."

--
"An armed society is a polite society."
- Robert Heinlein

When dealing with legal issues, far too many people rely on stupid ideas offered by amateurs who send out emails or hold weekend seminars! Learn how to control judges and lawyers from a lawyer with a quarter-century of experience winning lawsuits!

Re: Keith Olbermann Leaves ‘Countdown’, But His Legacy Remains on MSNBC

Say Goodnight Faux Noise, Glenn Beck, Gretchen Van Snide of Mouth and
The Rest Of The Crazy Wing Nut Unfair and Unbalanced Pundits

On 1/22/11, Keith In Köln <keithintampa@gmail.com> wrote:
> Once Comcast completes the buy-out from G.E., rest assured that NBC, and
> MSNBC will return to profitability, and hopefully, a sense of rationality.
> I tend to believe this is the reason that Moonbat extradordiniare Olbermann
> flew the coop now, versus being termianted. The writing was on the wall.
> Say G'Night Maddow, Schultz, and the rest of the crazy
> Anti-American's.....Your fifteen minutes of fame are over!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> Olbermann Leaves 'Countdown' on MSNBC
>> By BILL CARTER
>>
>> Virginia Sherwood/MSNBC
>>
>> Keith Olbermann in November.
>> 12:05 a.m. | Updated Keith Olbermann, the highest-rated host on MSNBC,
>> announced abruptly on the air Friday night that he was leaving his
>> show, "Countdown," immediately.
>>
>> The host, who has had a stormy relationship with the management of the
>> network for some time, especially since he was suspended for two days
>> last November, came to an agreement with NBC's corporate management
>> late this week to settle his contract and step down.
>>
>> In a closing statement on his show, Mr. Olbermann said simply that it
>> would be the last edition of the program. He offered no explanation
>> other than on occasion "all that surrounded the show – but never the
>> show itself – was just too much for me."
>>
>> Mr. Olbermann thanked his viewers for their enthusiastic support of a
>> show that had "gradually established its position as
>> antiestablishment."
>>
>> In a statement, MSNBC said: "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended
>> their contract. The last broadcast of 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann'
>> will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in
>> MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors."
>>
>> NBC executives said the move had nothing to do with the impending
>> takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast. With viewers and fans of Mr.
>> Olbermann suggesting that Comcast was responsible for forcing Mr.
>> Olbermann out, Comcast also released an official statement late Friday
>> night:
>>
>> "Comcast has not closed the transaction for NBC Universal and has no
>> operational control at any of its properties including MSNBC. We
>> pledged from the day the deal was announced that we would not
>> interfere with NBC Universal's news operations. We have not and we
>> will not."
>>
>> MSNBC announced that "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell would
>> replace "Countdown" at 8 p.m., with "The Ed Show" with Ed Schultz
>> taking Mr. O'Donnell's slot at 10 p.m. Mr. Olbermann did not discuss
>> any future plans, but NBC executives said one term of his settlement
>> would keep him from moving to another network for an extended period
>> of time.
>>
>> Mr. Olbermann signed a four-year contract extension in 2008 for an
>> estimated $30 million. He had hosted "Countdown" at 8 p.m. since 2003
>> and it became the foundation of the channel's surge to its status as
>> the second-ranked news channel on cable television, after Fox News,
>> surpassing the one-time leader CNN.
>>
>> Mr. Olbermann's outspoken, and sometimes controversial, support of
>> liberal positions and Democratic candidates redefined MSNBC from a
>> neutral news channel to one that openly offered a voice to viewers on
>> the left, much as Fox News has done for conservatives.
>>
>> Mr. Olbermann challenged Fox News publicly on numerous occasions,
>> especially the top-rated cable host Bill O'Reilly.
>>
>> Ratings for Mr. Olbermann's show grew, though he never approached Mr.
>> O'Reilly's level of popularity. But he helped expand the MSNBC brand
>> by his frequent invitations to Rachel Maddow, who was eventually
>> offered her own show on MSNBC.
>>
>> Ms. Maddow became the 9 p.m. host following Mr. Olbermann and has
>> built such a successful show that some NBC executives felt less
>> concerned about losing Mr. Olbermann as the signature star of the
>> network.
>>
>> According to several senior network executives, NBC's management had
>> been close to firing Mr. Olbermann on previous occasions, most
>> recently in November after he revealed that he had made donations to
>> several Democratic candidates in 2010 — one of them, coincidentally,
>> was Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who has been the subject of
>> many of his recent shows after being shot in an assassination attempt.
>>
>> The top MSNBC executive, Phil Griffin, said the donations had violated
>> NBC News standards and ordered Mr. Olbermann suspended. His fans
>> responded with a petition to reinstate him that attracted over 250,000
>> signatures. Mr. Olbermann returned two days later. In his response he
>> said the rules on donations had been "inconsistently applied."
>>
>> More:
>>
>> http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/?hp
>>
>> Keith Olbermann out at MSNBC
>> By Greg Sargent
>> So Keith Olbermann is out. As best as I can tell, none of the news
>> accounts about his departure have gotten to the bottom of what
>> happened here. But Olbermann himself offered enough clues in his final
>> broadcast for us to reasonably speculate that he abruptly got the ax,
>> perhaps even as late as last night.
>>
>> A "knowledgeable official" at MSNBC told Howard Kurtz that the
>> separation was "mutual." But it's hard to see how that squares with
>> this, from Olbermann's last words on Countdown last night:
>>
>> "I think the same fantasy has popped into the head of everybody in my
>> business who has ever been told what I have been told, that this is
>> going to be the last edition of your show. You go directly to the
>> scene from the movie 'Network,' complete with the pajamas, and the
>> raincoat, and you go off on an existential, otherworldly journey of
>> profundity and vision...
>>
>> "When I resigned from ESPN 13 and a half years ago, I was literally
>> given 30 seconds to say goodbye at the very end of my last edition of
>> "Sports Center." As God is my witness, in the commercial break just
>> before the emotional moment, the producer got into my earpiece and he
>> said, `uh, can you cut it down to 15 seconds, so we can get in this
>> tennis result from Stuttgart? So I'm grateful that I have a little
>> more time to sign off here."
>>
>> Between this and the shell-shocked look Olbermann had last night, it
>> seems clear that he may have been abruptly informed that he was
>> history, perhaps even during last night's show. That would also square
>> with the experience of Josh Marshall, who was actually on Olbermann
>> last night and had no sense that anything was amiss.
>>
>> We already know that MSNBC president Phil Griffin had been gunning for
>> Olbermann for some time now. MSNBC was reportedly close to firing
>> Olbermann on several occasions. Recall that during the ridiculous flap
>> over Olbermann's political donations, in which he responded to his
>> suspension with a show of public defiance, Griffin flatly told
>> Olbermann's representative: "We are at war."
>>
>> Soon enough we'll have a clearer sense of why this happened, and we
>> can deal with it then. But for now, let's thank Olbermann for all his
>> hard work. He's rich, popular and has a huge following that's likely
>> to follow him to his next endeavor. He'll be just fine.
>>
>> What of Olbermann's legacy? There's a great deal of crowing on the
>> right about Olbermann's apparent ouster. But let's be clear on what he
>> accomplished: He helped clear a huge space on the airwaves for
>> "unapologetic liberalism," as Steve Benen puts it, when it remained
>> anything but certain that such a space could be created with any
>> measure of success.
>>
>> The unexpected popularity of Olbermann's show early on cleared the way
>> for MSNBC to stack its nighttime lineup with pugnacious lefty hosts.
>> Indeed, it was Olbermann who invited Rachel Maddow on repeatedly as a
>> guest, raising her profile to the point where she got her own show.
>> Olbermann, followed by Maddow, proved in the face of enormous
>> skepticism that there's a huge audience out there for real liberal
>> talk-show hosts to adopt the sort of take-no-prisoners approach once
>> monopolized by the right. Only they accomplished this without
>> descending into the crackpot conspiracy mongering and all-around
>> ugliness of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
>>
>> Indeed, there's already talk that CNN might be interested in picking
>> up Olbermann. While that seems unlikely, given CNN's more staid air,
>> the mere fact that it's being discussed at all shows how much he
>> helped change the landscape.
>>
>> Olbermann may be gone, but the space he did so much to help create is
>> here to stay.
>>
>> More:
>>
>> http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/?hp
>> --
>> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
>> Have a great day,
>> Tommy
>>
>> --
>> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
>> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>>
>> * Visit our other community at
>> http://www.PoliticalForum.com/<http://www.politicalforum.com/>
>> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
>> * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
>
> --
> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>
> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
> * Read the latest breaking news, and more.

--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum

* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
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* Read the latest breaking news, and more.

Pakistan's Road to Disintegration

Pakistan's Road to Disintegration
Posted By Guest Share On 22/01/2011 (8:12 PM) In Interview

Expert's Opinion or Something Else?

In the first few days of this year, Pakistan's coalition government was thrust into crisis after losing a coalition partner, and then a top politician–Punjab Governor Salman Taseer–was assassinated. A leading expert on the country, Stephen P. Cohen, says these incidents are symptoms of the profound problems tugging the country apart. "The fundamentals of the state are either failing or questionable, and this applies to both the idea of Pakistan, the ideology of the state, the purpose of the state, and also to the coherence of the state itself," Cohen says. "I wouldn't predict a comprehensive failure soon, but clearly that's the direction in which Pakistan is moving." On a recent trip, he was struck by the growing sense of insecurity in Pakistan, even within the military, and the growing importance of China.

What's the situation in Pakistan these days, given a key partner's withdrawal from the coalition government, and the assassination of a leading member of the ruling coalition, who opposed the blasphemy law which has support among the country's Muslim population?

These are symptoms of a deeper problem in Pakistan. There is not going to be any good news from Pakistan for some time, if ever, because the fundamentals of the state are either failing or questionable. This applies to both the idea of Pakistan, the ideology of the state, the purpose of the state, and also to the coherence of the state itself. Pakistan has lost a lot of its "stateness," that is the qualities that make a modern government function effectively. So there's failure in Pakistan on all counts. I wouldn't predict a comprehensive failure soon but clearly that's the direction in which Pakistan is moving.

Given Pakistan's possession of nuclear weapons and its strategic location between Afghanistan and India, for the United States this is a looming crisis, isn't it.

All U.S. policies toward Pakistan are bad, and some are perhaps worse than others. We don't know whether leveling with Pakistan is going to improve things or make it worse. Ideally, we would own a time machine in which we could roll back history and reverse a lot of decisions we made in the past. Hopefully, we won't make any more fundamentally wrong decisions in the future, but that may not prevent Pakistan from going further down the road to disintegration. Someone in the State Department was quoted in a WikiLeaks document [as saying] that if it weren't for nuclear weapons, Pakistan would be the Congo. I would compare it to Nigeria without oil. It wouldn't be a serious state. But the nuclear weapons and the country's organized terrorist machinery do make it quite serious.

If it is anybody's problem in the future, it is going to be China's problem. I just spent several weeks in Pakistan. One thing I discovered was the country insecurity in a way I had never seen it, even in military cantonments. The other was that China's influence in Pakistan was much greater and deeper than I had imagined it to be. In a sense that's India's problem, but in the long run, it will be China's problem.

Describe China's influence.

China is Pakistan's major military supplier. Of course, they supplied military technology and probably put Pakistanis in touch with the North Koreans for missile technology. The Chinese have one concern in Pakistan and that is the training of Chinese militants and extremists inside of Pakistan. The Chinese have no problem with the Tiananmen Square-type of crowd control. When the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) was blown up in Islamabad in 2007, it came after some ten Chinese were kidnapped and the Chinese complained publicly. The Pakistanis had ignored our protests about the Mosque for many years. But they moved quickly when the Chinese protested, killing many women and children in the process. That was one of the turning points in President Pervez Musharraf's career, because that turned many militants against him. Before that time, he had either ignored or supported them, but after Lal Masjid, they became his enemy.

How important are the militants or terrorists? Can they control the state?

Militants–whether you call them anti-American, anti-liberal, or anti-secular–seem to have a veto over politics in Pakistan, but they can't govern the state. The parties control the elections but they can prevent others from governing, and they may prevent the military from governing as well.

Some people have been hoping for a military coup, but you don't think that will happen?

We have to do what we can do and prepare for the failure of Pakistan, which could happen in four or five or six years.

I don't think the military wants to be in that position now. I don't think the military chief Ashfaq Kayani has such a game plan. He is as smart and calculating as President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq [military president from 1977 until his assassination in 1988] was. He is quite different from Musharraf–not an Islamist himself, but he has certainly supported them in the past. I know the Pakistan military cannot govern Pakistan. They've tried it three times in the past and each time failed. This time they would have to deal with more active militants. The liberal forces are in retreat, and I don't see the army supporting the liberal forces in Pakistan.

Talk about the anti-American feeling. How did it develop into such a strong national sentiment?

Historically, the Pakistani elite have created a narrative of U.S.-Pakistan relations which always shows the United States letting Pakistan down. A turning point was the Iranian revolution of 1979, [which] showed a lot of Pakistanis that standing up to the Americans, embarrassing the Americans, humiliating the Americans felt good. Whether they were Sunnis or Shiites in Pakistan, it felt good. It all goes back to everyone in Pakistan concerned about American policy toward Israel and the Middle East. They seem to care more about Israel and Palestine than they do about themselves. The irony of Pakistan is that their major foreign policy obsessions are ones that they can't do anything about, including Israel and Palestine. When the U.S. and NATO forces moved into Iraq and Afghanistan, that was seen as a direct threat to Pakistan. They feared that the Islamist states were being knocked off one after another, beginning with Iraq, and going on to Afghanistan, and winding up with Pakistan. Most of that is imagined, but many Pakistanis believe it is true.

We've had a breakup of the coalition government, which happens all the time around the world, but why was so much gloom and doom expressed in Pakistan?

It's the incapacity of the Pakistani state to educate its own people in a modern fashion; it's the failure of the Pakistani economy to grow at all. If this was an American analogy, you would say Pakistan is a house under water. Except for its territory, which is strategically important, there is not much in Pakistan that is of benefit to anyone. They failed to take advantage of globalization. They use terrorism as an aspect of globalization, which is the negative side of globalization. Go down the list of factors, they are almost all negative. There is not one that is positive. They need outsiders for economic help. The conflict with India drains most of their budget. They can't resolve foreign policy differences with India. They have quarrels with us over Afghanistan, although they are probably right that we don't understand the Afghanis either. The question in my mind is whether these are irreversible so that Pakistan can become a normal state.

Militants–whether you call them anti-American, anti-liberal, or anti-secular–seem to have a veto over politics in Pakistan, but they can't govern the state.

What do you think?

Hope is not a policy, but despair is not a policy either. We have to do what we can do and prepare for the failure of Pakistan, which could happen in four or five or six years.

Talk about the terrorists.

There has been an accommodation with the government. Terrorist attacks are down. There seems to be an agreement by the security forces to accommodate the terrorist groups. I don't see the government regaining its position in the frontiers. The Pakistani Taliban is a designated enemy, but the army cannot move against them. The army is worried about its integrity itself.

Discuss Taseer's assassination.

He was like Sherry Rehman, a close associate of Benazir Bhutto. Rehman had introduced a private member's bill to repeal the blasphemy law, and [Taseer] backed her, and that apparently led to his guard killing him. The blasphemy law makes the medieval Catholic Church look liberal. Anyone who stands up and criticizes the law has his life in danger. Rehman is prominently mentioned in press coverage. I don't think she will back down. She is a lady of strong principles, like Benazir.

Is the fear of India genuine?

It is genuine, because it goes back to the identity of Pakistan. They can't figure out how to reconcile their strategic necessity of accommodation with India. Of course, India takes a hard line on a lot of issues, not just Kashmir. India has allowed China to acquire Pakistan as a strategic asset. It is now a trilateral game between the Chinese and Indians with the Pakistanis on the Chinese side.

(This interview is given by Stephen P. Cohen, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution to Consulting Editor of Council on Foreign Affairs Bernard Gwertzman. It's entirely opinion of the senior analyst and doesn't reflects policy of The News Tribe)

Article taken from The News Tribe,

Latest top breaking news Pakistan, blogs, citizen journalism pakistan, South Asia, UK and Middle East -

http://www.thenewstribe.co.uk/beta

URL to article: http://www.thenewstribe.co.uk/beta/?p=4900

Re: Keith Olbermann Leaves ‘Countdown’, But His Legacy Remains on MSNBC

Once Comcast completes the buy-out from G.E., rest assured that NBC, and MSNBC will return to profitability, and hopefully, a sense of rationality. I tend to believe this is the reason that Moonbat extradordiniare Olbermann flew the coop now, versus being termianted. The writing was on the wall. Say G'Night Maddow, Schultz, and the rest of the crazy Anti-American's.....Your fifteen minutes of fame are over!

Olbermann Leaves 'Countdown' on MSNBC
By BILL CARTER

Virginia Sherwood/MSNBC

Keith Olbermann in November.
12:05 a.m. | Updated Keith Olbermann, the highest-rated host on MSNBC,
announced abruptly on the air Friday night that he was leaving his
show, "Countdown," immediately.

The host, who has had a stormy relationship with the management of the
network for some time, especially since he was suspended for two days
last November, came to an agreement with NBC's corporate management
late this week to settle his contract and step down.

In a closing statement on his show, Mr. Olbermann said simply that it
would be the last edition of the program. He offered no explanation
other than on occasion "all that surrounded the show – but never the
show itself – was just too much for me."

Mr. Olbermann thanked his viewers for their enthusiastic support of a
show that had "gradually established its position as
antiestablishment."

In a statement, MSNBC said: "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended
their contract. The last broadcast of 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann'
will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in
MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors."

NBC executives said the move had nothing to do with the impending
takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast. With viewers and fans of Mr.
Olbermann suggesting that Comcast was responsible for forcing Mr.
Olbermann out, Comcast also released an official statement late Friday
night:

"Comcast has not closed the transaction for NBC Universal and has no
operational control at any of its properties including MSNBC. We
pledged from the day the deal was announced that we would not
interfere with NBC Universal's news operations. We have not and we
will not."

MSNBC announced that "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell would
replace "Countdown" at 8 p.m., with "The Ed Show" with Ed Schultz
taking Mr. O'Donnell's slot at 10 p.m. Mr. Olbermann did not discuss
any future plans, but NBC executives said one term of his settlement
would keep him from moving to another network for an extended period
of time.

Mr. Olbermann signed a four-year contract extension in 2008 for an
estimated $30 million. He had hosted "Countdown" at 8 p.m. since 2003
and it became the foundation of the channel's surge to its status as
the second-ranked news channel on cable television, after Fox News,
surpassing the one-time leader CNN.

Mr. Olbermann's outspoken, and sometimes controversial, support of
liberal positions and Democratic candidates redefined MSNBC from a
neutral news channel to one that openly offered a voice to viewers on
the left, much as Fox News has done for conservatives.

Mr. Olbermann challenged Fox News publicly on numerous occasions,
especially the top-rated cable host Bill O'Reilly.

Ratings for Mr. Olbermann's show grew, though he never approached Mr.
O'Reilly's level of popularity. But he helped expand the MSNBC brand
by his frequent invitations to Rachel Maddow, who was eventually
offered her own show on MSNBC.

Ms. Maddow became the 9 p.m. host following Mr. Olbermann and has
built such a successful show that some NBC executives felt less
concerned about losing Mr. Olbermann as the signature star of the
network.

According to several senior network executives, NBC's management had
been close to firing Mr. Olbermann on previous occasions, most
recently in November after he revealed that he had made donations to
several Democratic candidates in 2010 — one of them, coincidentally,
was Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who has been the subject of
many of his recent shows after being shot in an assassination attempt.

The top MSNBC executive, Phil Griffin, said the donations had violated
NBC News standards and ordered Mr. Olbermann suspended. His fans
responded with a petition to reinstate him that attracted over 250,000
signatures. Mr. Olbermann returned two days later. In his response he
said the rules on donations had been "inconsistently applied."

More:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/?hp

Keith Olbermann out at MSNBC
By Greg Sargent
So Keith Olbermann is out. As best as I can tell, none of the news
accounts about his departure have gotten to the bottom of what
happened here. But Olbermann himself offered enough clues in his final
broadcast for us to reasonably speculate that he abruptly got the ax,
perhaps even as late as last night.

A "knowledgeable official" at MSNBC told Howard Kurtz that the
separation was "mutual." But it's hard to see how that squares with
this, from Olbermann's last words on Countdown last night:

"I think the same fantasy has popped into the head of everybody in my
business who has ever been told what I have been told, that this is
going to be the last edition of your show. You go directly to the
scene from the movie 'Network,' complete with the pajamas, and the
raincoat, and you go off on an existential, otherworldly journey of
profundity and vision...

"When I resigned from ESPN 13 and a half years ago, I was literally
given 30 seconds to say goodbye at the very end of my last edition of
"Sports Center." As God is my witness, in the commercial break just
before the emotional moment, the producer got into my earpiece and he
said, `uh, can you cut it down to 15 seconds, so we can get in this
tennis result from Stuttgart? So I'm grateful that I have a little
more time to sign off here."

Between this and the shell-shocked look Olbermann had last night, it
seems clear that he may have been abruptly informed that he was
history, perhaps even during last night's show. That would also square
with the experience of Josh Marshall, who was actually on Olbermann
last night and had no sense that anything was amiss.

We already know that MSNBC president Phil Griffin had been gunning for
Olbermann for some time now. MSNBC was reportedly close to firing
Olbermann on several occasions. Recall that during the ridiculous flap
over Olbermann's political donations, in which he responded to his
suspension with a show of public defiance, Griffin flatly told
Olbermann's representative: "We are at war."

Soon enough we'll have a clearer sense of why this happened, and we
can deal with it then. But for now, let's thank Olbermann for all his
hard work. He's rich, popular and has a huge following that's likely
to follow him to his next endeavor. He'll be just fine.

What of Olbermann's legacy? There's a great deal of crowing on the
right about Olbermann's apparent ouster. But let's be clear on what he
accomplished: He helped clear a huge space on the airwaves for
"unapologetic liberalism," as Steve Benen puts it, when it remained
anything but certain that such a space could be created with any
measure of success.

The unexpected popularity of Olbermann's show early on cleared the way
for MSNBC to stack its nighttime lineup with pugnacious lefty hosts.
Indeed, it was Olbermann who invited Rachel Maddow on repeatedly as a
guest, raising her profile to the point where she got her own show.
Olbermann, followed by Maddow, proved in the face of enormous
skepticism that there's a huge audience out there for real liberal
talk-show hosts to adopt the sort of take-no-prisoners approach once
monopolized by the right. Only they accomplished this without
descending into the crackpot conspiracy mongering and all-around
ugliness of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

Indeed, there's already talk that CNN might be interested in picking
up Olbermann. While that seems unlikely, given CNN's more staid air,
the mere fact that it's being discussed at all shows how much he
helped change the landscape.

Olbermann may be gone, but the space he did so much to help create is
here to stay.

More:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/?hp
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

--
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* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.

Re: Bizarre House Republicans Praise and Say They Will Replace Health Care Reform Law law and Consumer Protections they just voted to repeal

I only got a few paragraphs into this article, before I realized that this is just flat out ignorant. Robert Pear is a Moonbat, who hasn't a clue, which is pretty much why and how Tommy TomTom is posting this as "News".

The GOP upcoming proposed legislation will be about enforcing current legislation, allowing for competition within the market, by allowing companies to market their product beyond state lines which now keeps some companies from providing their services in other states, (thanks to past Democratic legislation) and will in general, make health care affordable to most Americans.

Something the socialists, communists, Marxists and most within the Democratic Party have been fighting for decades.

On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 4:54 PM, Tommy News <tommysnews@gmail.com> wrote:

Bizarre House Republicans Praise and Say They Will Replace Health Care
Reform Law law and Consumer Protections they just voted to repeal

Will These New Replacement Health Care Reform Bills be Called GOPCARE?
BUSHCARE? ORANGEBONERCARE? -T

House Republicans Plan Their Own Health Bills
By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON — Less than 24 hours after voting to repeal the new health
care law, House Republicans said Thursday that they would pass
discrete bills to achieve some of the same goals, but with more
restraint in the use of federal power.

At the same time, the speaker, John A. Boehner, said House Republicans
would push for much stricter limits on abortion in federal programs,
including those created by the new law.

By a vote of 253 to 175, the House on Thursday directed four
committees to draft legislation that would replace the health care
law. The directive sets forth 13 objectives.

It says, for example, that the legislation should "lower health care
premiums through increased competition and choice," provide access to
affordable coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, increase
the number of Americans with insurance and provide states with
"greater flexibility" to run their Medicaid programs.

Republicans did not say how they would achieve those goals, but made
clear that they did not want to impose detailed federal requirements
on individuals, families, employers or states.

Representative Rob Woodall, a freshman Republican from Georgia, said
he was proud to have voted for repeal of the new law so Congress could
"go back to the drawing board and bring things forward one at a time."

Another freshman Republican, Representative Steve Stivers of Ohio,
praised a provision of the law that allows children to stay on their
parents' insurance until they reach the age of 26.

"I am committed to working with my colleagues in a bipartisan manner
to support reforms we agree on, like allowing young adults to stay on
their parents' plan," Mr. Stivers said.

Other Republicans praised a section of the new law that helps older
Americans with prescription drug costs.

President Obama said this week that he was "willing and eager" to work
with members of both parties to improve the law. But aides said he
would adamantly resist efforts to repeal it.

On the House floor on Thursday, Democrats said it was bizarre to see
Republicans praising consumer protections in a law they had just voted
to dismantle.

"It's like Alice in Wonderland," said Representative John Garamendi of
California, a former state insurance commissioner.

Representative Lloyd Doggett, Democrat of Texas, said: "With last
year's health insurance reform law, we provided real guarantees to
American families against insurance abuses. Today, Republicans tell
these families, 'Forget the binding guarantees, we have 12 platitudes
for you.' This is not a Republican prescription. It's a placebo."

Democrats said it would be difficult for Republicans to pick and
choose among provisions of the law because the popular and unpopular
parts were locked together.

Consumers like the assurance that they can obtain coverage regardless
of any pre-existing condition, but dislike the requirement to carry
insurance. Without such a requirement, insurers say, people could go
without coverage until they needed care, driving up costs for everyone
else.

In addition, Democrats said they were skeptical of Republican plans
because, when Republicans controlled Congress, they did little to
cover the uninsured.

Republicans recalled, however, that they secured approval of two huge
changes in domestic social policy that worked much better than
Democrats had predicted. They remade welfare programs in 1996 and
added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare in 2003.

"The idea that Republicans are just not interested in health care and
won't do anything is belied by history," said Stuart M. Butler,
director of the Center for Policy Innovation at the conservative
Heritage Foundation.

The new law will set up insurance exchanges where people can shop for
coverage. Millions of low- and moderate-income people will be able to
obtain federal subsidies to help defray the cost.

Mr. Boehner and other House Republican leaders on Thursday embraced a
bill stipulating that — with narrow exceptions — no federal money,
subsidies or tax credits could be used to pay for abortion or for any
health insurance plan that includes coverage of abortion. "It's one of
our highest legislative priorities," Mr. Boehner said, referring to
the bill, offered by Representatives Christopher H. Smith, Republican
of New Jersey, and Daniel Lipinski, Democrat of Illinois.

Abortion rights groups vowed to fight the proposal.

Nancy Keenan, president of Naral Pro-Choice America, said Republicans
had told voters they wanted to "focus on creating jobs while limiting
the role of government in our lives." But now, she said, having taken
control of the House, "they want to be able to interfere in our
personal, private decisions, especially a woman's right to choose."

The White House said it would plow ahead with the health law,
undeterred by the political uproar over it on Capitol Hill.

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, offered
federal money to states to help them establish insurance exchanges.

"Beginning in 2014," Ms. Sebelius said, "these marketplaces will allow
individuals and small-business owners to pool their purchasing power
so the mom-and-pop shop can have the same negotiating clout as the big
chain down the street."

California and other states have begun work to set up exchanges. "It
would be a huge mistake to undo this progress" by repealing the new
federal law, Ms. Sebelius said.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/health/policy/21health.html?_r=1&ref=politics

--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum

* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.

Bizarre House Republicans Praise and Say They Will Replace Health Care Reform Law law and Consumer Protections they just voted to repeal

Bizarre House Republicans Praise and Say They Will Replace Health Care
Reform Law law and Consumer Protections they just voted to repeal

Will These New Replacement Health Care Reform Bills be Called GOPCARE?
BUSHCARE? ORANGEBONERCARE? -T

House Republicans Plan Their Own Health Bills
By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON — Less than 24 hours after voting to repeal the new health
care law, House Republicans said Thursday that they would pass
discrete bills to achieve some of the same goals, but with more
restraint in the use of federal power.

At the same time, the speaker, John A. Boehner, said House Republicans
would push for much stricter limits on abortion in federal programs,
including those created by the new law.

By a vote of 253 to 175, the House on Thursday directed four
committees to draft legislation that would replace the health care
law. The directive sets forth 13 objectives.

It says, for example, that the legislation should "lower health care
premiums through increased competition and choice," provide access to
affordable coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, increase
the number of Americans with insurance and provide states with
"greater flexibility" to run their Medicaid programs.

Republicans did not say how they would achieve those goals, but made
clear that they did not want to impose detailed federal requirements
on individuals, families, employers or states.

Representative Rob Woodall, a freshman Republican from Georgia, said
he was proud to have voted for repeal of the new law so Congress could
"go back to the drawing board and bring things forward one at a time."

Another freshman Republican, Representative Steve Stivers of Ohio,
praised a provision of the law that allows children to stay on their
parents' insurance until they reach the age of 26.

"I am committed to working with my colleagues in a bipartisan manner
to support reforms we agree on, like allowing young adults to stay on
their parents' plan," Mr. Stivers said.

Other Republicans praised a section of the new law that helps older
Americans with prescription drug costs.

President Obama said this week that he was "willing and eager" to work
with members of both parties to improve the law. But aides said he
would adamantly resist efforts to repeal it.

On the House floor on Thursday, Democrats said it was bizarre to see
Republicans praising consumer protections in a law they had just voted
to dismantle.

"It's like Alice in Wonderland," said Representative John Garamendi of
California, a former state insurance commissioner.

Representative Lloyd Doggett, Democrat of Texas, said: "With last
year's health insurance reform law, we provided real guarantees to
American families against insurance abuses. Today, Republicans tell
these families, 'Forget the binding guarantees, we have 12 platitudes
for you.' This is not a Republican prescription. It's a placebo."

Democrats said it would be difficult for Republicans to pick and
choose among provisions of the law because the popular and unpopular
parts were locked together.

Consumers like the assurance that they can obtain coverage regardless
of any pre-existing condition, but dislike the requirement to carry
insurance. Without such a requirement, insurers say, people could go
without coverage until they needed care, driving up costs for everyone
else.

In addition, Democrats said they were skeptical of Republican plans
because, when Republicans controlled Congress, they did little to
cover the uninsured.

Republicans recalled, however, that they secured approval of two huge
changes in domestic social policy that worked much better than
Democrats had predicted. They remade welfare programs in 1996 and
added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare in 2003.

"The idea that Republicans are just not interested in health care and
won't do anything is belied by history," said Stuart M. Butler,
director of the Center for Policy Innovation at the conservative
Heritage Foundation.

The new law will set up insurance exchanges where people can shop for
coverage. Millions of low- and moderate-income people will be able to
obtain federal subsidies to help defray the cost.

Mr. Boehner and other House Republican leaders on Thursday embraced a
bill stipulating that — with narrow exceptions — no federal money,
subsidies or tax credits could be used to pay for abortion or for any
health insurance plan that includes coverage of abortion. "It's one of
our highest legislative priorities," Mr. Boehner said, referring to
the bill, offered by Representatives Christopher H. Smith, Republican
of New Jersey, and Daniel Lipinski, Democrat of Illinois.

Abortion rights groups vowed to fight the proposal.

Nancy Keenan, president of Naral Pro-Choice America, said Republicans
had told voters they wanted to "focus on creating jobs while limiting
the role of government in our lives." But now, she said, having taken
control of the House, "they want to be able to interfere in our
personal, private decisions, especially a woman's right to choose."

The White House said it would plow ahead with the health law,
undeterred by the political uproar over it on Capitol Hill.

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, offered
federal money to states to help them establish insurance exchanges.

"Beginning in 2014," Ms. Sebelius said, "these marketplaces will allow
individuals and small-business owners to pool their purchasing power
so the mom-and-pop shop can have the same negotiating clout as the big
chain down the street."

California and other states have begun work to set up exchanges. "It
would be a huge mistake to undo this progress" by repealing the new
federal law, Ms. Sebelius said.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/health/policy/21health.html?_r=1&ref=politics

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Have a great day,
Tommy

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leftover internet trolls enjoy a pat on the head

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Brawny <brawny@twlakes.net>
Date: Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 10:22 AM
Subject: [Ohio_for_Kerry] Thank you for your email
To: Democrats_2012@yahoogroups.com, alabama_for_kerry <alabama_for_kerry@yahoogroups.com>, Democrats@yahoogroups.com, "sacramentofordemocracy@" <SACRAMENTOFORDEMOCRACY@yahoogroups.com>, democratsunited@yahoogroups.com, ohio <ohio_for_kerry@yahoogroups.com>, tampa <tampademocrats@yahoogroups.com>, Texas Democratic Party <yellowdog@txdemocrats.org>

From: Sebelius, Kathleen (HHS/OS)

Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2011 9:16 AM

Subject: Thank you for your email

While we will respond to the specific issues you raise as soon as we can, I wanted to let you know that your message has been received and that I appreciate your taking the time to write.

The mission of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to protect the nation's health and provide essential human services, and, as part of that mission, we are at the forefront of the federal government's efforts to address a wide range of critical issues and challenges. I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on our work.

First, on March 23, after more than a year of extensive debate, the President signed into law health reform legislation that brings down health care costs for American families and small businesses, expands coverage to millions of Americans and ends the worst practices of insurance companies. As a result of the new law, Americans will begin to see significant benefits take effect this year, with other important reforms following shortly after. In the weeks, months, and years ahead, our department will be responsible for implementing many of these reforms. You can be assured that we are firmly committed to explaining these changes to the American people clearly, and to enacting them carefully and effectively. For information about the new law, I would encourage you to visit www.healthcare.gov.

Meanwhile, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we've made hundreds of millions of dollars available as part of a comprehensive prevention and wellness initiative, Communities Putting Prevention to Work. This new initiative supports local efforts to reduce obesity, increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and decrease smoking – the four most important things we can to do to fight chronic diseases and improve public health. And it's right in line with the First Lady's "Let's Move" campaign, which calls on Americans to work together to solve childhood obesity in a generation. You can learn more about these and other Recovery Act initiatives at www.hhs.gov/recovery.

In addition, it is a core responsibility of HHS, through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to ensure the food we eat is safe. Toward that end, I am firmly committed to working with my colleagues at the Department of Agriculture to achieve the President's goal of upgrading and strengthening our food safety system; restoring trust in the FDA as the leading science-based regulatory agency in the world; and fulfilling our obligation to the American people to ensure that the food they purchase and serve to their families is safe to eat. For more information, please visit www.foodsafety.gov.

Finally, HHS plays a vital role in getting our children ready to learn and thrive in school, helping low-income working families struggling to make ends meet in this difficult economy, and meeting the basic needs of vulnerable populations, such as abused and neglected children, refugees, and individuals with disabilities. As the Administration works to turn around our economy, we recognize that the economic downturn has had its greatest impact on the most vulnerable among us – low-income families with children. Through child care, child support, energy assistance, and other efforts, the Department helps low-income parents and their communities weather this economic storm. We will continue to work hard to improve these programs through evidence-based approaches that make a difference for these families and children.

Again, thank you for writing.

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Keith Olbermann Leaves ‘Countdown’, But His Legacy Remains on MSNBC

Keith Olbermann Leaves 'Countdown', But His Legacy Remains on MSNBC

Olbermann Leaves 'Countdown' on MSNBC
By BILL CARTER

Virginia Sherwood/MSNBC

Keith Olbermann in November.
12:05 a.m. | Updated Keith Olbermann, the highest-rated host on MSNBC,
announced abruptly on the air Friday night that he was leaving his
show, "Countdown," immediately.

The host, who has had a stormy relationship with the management of the
network for some time, especially since he was suspended for two days
last November, came to an agreement with NBC's corporate management
late this week to settle his contract and step down.

In a closing statement on his show, Mr. Olbermann said simply that it
would be the last edition of the program. He offered no explanation
other than on occasion "all that surrounded the show – but never the
show itself – was just too much for me."

Mr. Olbermann thanked his viewers for their enthusiastic support of a
show that had "gradually established its position as
antiestablishment."

In a statement, MSNBC said: "MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended
their contract. The last broadcast of 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann'
will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in
MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors."

NBC executives said the move had nothing to do with the impending
takeover of NBC Universal by Comcast. With viewers and fans of Mr.
Olbermann suggesting that Comcast was responsible for forcing Mr.
Olbermann out, Comcast also released an official statement late Friday
night:

"Comcast has not closed the transaction for NBC Universal and has no
operational control at any of its properties including MSNBC. We
pledged from the day the deal was announced that we would not
interfere with NBC Universal's news operations. We have not and we
will not."

MSNBC announced that "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell would
replace "Countdown" at 8 p.m., with "The Ed Show" with Ed Schultz
taking Mr. O'Donnell's slot at 10 p.m. Mr. Olbermann did not discuss
any future plans, but NBC executives said one term of his settlement
would keep him from moving to another network for an extended period
of time.

Mr. Olbermann signed a four-year contract extension in 2008 for an
estimated $30 million. He had hosted "Countdown" at 8 p.m. since 2003
and it became the foundation of the channel's surge to its status as
the second-ranked news channel on cable television, after Fox News,
surpassing the one-time leader CNN.

Mr. Olbermann's outspoken, and sometimes controversial, support of
liberal positions and Democratic candidates redefined MSNBC from a
neutral news channel to one that openly offered a voice to viewers on
the left, much as Fox News has done for conservatives.

Mr. Olbermann challenged Fox News publicly on numerous occasions,
especially the top-rated cable host Bill O'Reilly.

Ratings for Mr. Olbermann's show grew, though he never approached Mr.
O'Reilly's level of popularity. But he helped expand the MSNBC brand
by his frequent invitations to Rachel Maddow, who was eventually
offered her own show on MSNBC.

Ms. Maddow became the 9 p.m. host following Mr. Olbermann and has
built such a successful show that some NBC executives felt less
concerned about losing Mr. Olbermann as the signature star of the
network.

According to several senior network executives, NBC's management had
been close to firing Mr. Olbermann on previous occasions, most
recently in November after he revealed that he had made donations to
several Democratic candidates in 2010 — one of them, coincidentally,
was Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who has been the subject of
many of his recent shows after being shot in an assassination attempt.

The top MSNBC executive, Phil Griffin, said the donations had violated
NBC News standards and ordered Mr. Olbermann suspended. His fans
responded with a petition to reinstate him that attracted over 250,000
signatures. Mr. Olbermann returned two days later. In his response he
said the rules on donations had been "inconsistently applied."

More:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/?hp

Keith Olbermann out at MSNBC
By Greg Sargent
So Keith Olbermann is out. As best as I can tell, none of the news
accounts about his departure have gotten to the bottom of what
happened here. But Olbermann himself offered enough clues in his final
broadcast for us to reasonably speculate that he abruptly got the ax,
perhaps even as late as last night.

A "knowledgeable official" at MSNBC told Howard Kurtz that the
separation was "mutual." But it's hard to see how that squares with
this, from Olbermann's last words on Countdown last night:

"I think the same fantasy has popped into the head of everybody in my
business who has ever been told what I have been told, that this is
going to be the last edition of your show. You go directly to the
scene from the movie 'Network,' complete with the pajamas, and the
raincoat, and you go off on an existential, otherworldly journey of
profundity and vision...

"When I resigned from ESPN 13 and a half years ago, I was literally
given 30 seconds to say goodbye at the very end of my last edition of
"Sports Center." As God is my witness, in the commercial break just
before the emotional moment, the producer got into my earpiece and he
said, `uh, can you cut it down to 15 seconds, so we can get in this
tennis result from Stuttgart? So I'm grateful that I have a little
more time to sign off here."

Between this and the shell-shocked look Olbermann had last night, it
seems clear that he may have been abruptly informed that he was
history, perhaps even during last night's show. That would also square
with the experience of Josh Marshall, who was actually on Olbermann
last night and had no sense that anything was amiss.

We already know that MSNBC president Phil Griffin had been gunning for
Olbermann for some time now. MSNBC was reportedly close to firing
Olbermann on several occasions. Recall that during the ridiculous flap
over Olbermann's political donations, in which he responded to his
suspension with a show of public defiance, Griffin flatly told
Olbermann's representative: "We are at war."

Soon enough we'll have a clearer sense of why this happened, and we
can deal with it then. But for now, let's thank Olbermann for all his
hard work. He's rich, popular and has a huge following that's likely
to follow him to his next endeavor. He'll be just fine.

What of Olbermann's legacy? There's a great deal of crowing on the
right about Olbermann's apparent ouster. But let's be clear on what he
accomplished: He helped clear a huge space on the airwaves for
"unapologetic liberalism," as Steve Benen puts it, when it remained
anything but certain that such a space could be created with any
measure of success.

The unexpected popularity of Olbermann's show early on cleared the way
for MSNBC to stack its nighttime lineup with pugnacious lefty hosts.
Indeed, it was Olbermann who invited Rachel Maddow on repeatedly as a
guest, raising her profile to the point where she got her own show.
Olbermann, followed by Maddow, proved in the face of enormous
skepticism that there's a huge audience out there for real liberal
talk-show hosts to adopt the sort of take-no-prisoners approach once
monopolized by the right. Only they accomplished this without
descending into the crackpot conspiracy mongering and all-around
ugliness of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

Indeed, there's already talk that CNN might be interested in picking
up Olbermann. While that seems unlikely, given CNN's more staid air,
the mere fact that it's being discussed at all shows how much he
helped change the landscape.

Olbermann may be gone, but the space he did so much to help create is
here to stay.

More:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/olbermann-hosts-last-countdown-on-msnbc/?hp
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

--
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For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum

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