Blog Archives: July 2007

Blog: TPMtv

The Schip Hits the Fan

Bush has targeted many enemies during his term: Hussein, Al Qaeda, Michael Moore. His newest opponent, however, is an interesting selection: poor children. Thursday the Senate Finance Committee approved the renewal and expansion of SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Originally

Blog: TPMtv

You've got a friend in me...

Today's TPMtv shows that no one is ever alone. Even Alberto Gonzales has a friend- Orin Hatch. When seemingly no one was prepared to come forward to defend the Attorney General, Sen. Hatch stepped up to the plate. Perhaps this selfless defense (and lets face it, self sacrifice of his dignity) is a r

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Financial Times profiles TPM

The Financial Times has done an in depth profile of Josh Marshall and Talking Points Media. It underscores the excellent original behind the headlines Josh does everyday. Here are some quotes from the article: "Marshall almost single-handidly kept the attorney purge story alive," says Eric Boehlert

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NY Times suggests impeachment...

Today in an editorial the New York Times has said that if Solicitor General Paul Clement does not appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Alberto Gonzales' running of the Justice Department, Congress should impeach the Attorney General.

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Tony Snow on Mueller

In the highfalutin new WH press room, Tony Snow told journalists, "notice, yesterday the director of the FBI never once used 'Terrorist Surveillance Program.'" Watch today's footage and note: "TSA" comes up plain and clear. Perhaps we should send Snow a dictionary, seemingly the only piece o

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Mueller v. Gonzales ... liar!

Gonzales... a liar?  That's the word on the streets in Washington today, where FBI Director Robert Mueller contradicted the sworn testimony of his boss, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.  Despite Gonzales' repeated affirmation to the House Judiciary Committee that the warrantless surv

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Fox Attacks Bloggers

Robert Greenwald has released a video of recent Fox attacks on left wing bloggers: Bill O'Reilly particularly went after Jet Blue's sponsorship of the Yearly Kos. I hope you all saw the Colbert Report's excellent coverage: TPMtv will be coming to you throughout the Yearly Kos with

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A Lesson in Critiquing the Government: Proceed with Caution

Michael Moore has been served with a subpoena by the Bush administration over his recent trip to Cuba for the filming of Sicko. "The Oscar-winning filmmaker, who appeared Thursday on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," said he was notified about the subpoena at the network's studios in Burban

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John Edwards: Robbin' tha Hood

 John Edwards had found the best way to get attention off his head and onto the presidential race: become the modern day Robin Hood. Edwards made an announcement late Thursday night that he would "rewrite our tax code to make sure it is fair." While most politicians, policy makers, tax experts

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Friday Cartoon

Our Friday cartoon from Mikhaela:

Blog: TPMtv

No GOP YouTube debates?

Marc Ambinder reports that it looks like Rudy Gulliani is ducking out of the You Tube debates. Mitt Romney may be soon to follow. Andy Sullivan speculates that after the Dems did so well, the GOP candidates are looking a little out of touch with the culture and with democracy. So what about all the

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Supply: Another Ugly Side of Healthcare

Sixty years ago today President Truman signed the National Security Act, thereby creating the Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and National Security Council. It seems that ever since, national security has ruled the debates and policy discussi

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Blumenthal at it again

Max Blumenthal has posted another hilarious, and somewhat terifying video doc. from the Christians United for Israel annual summit. It is incredible the degree to which religion plays a role not just in politics in this country, but also in Foreign policy. Is US Foreign policy dictacted by people tr

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Contempt!

The votes are in: 22-17, the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee voted to cite Bush's former top aide and counsel for contempt of Congress after their refusal to cooperate with subpoenas in the ongoing investigation into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.  After the President wie

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Concerning Terrorism, Myspace and Facebook

The internet seems to be a constant threat, to just about everyone. From governments to children, the headlines today were covered in the risks of partaking in the online world. China isn't the only government locking away bloggers. As the BBC reports: "The Malaysian government has

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Bush Explores Simple Math: Al Qaeda, Iraq, Al Qaeda in Iraq

Sometimes, Bush is so smart I'm convinced that feeling of hyper-anxious butterflies in my stomach is not, in fact, well-earned trepidation, but rather some manifestation of absolute awe for the man's heretofore unwitnessed acumen.  When genius is in front of you, you can only listen, right?

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FBI explained!

What good is trying to understand your enemy? Let's hire people with no experience! Like a counter-terrorism director who admits to not knowing the difference between Shia and Sunni muslims... - Raleigh-Elizabeth Smith

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Hair

We just felt we had to embed John Edward's witty response to his 'pretty boy' critics he put on You Tube yesterday.    

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On FDR

Amity Shlaes wrote a piece in the LATimes today calling for more politicians like FDR.During that first euphoric legislative period, Roosevelt managed to rescue the banking system from disaster, assist bankrupted farmers, rewrite the economics of agriculture and the rules for flailing businesses, br

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Debate Round-Up

The questions were from all corners of curiosity - Iraq to Darfur, sex-ed to their children's schooling - and all walks of life - including a talking snowman. And Hillary's still on top - or at least that's the news ticked out by copy editors the nation over.  "Most observers agreed th

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Kids Won't Stop Sexing

The long heralded statistics that teens were saying no to sex are now taking a turn, or a plateau to be exact. The Washington Post reported:"After decreasing steadily and significantly for more than a decade, the percentage of teenagers having intercourse began to plateau in 2001 and has failed

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Dems Prepare for YouTube Debate

With Hillary ahead in the polls and holding a steady double-digit lead over top competitor Barack Obama, a chance for movement has rounded the political corner.  Tonight, the democratic candidates will line the stage in Charleston, SC for their first official debate hosted by the hotly cont

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If the Water Didn't Kill Ya, the Formaldehyde Could

“How many times can the federal government let down the victims of the hurricanes that ravaged the Gulf Coast two years ago?”That is the question posed by an editorial in the Sunday NYTimes. Everyone is perhaps too aware of the answer. The Gulf Coast is housing 66,000 Katrina victims

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Thanks Woodrow

Woodrow Wilcox sent us his YouTube vid... Woodrow, thank you for the song. Just the thing for a Monday morning. We hope your question gets asked at the Dem debates tonight.  

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Friday Cartoon

Our Friday cartoon from Mikhaela..

Blog: TPMtv

Cheney plays President for a Day

President Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy Saturday... temporarily handing the presidential reigns to Cheney.  See the video at MSNBC.  Let's hope it's a very uneventful few hours. - Raleigh-Elizabeth Smith

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Final Alive in Baghdad Uncut- ABC Video

Today Veracifier airs its final Alive in Baghdad Uncut. We urge all our viewers to keep watching Alive in Baghdad at www.aliveinbaghdad.org. Veracifier has been very proud to be associated with this kind of journalism. It comes at a time when the Guardian's Sean Smith's video footage from being embe

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College Republican National Convention

HuffPo's Max Blumenthal is lighting up the Internet with this excellent vid. of his visit to the national College Republican National Convention. Genius.  

Blog: TPMtv

Election Spending and Trips to Wal-Mart

The receipts are in and the '08 candidates will keep 'em coming.  Spending early and often, the would-be presidents are captivating political financiers District-wide and beyond.  The Hill reports Obama and Clinton are ignoring South Carolina; Bloomberg says the Republicans can flaunt t

Blog: TPMtv

"We have suffered because of global games..."

Veracifier is very proud of today's episode of TPM. True, we have brought you big names before, like Josh's interview with Senator Kerry, but the clarity of today's interview with the Afghani Ambassador to the United States exemplify the kind of behind the headlines reporting we are trying to achiev

Blog: TPMtv

Senate Vote Falls Short

The Senate went "to the mattresses" and came away with little more than sleepover exhuastion. After being up all night debating the war in Iraq, the Senate has just voted: 52-47.   ... Eight votes short of the sixty  needed to cut off discussion and bring the Iraq debate to a cl

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Vitter shows up

MIA Senator and Veracifier favorite Dave Vitter showed up at a press conference last night, ready to go back to work in Washington. One question is, if his wife has known about his involvement with a prostitute for all these years, why has he been missing for a week? Vitter railed against those who

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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

Has anyone noticed how the new Bourne Identity posters seemed suspiciously lifted from Veracifier's own...? Maybe Universal owes us a donation... --Marc   

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Obama Girl v. Giuliani Girl

Just when we thought we'd seen everything election campaigning had to offer - remember that Hillary video - our friends at Barely Political have brought us the new look of elections, because politics and comedy are basically one and the same. Take note: the '08 campaign trend is here.

Blog: TPMtv

The Popularity of Executive Privilege

Last week, one of the top articles on Digg was a Washington Post article on executive privilege.  At first glance, it looked as though jutsice was finally being served: no more wild claims of executive privilege. "No one, absolutely no one, is above the law," hyped the lead investigator wh

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No End in Sight

Check out the trailer for the German documentary "No End in Sight", it won best Doc at Sundance and is out in two weeks.  

Blog: TPMtv

Thompson Doesn't "Remember" Abortion Lobbying

Fred Thompson does not remember if he did or didn't once lobby for an abortion rights group.  While we recognize that he may have been too busy plotting witty comebacks for Michael Moore to actually remember what he's done, for a Republican to not be entirely clear on his abortion history ha

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Coulter: WWDD?

On Neil Cavuto's The World Thursday, Ann Coulter did her best to outline party lines for the '08 Election.  So what are the Republicans going to do?  "By and large, the Republican party is not saying get out of Iraq.  Maybe fight a little harder.  Maybe not 'catch and rel

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O'Reilly Still Obsessed with Moore

"For a fat guy, Michael Moore sure has thin skin," said Bernie Goldberg on the O'Reilly Factor Thursday.  After a heated debate over facts and accuracy with CNN's Sanjay Gupta earlier this week, Moore is still defending his movie - and himself - all across the networks.  O'Reilly has been usi

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Politickr is here

Veracifier thinks this is pretty cool- Our friends at Personal Democracy Forum have just announced Politickr- it combines official blogposts, news feeds, photo streams, and video posts from the declared and prospective 2008 presidential candidates (plus some unannouncedwild cards and third-party sit

Blog: TPMtv

International Association of Firefighters on Giuliani

In this video clip from Hardball, International Association of Firefighters representative Harold Schaitberger discuss a video released by the union which slams Rudy Giuliani with claims of his mayorial inadequacies. The primary issue raised is that the Giuliani administration allowed firefi

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College Call Girls in Congress!

For someone who's always found himself on the moral high ground, David Vitter (R-LA) must be surprised to have landed in so much hot water. "I'm a conservative who opposes radically redefining marriage, the most important social institution in human history,"Vitter wrote to the New Orleans Times-

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Veracifier on Itunes

Thanks to Itunes for featuring Veracifier on its main page. Check out yesterday's episode for Josh's personal instruction.

Blog: TPMtv

What will you do after the Surge?

In a "town hall" meeting in Cleveland today, the President made clear he'll be following General Petraeus to Hell and back again as he outlined his plan for Iraq after the military surge. We'll find out just what that means when Petraeus releases his report on Iraq in September, but until then, we

Blog: TPMtv

New Look TPM!

Congratulations to Josh and folks at TPM on their new look blog which launches today. It looks fantastic! It will now be easier to watch your favorite episodes of TPMtv on our sister site and to follow Josh's team's excellent behind the headlines reporting.  

Blog: TPMtv

You're in denial!

According to White House Press Secretary Tony Snow in press conference today there is little disagreement between the White House and GOP Senator Lugar on the effectiveness of the surge in Iraq. Which Richard Lugar has Mr. Snow been listening to? For a look behind the White House spin watch the vide

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White House Dares Congress with Executive Privilege

 After rejecting congressional subpoenas Thursday for Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor, the White House is now employing executive privilege to deny testimony from the two former aides in connection with the firings of 93 federal prosecutors last year. Responding to their request by letter, White H

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Stupidest thing said yesterday...

In advance of our Sunday show round up, Veracifier gives you the stupidest thing said in the news yesterday. Yes, its from Fox. 

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Impeachment!

A new poll from American Research Group shows a startling result: The people are evenly divided on impeachment proceedings against the president, and a majority favor the House beginning impeachment proceedings against Vice President Cheney. Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives be

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Friday Cartoon

Another Friday cartoon from our friend Mikhaela.  

Blog: TPMtv

The madness continues...

It seems that the national health care system- terrorist breeding ground connection is continuing thanks to the Morning Joe on MSNBC. The suspect doctors are post grads working in the UK- what does this have to do with the health care SYSTEM? Last time I went to a Manhattan doctor there were plenty

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Libby pays his fine

Clearly the 0,000 fine was not such a hardship for Scooter Libby as it has taken him all of 3 days to pay his fine.   

Blog: TPMtv

Libby Poll

Andy Sullivan highlights this interesting Instapoll- A third of conservatives feel that Libby should serve his full sentence.  

Blog: TPMtv

National Impeachment Center set up

Peter Thottam and Glenn Hopkins have opened the LA National Impeachment Center yesterday on the 4th of July, with the purpose of petitioning congress to impeach President Bush. I believe this is the first such center ever set up? --Marc

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New Dem Ad on Libby

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Happy 4th of July from Veracifier!

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Bush comments on Scooter

President Bush has finally given a statement on why he commuted Scooter Libby's sentence. As you can see, his explanation is clear- he considered the Jury's verdict, and acted accordingly. Veracifier is confused. 

Blog: TPMtv

Bill and Hill

She may be ten million down, but Hillary knows her trump card — and she's just played it. For the first time, our 42nd president has joined his wife on the campaign trail. Amidst the hay, corn, and many supporters, Bill Clinton joined Hillary in Iowa, where her campaign is lacking and where

Blog: TPMtv

Tony Snow: We have to respect the Jury System

I guess we don't have to respect a Judge's sentencing. Veracifier is offering odds on Libby getting a full pardon. --Marc As we saw earlier, the President may be right, jurors had a lot of sympathy for Mr. Libby:     

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More Coulter fun

I couldn't resist posting this- Yes, I find Anne Coulter very scary. --Marc 

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Scooter Libby Defense Fund

Veracifier would like to acknowledge the all those who contributed to Scooter Libby's Defense Fund. Thanks to Paul Kiel at TPM for putting together a list of the advisory committee of Libby's trust is made up of developers, investors, publishers, think-tankers. There's former senator Fred Thompson,

Blog: TPMtv

What happened to the firings..?

Who remembers Bush vowing to fire anyone in his administration who was involved in the outing of Valerie Plame? No firing to date, one presidential pardon. Sigh. It always seemed Scooter was being left out to dry, who remembers jurors asking "where was Cheney? Where was Rove?". Seems we are still as

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Joe Wilson on Libby's pardon

TPM spoke with Joe Wilson reacting to Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence.From the interview: "By commuting [Libby's] sentence, [President Bush] has brought himself and his office into reasonable suspicion of participation in an obstruction of justice. The commutation of (Libby's) sentenc

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What Exactly Can .5 Million Buy?

Barack Obama has officially made the grade: with .5 million in second quarter campaign contributions, he's not only making history, but he's making the other democratic candidates green with envy. Hillary's pulled in a full million less, and Edwards is following behind with a lowly millio

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Was It Al-Qaeda?

"The vehicles are clearly linked," Peter Clarke, Britain's senior counterterrorism police official, told reporters of the bombing plots in London and Glasgow this weekend. But are they linked to al-Qaeda? Lord Stevens, Gordon Brown's new terrorism expert, said that the "trick" of exploding one

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Edwards vs. Coulter update

Elizabeth Edwards appears on Wolf Blitzer as the back and forth continues...