We could post 1,000 video clips to demonstrate the greatness of the late Tim Russert and still not run out. You can’t sum up the man with one two-minute excerpt, but we came across this topical one over the weekend.
Here’s Tim Russert (may he rest in peace) taking GOP nominee John McCain to task over his Iraq policy and its inherent contradictory nature …
Tragic news from the world of media and politics today:
Tim Russert, the Washington Bureau Chief for NBC News and long-time moderator of Meet the Press, passed away today. The 58-year-old died of a heart attack.
Tom Brokaw reports that Russert collapsed at NBC News in Washington while managing audio footage. He is survived by wife Maureen and son Luke.
Tim Russert: May 7, 1950 - June 13, 2008.
Keith Olbermann is kind of awesome.
Responding to John McCain’s remark that a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq is “not too important,” the MSNBC commentator called the GOP nominee’s perception of the war “a figment of his imagination.”
He proceeded to dissect the so-called context John McCain says his Iraq statements - both past and present - are always being taken out of!
He can be an extremist at times, but in this “Special Comment,” Olbermann simply let an assortment of John McCain quotes on Iraq to do the talking.
A mission where success would be fairly easy, he said. An overwhelming victory in a short period of time. Americans cheered as liberators!
The list of lies, false promises, misconceptions and absurd policy positions straight from Sen. McCain’s mouth goes on and on and on.
Here’s some “context” for you …
Follow the jump for Part II of Keith Olbermann’s scathing June 12 “Special Comment” on John McCain’s Iraq war policies and statements …
Dot com.
Looking to douse Internet smear campaigns against him before they begin, or at least quell them early, the Democratic White House hopeful has launched a new website devoted to debunking the mud slinging of critics.
The site, fightthesmears.com, addresses false rumors on the Internet and right wing media outlets - including one recent assertion that Sen. Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama, was caught on tape bashing white people.
Barack Obama’s campaign website already had a fact-check page, but the new site goes further in inviting supporters to spread the word.
“With the site, we created an interactive tool to allow our supporters to fight back against these smears in the same way that they received them– on the Internet,” Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
“People can upload their address books and easily send fact-based emails to their friends and family,” he said. “Just knowing the truth isn’t enough - you have to proactively tell people the truth to fight back.”
The longest-running Obama smear, perpetuated by evil and/or ignorant morons, is that he is a Muslim or a terrorist and intent on destroying the U.S.
But the new initiative was launched after reports, by conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh among others, of a videotape existed showing Michelle Obama using the derogatory term “whitey” in the couple’s former church.
No such tape has surfaced.
Political candidates have traditionally refused to acknowledge such slander for fear of giving it respectability by association.
But given the slew of despicable attacks against Obama, and remembering how John Kerry was swift-boated out of the presidency in 2004, his campaign probably feels it has no choice. And it’s probably not the worst idea.
On yesterday’s edition of Fox News’ America’s Pulse, host E.D. Hill addressed her June 6 comments in which she teased an upcoming segment about Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s on-stage “fist bump” by saying:
“A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? The gesture everyone seems to interpret differently…”
On yesterday’s show, Hill attempted to clarify her remarks:
Want to start the show by clarifying something I said on the show last Friday about an upcoming body language segment. Now, I mentioned various ways the Obamas’ fist pump in St. Paul had been characterized in the media. I apologize because unfortunately, some thought I personally had characterized it inappropriately.
I regret that. It was not my intention. And I certainly didn’t mean to associate the word “terrorist” in any way to Senator Obama and his wife.
Fox News anchor E.D. Hill is the worst kind of person reporter. Her not-to-subtle subtle racism is an attempt to influence and divide the country.
First of all, what kind of an apology is this? Hill is essentially blaming the people who misunderstood what she was saying.
Secondly, well, what was she saying? If Hill “certainly” wasn’t associating the Obamas with terrorism, then what on earth was she doing?
Here’s the only certain thing to come of this: the assertion that a congratulatory gesture between husband and wife even needs to be interpreted in any way is a sad, racist commentary on America.
What, are you taken aback by this headline?
Don’t you remember the fist bump Barack Obama exchanged with his wife the night he sewed up the Democratic nomination?
As Fox News rationally explains below, how else could this gesture be interpreted other than to categorize it as a “terrorist fist jab?” (We had no idea so many Major League Baseball players were terrorists.)
That’s the political question of the day, obviously - and apparently, the answer depends on what media reports you read.
Just a few hours ago, the AP reported that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede tonight that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the party’s nomination, ending her bid to be the nation’s first female president.
The story notes that the former First Lady will stop short of suspending or ending her campaign in her speech in N.Y. City - though one wonders what else she could be conceding - in the end, it’s a delegate race.
Regardless, her campaign chair fired back that HRC is absolutely not planning to concede the Democratic race to Barack Obama tonight.
“No one has the number to be the nominee of the Democratic party right now,” Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said.
Asked specifically about the report that Clinton will acknowledge after tonight’s South Dakota and Montana primaries that Obama has the delegates to clinch the nomination, McAuliffe replied: “They are 100 percent incorrect.”
JUGGLING OPTIONS: Hillary Clinton’s next move remains a mystery.
Meanwhile, some other campaign insiders report that Clinton is poised to deliver a message today “that she will do whatever it takes” to put a Democrat in the White House - a message some believe is a thinly-veiled assertion of willingness to accept an offer to be Obama’s vice president if asked.
Hillary Clinton campaign surrogate Harold Ickes will do and say anything for the former First Lady. That includes contradicting himself repeatedly, talking out of his a$$, and generally confusing the hell out of people.
Case in point: Yesterday’s interview with Tim Russert on Meet the Press. Forget what I said then, Tim, this is what we are saying now!
Russert was not buying into the Hillary Clinton camp’s convoluted popular vote argument. But watch this master manipulator at work.
This should be a red flag to anyone unconvinced that the Clintons are grasping at straws, growing more and more desperate, and doing whatever it takes to keep this nomination fight going - collateral damage be damned …
Making stuff up as he goes based on what sounds good, Harold Icky Ickes tries to change the story of the Democratic race over and over and over …
Former Senate Majority Leader and Barack Obama campaign surrogate Tom Daschle also appeared on the program. Follow the jump for a clip …
Considering the bias Keith Olbermann has shown toward Barack Obama throughout the Democratic Primary - which we mean as a compliment, Donkey Dish strongly encourages reader bias! - it’s not surprising that he was salivating at the chance to attack Hillary Clinton for her misguided reference last week, during which she invoked the Robert Kennedy assassination of 1968.
And attack her he did!
During a Special Commentary on his MSNBC program, Olbermann laid into Senator Clinton. He was irate and passionate, but he was also reasonable, acknowledging that there’s no way Mrs. Clinton actually wished physical harm on Obama.
Still, that’s no excuse for a presidential candidate - in this America, Olbermann emphasizes - to use such rhetoric. Let us know what you think of this clip:
Maybe Bill Clinton was right about the conspiracy against Hillary. After all, Google seems to adore Barack Obama - and Google controls the universe, right?
According to Google Trends, Barack Obama has led Hillary Clinton and John McCain in search engine traffic and news volume - for the past 12 months.
Check out the graph below comparing the three contenders …
This is likely due to Obama’s relative newness and awesomeness. Either way, all three of the White House aspirants’ online buzz peaked on Super Tuesday in early February, representing the biggest traffic spike on the chart.
Looking ahead to the likely November match-up, more web users are likely to search for Barack Obama than John McCain, but this cuts both ways.
McCain remains the “safe” choice for many Americans, while Obama is still more of a mystery. Will people like what they find on their Internet searches?
On the flip side, if Barack Obama continues to lead John McCain in news reference volume - most of it positive - it could bode well for the Illinois seantor.
NATIONAL[NOTE: Figures above are averages of the 3-6 most recent surveys in each area. Updated June 17]
