This will be short. But sweet!

Thanks to last night's blockbuster interview with Scott McClellan, it's an exciting day for Keith fans!

Per the Nielsens put up at Media Bistro's TVNewser, Olbermann's in-depth interview with McClellan veritably trounced The Factor in the prime demo: 560K to 446K!

At the Google News main page (my home page) just now:

Musharraf's rivals head for big win in Pakistan vote

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's opponents headed for a big election victory on Tuesday after voters rejected his former ruling party, raising questions about the future of the US ally who has ruled since ...

Fidel Castro announces retirement

Cuba's ailing leader, Fidel Castro has announced he will not return to the presidency in a letter published by official Communist Party paper, Granma.
Castro says he won't return.

Clinton aides say Obama used another politician's lines

Campaign rhetoric borrowed by Sen. Barack Obama from a political friend prompted charges of plagiarism by his rival Monday as the competition for the Democratic presidential nomination turned into a war ...

I was born in 1964. The delivery was difficult; my mother nearly died, and so, I'm told, did I. The doctor was apparently incompetent, and my mother's unmet need for pain meds in the ensuing days led her to being strapped to her bed and trying to bite the nurses out of a savage suffering.

But we lived, both of us. Hosppital bills covered by the insurance from my father's job.

That was then.

Diaried this last night, but wanted to repost for our daytime readers.* -Robin Michael

As attested to by the fact that two diaries on Countdown's NBC debut were top rated on this site last week, there's been a lot of excitement generated 'round these here parts that Keith's unique brand of hard-hitting, don't-take-the-B.S.-talking-points news combined with gleeful jabs at our pop culture would reach a larger audience and win more converts.

And indeed, the first objective was met when we learned that Countdown's Sunday audience was 4.1 million viewers.

But was the second objective met? Follow me below the fold as we look at the early numbers...

*I don't think this is against the rules, but if it is, le'me know and I'll delete.

As attested to by the fact that two diaries on Countdown's NBC debut were top rated on this site last week (OK, OK, yes one was by yours truly), there's been a lot of excitement generated 'round these here parts that Keith's unique brand of hard-hitting, don't-take-the-B.S.-talking-points news combined with eyerolling jabs at our pop culture would reach a larger audience and win more converts.

And indeed, the first objective was met when we learned that Countdown's Sunday audience was 4.1 million viewers.

But was the second objective met? Follow me below the fold as we look at the early numbers...

Via TVNewser, the New York Times is reporting that Keith Olberman's irreverent show is getting a tryout on NBC on Sunday before an NFL pre-season game.

Update: Now with juicy press release! (See below, at end of diary)

Update #2 - As Hannibal notes here, you may find your local affiliate does not have this scheduled. I contacted programming at KING 5 here in Seattle, and they said they had not yet been offered this feed. I've got an email in to NBC to see what's up with that and make sure the left coast would not have to miss out on the fun, and will report on their reply. In the meantime, if anyone has further information on whether all affiliates will be offered the feed, please feel free to share with the class. = )

First off, I'll admit it -- I'm starting to fear for this site.

Yes, there is a lot - a whole metric fuckton of a lot - going on to cause frustration, anger, and alarm. We have an outlaw, rogue administration, breathtaking in its brazen disregard for the laws and the very foundations of our country, dragging our troops into bloody wars purely out of profit motivation while working both openly and covertly and with corporate and social-movement co-conspirators to erode our protections and dampen our voices. For this, they should be impeached, tried, convicted, and removed from office - freakin' yesterday.

But, my god, folks -- this chicken little, "Welcome to the Dictatorship of America" hand wringing that's become so popular here is making this site seem almost as wing-nutty the righty loonjobs are trying to portray it as being.

Hold off on your flames and follow me below the fold, if you will...

Via Good ol' Josh, we find that Wisconsin US Attorney Steven Biskupic, one of the retained USAs that has many of us worried for the degree of partisan degradation that the Bush Cheney/Rove administration has subjected the DOJ to, has now spoken out about having his wattled neck - this - close to being put on the chopping block. Our lucky guy's statement with subtitles appears below the fold...

I don't believe in a god, and in all likelihood am incapable of doing so. At least, not that traditional Western-style diety that hears our petitions and has mercy on the oppressed and weak and poor and has punishment in store for those who do wrong by their fellow Earthly denizens. How can I?, I reason to myself; God has never spoken to me or explicity shown His/Herself to me, and there's too much injustice and poverty and pain that goes unheeded in this world to believe otherwise. On the other hand, if you want to suggest there might be some sort of omniscience behind the creation and miraculousness that is all that exists that just doesn't make itself explicity known to us (leaving the implicit as a judgement call), I'd be hard pressed to argue to the contrary; there's no way I am aware of I could disprove this postulation.

You, on the other hand...

RedState’s Mark I front-pages an amusing look at how the deadenders are rationalizing the USA firing scandal with his entry, "Strong Words, Bad Politics." In it, he lauds Bush for his peevishness in last night’s prezzydential presser (although admits Bush started haltingly and rolls his eyes at Bush’s call for "comprehensive immigration reform" -- whoops, how'd that get in there?).

But the message is clear: There is no spoon scandal, the White House has just been mismanaging the message. Excerpts from his lusciously delusional post below the fold.

[Apologies if this has been diaried; will delete this if this is the case.]

Considering the fact that the House - having just passed a series of measures to hobble this administration's efforts to shield its workings from any ray of sunshine by a rock-solid, veto-proof margin - is clearly in no mood to allow the White House to continue to conduct so much of its business in the shadows, I think we've got ourselves another major item on the oversight commitee's docket.

More on the flip

But what do we do if ABC/D ultimately airs its $40 million dollar investment and attempts to shove it down the throat of this country, issuing beforehand a weak, "Hey, it's just a TV show - try not to get your liberal, pink little panties too wadded-up about anything you might not agree with"?

Well, it does not mean, "game over."

Oh no, no, no.

We still have one more rabbit to pull from our hat.

Just found in my email "In" box a heads-up that Keith will have a special comment about Bush's speech, today. To quote the email:

"Last week, Keith had a Special Comment regarding Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld's remarkable speech to the American Legion.

Would that we lived in a world where such extraordinary utterances from our leaders were rare.  

Tonight, Keith's Special Comment on the speech President Bush delivered, today."

Keith's really taking it to this admin as of late. And he's being rewarded with increasing ratings. Dare we call "Countdown" -- people-powered TV?

Some choice quotes follow...

"The special prosecutor in the CIA leak investigation has shifted his focus from whether White House officials violated a law against exposing undercover agents to determining whether evidence exists to bring perjury or obstruction of justice charges, according to people briefed in recent days on the inquiry's status, the Los Angeles Times will report Saturday...

The Post story will echo the Times story and RAW STORY will carry excerpts shortly. It reveals special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has been reviewing discrepancies in witness testimony in the Plame case.

This moves the story from Bloomberg News -- which broke early Friday morning, onto the front page of two major U.S. newspapers."

Shit. Meet fan.

(BTB, if you appreciate Raw Story as much as I do,  they're always accepting a little lovin' via Visa and MC.)