------------------------------------------------------ The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC ------------------------------------------------------
Hardball airs tonight on MSNBC at 7p, 11p & 4a ET & 4p, 8p & 1a PT Find MSNBC on your TV http://www.msnbc.com/CableOperator.asp MSNBC also is on your XM satellite radio on channel 130 It's history repeating itself as that nasty little swift boat controversy won't seem to go away for Kerry...Addressing the International Association of Firefighters Conventionconvention this morning Kerry blasted the "swift boat veterans for truth" calling them a "Bush front group" and challenging Bush to "bring it on" if he wants to debate "our" service in Vietnam...The sound was smokin' to say the least and now the Bush campaign has a statement out saying Kerry "knows his accusations are false"...Kerry also has a new Vietnam themed ad out today...Folks my Outlook inbox is blowing up right & left with charges and countercharges over this issue... We'll try to sort it out tonight with fmr. Senator Max Cleland, one of Kerry's top "band of brothers"...We'll also get reax from Washington Wiseman-cum-Harvard professor David Gergen and fmr. San Fran mayor Willie Brown... No one from Bush-Cheney '04 wanted to come on the show tonight... MSBNC campaign reporter Becky Diamond was at the Kerry speech and blogs on what she saw http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086 In the back half we talk to The Washington Post's Dana Milbank from the Western White House in Crawford and syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin whose new book "In Defense Of Internment" is certainly not going to win her any friends at the ACLU.. We finish up with Michael Sporgen, the lawyer in the case of "John Doe": War veteran sues to keep from being sent back to Iraq...GI says his rights violated under Bush redeployment policy (San Francisco Chronicle) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/18/MNGJ889HO829.DTL It's a great country we live in when a former Vice President drives his own car and actually gets a speeding ticket! Former Vice President Al Gore was cited for speeding as he drove a rented car to visit family on the coast, authorities said. (AP) http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/186938_gore19.html Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Hardball Briefing from Washington, DC Kerry blasts Bush over Swift Boat vet ad...Says president allows 'dirty work' (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5758982/ "They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to know: he wants them to do his dirty work," Kerry told a convention of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a politically active union which backs Kerry. (Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6020580 Military records counter a Kerry critic...Fellow skipper's citation refers to enemy fire (The Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5751284/ The Washington Times has an excerpt here from "Unfit for Command": 'Sampan incident' belies heroic image http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040819-123903-5094r.htm The Washington Times editorializes: Was Kerry in combat on Dec. 2, 1968?...One of the criteria for awarding a Purple Heart is that the person in question was involved in action against the enemy. The writers over at Captainsquartersblog.com have raised an interesting question surrounding John Kerry's first Purple Heart. http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20040818-092342-5914r.htm Malkin Backgrounders: The left's war on the FBI http://www.townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/mm20040818.shtml Racial profiling: A matter of survival http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-08-16-racial-profiling_x.htm Milbank mentions our segment from Monday where Chris busted out the Bush campaign for cropping an interview we conducted with John Kerry: Bush Turns to Part-Time Troops...New Educational Benefits for Guardsmen, Reservists Proposed http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A11154-2004Aug18?language=printer Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia, a Democrat who long ago endorsed President Bush for re-election, will deliver the keynote address at the Republican National Convention, party officials announced Thursday. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040819/D84IC00O2.html Iraqi PM makes 'final call' for cleric's surrender...Move comes as heavy fighting rages near holy shrine in Najaf (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5685031/ While U.S. forces have cordoned off the shrine and are responding to attacks from Sadr's militia, Allawi has told U.S. commanders he wants Iraqi forces, not foreign troops, to attack the shrine if necessary. (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A14572-2004Aug19?language=printer Developments in Iraq on Thursday (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040819/D84ICM4O1.html Curry: '527' groups rewrite campaign rules...From the outside, Bush, Kerry foes wield huge clout http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5747838/ Powell stays above the fray - sort of...No campaigning, but lots of defending Bush policies http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5748027/ Saudi export of strict Islam raises suspicions...U.S. is eyeing money trails of charities backed by kingdom (The Washington Post) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5751289/ Unwilling participants...Iraqi soccer players angered by Bush campaign ads featuring team (Sports Illustrated) The mystery man who claims to be Golan Cipel's ex-lover said yesterday that not only is the handsome Israeli gay - he's also still in love with Gov. Jim McGreevey. (NY Daily News) http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/223686p-192120c.html Following a conversation with Gov. James E. McGreevey, U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine backed off the notion of a bid to replace the embattled governor in a special election. (AP) http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040819/D84I7KVG1.html First lady Laura Bush considers much of the national media biased against Republicans, but she empathizes with Democrat Teresa Heinz Kerry, who told a journalist to "shove it." (The Washington Times) http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040819-121932-1223r.htm Intelligence vice chairman calls war unjustified...'Dangerous, costly mess,' Bereuter says as he leaves House (AP) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5750615/ Rush & Molloy: Joe Piscopo gave the Garden State a new slogan with his "You from Jersey?" routine on "Saturday Night Live." But would voters elect him as a replacement for Jim McGreevey? http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/223678p-191994c.html Opinion/Editorial Tony: The Cambodian candidate http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/tblankley.htm Katrina: Dean's Dozens...Progressives need to recruit, train and support candidates at all levels. http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?bid=7 Reese in the House!! Turns out, according to The Washington Post, the information on which the latest terrorist scare is based is two to three years old. It was sold to the American public initially as if it were a brand-new discovery. It seems that the Bush administration is unable to level with the American people about anything. http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20040816/index.php Feith: (A man who was planning the invasion of Iraq before planning the invasion of Iraq was cool) A Smarter Way to Use Our Troops http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13742-2004Aug18.html ========================================= This email is never sent unsolicited. You have received The Hardball Briefing Newsletter because you subscribed to it or, someone forwarded it to you. To remove yourself from the list (or to add yourself to the list if this message was forwarded to you) simply go to http://www.msnbc.com/tools/newstools/e/emailextra.asp?nfeature=19 Microsoft Corporation - One Microsoft Way - Redmond, WA 98052 MSN PRIVACY STATEMENT http://privacy.msn.com