------------------------------------------------------ The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC ------------------------------------------------------
Hardball airs on MSNBC at 7, 11 & 2 am et and 4, 8 & 11 pm pst... We lead with the explosive Rummy Memo on the war on terror and his admission to his top deputies that things ain't going so well...Far from the tough guy, macho image the Washington press corps loved to swoon over back in the heady days of the Afghanistan war and the lead up to Iraq, Rummy comes across as someone looking for answers to an almost insurmountable problem...You realize these big shots in Washington are just normal people without the omnipotent power, knowledge and experience that we often project on them...Unfortunately, these guys are literally dealing with life and death issues... Rummy's "Must Read" memo: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/executive/rumsfeld-memo.htm Be that as it may, we'll get reax from McCain and Woolsey....Peggy will sound off on the Reagan mini-series hit piece and we'll get into the political fallout of the Terri Schiavo... In the Buzz we've got one of Katrina's underlings, David Corn, author of the new book "The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering The Politics of Deception" (Can you guess which side of the political aisle he's on??) vs. Tony Blankley and a 3rd person I'm trying to work out studio arrangements for right now... Here's a sampling of David's work: I Am No Novak...Here's why I'm not naming a CIA officer in the Wilson leak probe. http://thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=1007 We'll do the Rummy memo and some Fun Clinton News I got below...I think you'll dig it... The United States has no yardstick for measuring progress in the war on terrorism, has not ''yet made truly bold moves'' in fighting al-Qaeda and other terror groups, and is in for a ''long, hard slog'' in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a memo that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sent to top-ranking Defense officials last week. (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20031022/5609351s.htm What's the political fallout of the Schiavo in Florida? Decision could aid GOP at the polls...Gov. Bush and the Legislature reflect the wishes of conservative voters who could be critical to Republican election success. (Miami Herald) http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/7074643.htm Battle over coma woman to drag on Attorneys for the husband of a comatose Florida woman on Wednesday were preparing an appeal of Gov. Jeb Bush's order that his wife's feeding tube be reconnected. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/980564.asp Anne Schroeder's column today notes that a Hardball studio tour went for $300 at a recent Washington charity event: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61951-2003Oct21.html Mortman's California post mortem: Democrats find plenty to spin from California Self-serving explanations for the demise of Gray Davis http://www.msnbc.com/news/979949.asp Fun Clinton News... Clinton, hip-hop to share billing at DNC fund-raiser...Pulsing lights, throbbing hip-hop music and Bill Clinton are on tap next week for a Democratic National Committee fund-raiser at a Washington nightclub designed to transform young professionals into political donors. (The Washington Times) http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20031021-104451-2179r.htm Democratic 2004 wannabe Howard Dean yesterday said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told him she wouldn't run for president this time - and that Bill Clinton said he won't publicly support any candidate in the primaries. (NY Post) http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/8784.htm It's gettin' tight in Iowa folks! Dick Gephardt and Howard Dean remain close atop an Iowa poll released Wednesday, but half of the voters who say they're likely to vote in the Jan. 19 Democratic caucuses think it's likely that President Bush will win re-election. (AP) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031022/ap_on_el_pr/iowa_poll_1 Senate OKs ban on abortion procedure...After years of emotional debate, the Senate voted 64-34 Tuesday to send President Bush legislation to ban what critics call partial-birth abortion. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/983016.asp Arizona Republic's "ear to the ground": The rumor-mill buzz regarding a possible independent run for president by John McCain in 2004 had increased several decibels. The political gossips asserted, not implausibly, that things were shaping up well for such a bid, with Bush's approval rating falling and a Democratic field still looking pretty weak. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1022robb22.html Senior advisers to President Bush will recommend that he veto a spending measure for Iraq's military and reconstruction needs if it requires Iraq to repay any of the money, White House officials said yesterday. (The Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61307-2003Oct21.html N. Korea spurns U.S. security offer...North Korea dismissed a U.S. offer to provide multilateral security guarantees in exchange for Pyongyang ending its nuclear weapons program. http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/981142.asp Congress presses to finish before election-year begins...GOP defectors in the Senate challenge White House on range of issues. (Christian Science Monitor) http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1022/p02s01-uspo.html NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw will be the moderator of a debate among Democratic presidential candidates set for Nov. 24 in Des Moines, the Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday. (Des Moines Register) http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/22561616.html >From former president Bill Clinton to party chairman Terence R. McAuliffe to the >field of presidential contenders, few Democrats escape criticism in a new book by >Sen. Zell Miller (Ga.), who argues that his party has abandoned him and the rest of >the South. (AP) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61726-2003Oct21.html President Bush's re-election campaign is gathering so much in contributions that some Republicans are wondering why he needs all that money for an uncontested primary, while others wonder why he plans to accept federal financing for the general election campaign. (The Washington Times) http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031021-104443-1741r.htm Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is strongly criticizing Congress, saying it gave President Bush too much latitude in conducting foreign policy following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (AP) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031021/ap_on_go_co/hagel_bush_1 Cronkite: I believe in war censorship (The London Guardian) http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1067889,00.html Opinion/editorial Rouseaux: Wishing on a star...The Bush administration announced its intention to rejoin the fusion power project earlier this year, and Congress is expected to fund that decision through the energy bill currently in conference. http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20031021-090345-6094r.htm Tony's latest: Gen. Boykin's fighting spirit http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20031021-090352-6004r.htm Kaplan: From Baghdad to Manila...Another lousy analogy for the occupation of Iraq. http://slate.msn.com/id/2090114/ Goldberg: It's not the president, stupid http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/jonah.html Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/ ========================================= 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 <http://www.msnbc.com/tools/newstools/e/emailextra.asp?nfeature=19>