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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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Not sure if you got a chance to check out Chris on MSNBC this morning with Alex Witt
but he was positively "en fuego" on Iraq...A number of you have already been sending
in e-mails about the appearance...He's really pumped up today and I suspect that will
continue on through the show tonight...It's becoming increasingly clear, at least in
my mind, that Chris is the biggest media figure expressing a healthy skepticism about
war with Iraq...
The Big story comes from The New York Times today and we'll devote the majority of the
show to it...The Bush administration published today its first comprehensive rationale
for shifting American military strategy toward pre-emptive action against hostile
states and terrorist groups developing weapons of mass destruction. The strategy
document also states, for the first time, that the United States will never allow its
military supremacy to be challenged the way it was during the cold war. (NY Times)
http://nytimes.com/2002/09/20/international/20CND-STRA.html
Reuters update: The United States should maintain forever its global military
superiority and defeat terrorism by "destroying the threat before it reaches our
borders," the Bush administration said on Friday in a new strategy document
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=politicsnews&StoryID=1476323
We'll slice and dice the new doctrine with an All Star Panel: Ex CIA chief James
Woolsey, Presidential Historian Doug Brinkley, Middle East expert Shibley Telhami and
Congressman Nick Rahall...
And tommorow night is the big Miss America Pageant in Jersey...Is it out of touch? Is
it demeaning to women? We'll get into tonight with Sari Locker, sex educator and
author of "Sari Says"...She doesn't like the Pageant...We'll ask her why
And the Buzz looks like Barnicle and a GOP Pollster Dave Winston...More Bush and Iraq
stuff there...
Erratum: Soiree vs. Suarez...Yes, I said "Suarez" and clearly I meant
"Soiree"...Here's the confusion...My boys, Led Zeppelin, have a song titled "South
Bound Suarez" in which Plant pronounces "Suarez" like "Soiree"...Thanks to a loyal New
Hampshire reader who spotted this...
Also, I'd like to revive the old Hotline style reception reviews...Beltway insiders
know of what I speak...If you go to a good political reception, anyway in the country
and would like to write a briefing paragraph on the food and/or political chatter, I'd
love to put it out there...
Folks, I'm sorry this is so late and not up to typical snuff but all of the sudden we
had some last minute guest change ups and other typical hectic stuff...Peace
out...Bellone
PS Thanks for all the shout outs in Minneapolis...My colleague Rani Brand told me she
talked to a number of you...Appreciate it..
Hussein Denies U.S. Weapons Allegations...Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declared
Thursday that his country "is clear of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons"
and urged the United Nations to resist the Bush administration's campaign to obtain
U.N. backing for a military strike against his government. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41742-2002Sep19.html
President Bush on Friday failed to get Russia's support for his strategy against Iraq,
hearing from Russian President Vladimir Putin that dispatching U.N. inspectors - not a
U.N. threat of military action - should be the next step in dealing with Baghdad.
(MSNBC) http://msnbc.com/news/805226.asp
My dark brown hair is rolled, teased and pinned into what can only be described as a
hood ornament, a lacquered bouffant that's part Lady Bird Johnson, part Bride of
Frankenstein. (USA Today)
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2002-09-19-1acov-miss-america_x.htm
When the Miss America contestants parade down the runway this weekend, they will
represent a broad cross-section of America in a competition that has never been a
model of inclusiveness. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020916/ap_en_tv/multicultural_miss_america_4
Fun Clinton News...
Page Six: Bill's blondes befuddle News...The Daily News has linked Bill Clinton to
three different "unidentified" blond women since Sunday, even though there is no
mystery as to any of their identities. And supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis,
husband of one of the "flaxen-haired bunch," as the News put it, is not amused.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09182002/gossip/pagesix.htm
Is Gore a Go?...Maybe not. Inquiring minds are starting to wonder whether Al Gore is
really going to take the presidential plunge again. Let the most recent unvarnished
speculation begin. (Kurtz)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43177-2002Sep20.html
Gertz: U.S. eyes pilot with ties to al Qaeda...U.S. intelligence agencies are looking
for a missing Sudanese air force pilot who is said to be planning to hijack an
airliner and fly it into the White House.
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20020920-69517531.htm
The CIA had information about three of the Sept. 11 hijackers at least 20 months
before the attacks occurred but failed to pass the information on to other agencies, a
congressional investigator said on Friday. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1475797
As Congress promised a quick vote on using military force against Iraq, President Bush
on Friday pressed a campaign to swing Russia behind the tough American stance against
President Saddam Hussein . (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20020920/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq
Bush Delivers Iraq Resolution...President Asks Unlimited Power To Act Without Further
Requests (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41939-2002Sep19.html
Milbank Analysis: Persistence pays off for Bush...As President Bush sent his proposed
Iraq attack resolution to Capitol Hill on Thursday, his rout of congressional
Democrats was virtually complete. The opposition party had all but resigned itself to
passing the resolution with the wording Bush desired on
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/810419.asp
Israel destroys most of Arafat's HQ...Israel reduced to rubble most of the remaining
buildings on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's West Bank compound on Friday, using
powerful explosives to raze at least three structures a day after a suicide bomber
struck at the heart of Tel Aviv.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/801833.asp
Is war on Iraq inevitable?...Remaining scenarios for avoiding a violent conflict in
the Persian Gulf (CS Monitor) http://csmonitor.com/2002/0920/p01s01-uspo.html
A group of 19 House Democrats yesterday pledged to build a congressional coalition to
oppose a U.S. military attack on Iraq. (The Washington Times)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020920-347297.htm
Scarborough: U.S. military planners are focusing on February as the optimum time to
begin a war against Iraq, and they would rely greatly on defecting Iraqi units to
topple Saddam Hussein, according to senior defense officials.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020920-92651744.htm
Bush Speech Wins Over the Foreign Press (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41059-2002Sep19.html
Bush Sr. says son has strength for war...The presidential burdens of a possible war
with Iraq are the same now as they were in 1990, former President George Bush said
Thursday in Sioux Falls. (Argus Leader)
http://www.argusleader.com/news/Fridayfeature.shtml
Some top Missouri Democrats are worried that Sen. Jean Carnahan's campaign is not
"running at full throttle," giving Republican Jim Talent the momentum in an already
close contest. (Kansas City Star)
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/4111235.htm
No Gov. Schwarzenegger - Yet...Arnold says he can only focus on one thing at a time.
And right now, his focus is on raising money for California schools and blowing things
up as the Terminator, not on a write-in campaign for governor. (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43793-2002Sep20.html
U.S. Senate campaign debate goes to nation...Allard, Strickland to face off Sunday on
'Meet the Press' (Rocky Mountain News)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/election/article/0,1299,DRMN_36_1428488,00.html
Harper On Media: CNN has refused to air a pair of 30-second announcements from two
Jewish groups, citing a company policy that prohibits it from broadcasting "advocacy
ads" about countries in conflict.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020920-5627940.htm
Diller deal slows Vivendi spinoffs...Vivendi Universal SA's efforts to reduce its
heavy debt load are being hamstrung by a complex deal struck 10 months ago by
then-Chairman Jean-Marie Messier with Barry Diller, the veteran entertainment
executive.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/810487.asp
Sneed dishes on Chelsea and Hill in today's "Tipsville"
http://www.suntimes.com/output/sneed/cst-nws-sneed20.html
Opinion/Editorial
Very Amusing: Deliver us from evil...Of all the explanations for Sept. 11, 2001, and
the subsequent alleged war on terrorism, the least illuminating is that it's all about
evil, writes Slate's Michael Kinsley.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/810112.asp
Bibi: The Case for Toppling Saddam...The longer America waits, the more dangerous he
becomes. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002303
Winston: Bullish on uncertainty http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20020920-82603632.htm
The Washington Times: Bush: We must act now...It would be difficult to imagine a more
harmful, obstructionist approach that plays right into Saddam's hands than that being
taken by the United Nations. http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20020920-751808.htm
Peggy: Hippocratic Oafs...Muslims demand sensitivity. They ought to show some too.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110002297
Lithwick: Free Speech 101...Wartime censorship is alive and well and living on campus.
http://slate.msn.com/default.aspx?id=2071214
The Washington Times: Daschle's tirade...During a 35-minute temper tantrum staged on
the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle described the administration's
economic policies as "tragic, deplorable, abysmal."
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20020920-45012448.htm
Mallard Fillmore http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
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