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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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If you've been under a rock this morning you'll need to know the big story is New
Jersey Senator Bob Torricelli's presser set for 4 pm et today (although that time is
not "hard booked" as we say in the business)...There's a strong chance of a deliberate
auto asphyxiation of The Torch...Amid ethics problems and plummeting poll numbers, it
appears all over but the shouting...Lisa Meyers is reporting the situation as "fluid,
confused and chaotic."...Question is who'll step into the breach? Names floating in
the ether: Pallone, Lautenberg, even Bill Bradley...Plus, how will this effect the
Dems chances of holding on to their majority? According to a "must read" piece
leading The Washington Post, GOP hopes this November are "brightening."
Sources: Torricelli may quit Senate Embattled Democrat hurting his party's chances of
keeping the Senate (MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.com/news/815055.asp
Sen. Robert Torricelli, a prolific fund-raiser whose re-election hopes were severely
damaged by an ethics controversy, told colleagues Monday he will drop out of the race
if a suitable replacement is found for the Nov. 5 ballot, two Democrats said. (WNBC)
http://www.wnbc.com/news/1693980/detail.html
Forrester surges ahead by 13 points...Gap opens in last 2 weeks as ethics question
erodes support for Torricelli (The Star Ledger)
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-4/103320439055040.xml
Federal memo re: David Chang (AP)
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/jersey/index.ssf?0927memo.html
NJ political source http://politicsnj.com/
GOP Hopes Brighten in Fierce Fight For Senate...Democrats Must Win Big to Regain House
(The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20527-2002Sep29.html
Howard will lead the show with the inside scoop....
Plus, the latest on the situation with Iraq weapons inspectors with Neocon
intellectual Hawk guru Richard Perle....Plus, a special appearance by famed '91
Baghdad correspondent Peter Arnett...No, he's not the "Scud Stud"...That was Arthur
Kent...Arnett brings more gravitas to the table...
And in the D block: MSNBC Host/Fmr. Presidential Candidate/Nixon aide/all around cool
dude at the office Pat Buchanan will join us to discuss the current state of the
Conservative movement and the GOP...He launched a new magazine called The American
Conservative to combat the rise of Neo-Conservativism...We've got David Frum from The
Weekly Standard (the Newcon Bible) playing defense...Expect some heat out of this one
folks!!
Dig this cool quote from Pat on his new mag: "We are not neo-anything. We are old
church and old right. We love the old republic, and when we hear phrases like 'New
World Order,' we release the safety catches on our revolvers."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3338-2002Sep25.html
In the Buzz, we've got Zogby (John, not James), Seattle Times columnist Carl Jeffers &
The Washington Times' Tony Blankley...Zogby's got some new Iraq numbers plus more
Torch...Also, we'll do some stuff on the Babs/DCCC fundraiser,
Housekeeping: I hit the protests downtown over the weekend and it was pretty lame at
the pre-func stuff near the Washington monument. When they started the march however,
that's when the excitement hit...Thousands marching, dancing, chanting and such...I
was walking near the front with the speaker clad truck playing disco and other exotic
tunes...It was all fun and games until I got shoved by a cop for walking on the wrong
side of the sidewalk and hundreds of battle gear clad cops boxed us in at Farragut
Square...I like my politics hot and spicy but that's a bit "muy caliente" for my
tastes....Anyway, I survived unscathed...
And don't forget, we've got Giuliani for tomorrow on his new book...Gotta run folks...
>From the Hardball Briefing mailbag...Debra Brady writes
"I must be an idiot. I'm flat broke, while you get paid for writing this sophomoric
nonsense. I know I can produce trash, where do I apply?"
Call it trash Debra, but it sure beats selling insurance in Topeka! Whatever you call
it though, just keep reading!
Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Briefing from Washington, DC
Here's a fun little nugget: Minnesota politics took an edgy turn Saturday night when
Republicans staged an in-your-face protest outside the Fine Line Cafe in downtown
Minneapolis, where Hollywood celebrity Alec Baldwin appeared at a DFL fundraiser for
gubernatorial candidate Roger Moe and U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone. (Star Tribune)
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3333452.html
Gephardt: "Well, what I want to say to my friends in the Republican Party is, eat your
heart out. I get faxes from Barbra Streisand, they get faxes from Rush Limbaugh and
Pat Robertson." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21890-2002Sep30.html
Dick & Julia http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/020930/168/2cj37.html
It's not as swank as 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. or as exclusive as Elaine's, but Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton's D.C. house has emerged as the hottest new spot on the
political fund-raising circuit. (NY Post)
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/58379.htm
Howard: Wag the War...Bush hopes talk of Iraq will help the GOP reverse the tides of
history. But on the ground, the fight is as much about financial jitters and the
country's changing contours http://www.msnbc.com/news/813573.asp
Carney: General Karl Rove, Reporting for Duty
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,356034,00.html
Three Democratic U.S. congressmen, wrapping up a four-day visit to Iraq to assess the
humanitarian situation, said on Monday that "war is not the answer" to the standoff
between the United States and Iraq. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=politicsnews&StoryID=1513845
War Talk Shapes Fall Elections...Democrats' Ability to Use the Economy Against GOP
Wanes (The Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15678-2002Sep28.html
The Iraqi crisis is escalating, and the economy, education, and other domestic issues
are competing for House minority leader Richard A. Gephardt's attention as he
traverses New Hampshire for the votes that could help win him a promotion to speaker
of the House. (The Boston Globe)
http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/272/nation/Gephardt_aiming_for_optimism_looks_beyond_numbers+.shtml
U.N. inspectors demand Iraq access...U.N. weapons inspectors opened talks with Iraq on
Monday by staking out a tough position over a return to Baghdad and holding Saddam
Hussein to his pledge of unfettered access to suspect sites.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/811728.asp
The Bush administration criticized Iraq Monday for continuing to fire on U.S. and
British warplanes patrolling over two no-fly zones, saying the skirmishes are more
evidence of Saddam Hussein's defiance of the international community. (AP)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=544&ncid=703&e=5&u=/ap/20020930/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq
Earlier this summer, a top aide to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld outlined for
his boss a concept for striking North Korea's weapons of mass destruction-a case study
in the application of the Bush administration's new doctrine of pre-emptive military
action. (US News & World Report)
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/021007/usnews/7strike.htm
WashPost: New U.S. doctrine worries Europe...In Brussels, the capital of the new
Europe, officials are expressing emotions ranging from concern to alarm to irritation,
resentment and anger as they contemplate the growing gap between themselves and the
Bush administration.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/814849.asp
Rowan Scarborough: Bin Laden dead, say powers of deduction...An increasing number of
government analysts believe Osama bin Laden is dead, but the assessment is based on
rational deduction, not hard evidence.
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20020930-8395408.htm
Gore Draws Criticism...It's one month before the mid-term elections, and control of
both chambers hangs in the balance. Do you know where Al Gore is? (Roll Call)
http://www.rollcall.com/pages/news/00/2002/09/news0930a.html
Al Gore, who launched a broad attack on President Bush's Iraq policy last week, will
give a "major" policy speech on the U.S. economy in Washington on Wednesday. (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=politicsnews&StoryID=1511147
Kurtz: Panning For Gore...With Friends Like The New Republic
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20415-2002Sep29.html
Hawaii Rep. Patsy Mink dies at 74...Viral pneumonia claims veteran House Democrat
(MSNBC) http://www.msnbc.com/news/814471.asp
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush holds a 6-percentage-point lead over Democratic challenger Bill
McBride, according to a poll published Sunday. Few voters are undecided, the poll
says. (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20020930/4492034s.htm
The Hollywood film star Kevin Spacey is to be the surprise special guest at the Labour
party conference in Blackpool this week. (London Guardian)
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour2002/story/0,12294,801683,00.html
American Taliban John Walker Lindh enjoyed secret gay sex romps with his Muslim
mentors, a new report claims (NY Post)
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/58340.htm
Zucker: "The most ground-breaking dramas have been on NBC not on cable" (NY Post)
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/58326.htm
Arthur Lord, an Emmy-winning NBC News producer who covered many of the major stories
of the last four decades, including the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the Apollo
moon landings and the Iran hostage crisis, died Wednesday at UCLA Medical Center. He
was 60. (LA Times) http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-me-lord28sep28.story
Page Six: Daily Snooze publisher Mort Zuckerman has been branded a hypocrite for
condemning the Saudis but still taking their money.
http://www.pagesix.com/pagesix/48352.htm
Starr Report: Former "Saturday Night Live" star Garrett Morris is set to launch a new
magazine called Savant, which will be a multi-cultural publication covering everything
from the arts to politics. http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/58313.htm
Opinion/Editorial
Ashcroft's call to arms...John Ashcroft wants to rewrite decades of gun laws simply
because he doesn't believe in them, writes Slate's Dahlia Litwick.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/exports/ct_infobeat.asp?/news/813858.asp
Novak: War talk puts Dems in a bind
http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak30.html
Conason: Bush Administration Heeds Windbags of War
http://www2.observer.com/observer/pages/conason.asp
The Wall Street Journal: The Democrats and War...Joe Lieberman needs to rescue his
party from the Vietnam generation.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110002360
The Washington Times: A carnival of protest...If Friday's protests against the World
Bank, the IMF and globalization were a discordant rage against the machine, Saturday's
were more like a perturbed Rio carnival without rhythm.
http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20020930-81789039.htm
Blankley: Buchanan's new magazine attacks modern conservatism
http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/blankley.htm
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
Mallard Fillmore http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/mallard.asp
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