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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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It's a wing dinger of a show tonight so I gotta call for the obligatory popcorn
and TV trays folks! We'll lead with Democrat Congressman John Murtha (PA), a
respected and decorated veteran who voted to authorize the war but has been a
long time critic ever since...As we reported last night he came out blasting
and calling for an immediate withdrawal of the troops from Iraq...Murtha's
remarks have created a firestorm inside the Beltway...The White House fired
back and compared him to second rate liberal documentarian Michael Moore (I bet
he actually likes the French!) and said his position was tantamount to
"surrender to the terrorists." Many Republican backbenchers fired back at
Murtha with similar acerbic rhetoric...John Kerry decried what he called the
"Swiftboating" of Murtha...
We'll get Murtha's plan, his reax to the criticism and what he can do as one
lone congressman in this fight...
Former CIA chief under Jimmy Carter Stansfield Turner is slamming Dick Cheney
calling him the "Vice President of Torture" for his role in lobbying against
Senate language to ban the use of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of
detainees...We'll ask him why he's breaking his silence on the issue...
And he's baaaackk....Everyone's favorite Brit Christopher Hitchens jumps into
the fray with Bob Shrum to discuss Iraq and the CIA leak case...Should be quite
a smack down!...
And we don't stop there folks...We're bringing in the New York Times columnist
Maureen Dowd to discuss Sex, Politics and The Bush Administration...Aye Carumba!
Now tell me you aren't gonna postpone those dinner reservations??!!
I gotta getta a move on in cleaning out my desk and hittin' the highway...For
those of you who responded to my previous Briefing announcing my departure and
worried Chris was leaving, don't...Chris isn't going anyway, only one of his
producers...Thanks for all your nice well wishes!
And no, the Briefing isn't going anywhere either...We're turning it over to the
capable hands of Brooke Brower...One of our newest producers and a man of
considerable gravitas, Brooke brings a wealth of experience with him and has
quickly earned himself a place in the editorial sanctum sanctorum of this
operation....As a segment producer, Chris relies heavily on Brooke's news and
political judgment...I wish him the best and will be a loyal subscriber...
As for me, I can only say it's a been a long, strange trip after nearly six
years at Hardball...Chris has been like a father to me and I've always
considered myself more a "Hardball producer" rather than simply a "TV
producer"...I'll be watching and cheering from the sidelines...So long and
thanks for the memories!
Dominic Bellone wrote, compiled and edited The Hardball Briefing for the last
time from deep inside the Beltway...
Scores killed as Iraq mosques, hotel targeted...Shiite mosques filled with
worshippers; hotel housed media, including NBC (MSNBC)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10091543/
Post Analysis: Iraq Critics Meet Familiar Reply...White House Reverts to
Blistering Attacks of 2004 Campaign
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/17/AR2005111701973_pf.html
Commander in Iraq Counters Call for Pullout (AP)
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/18/D8DV08500.html
Feith Under Investigation: The Pentagon's inspector general has agreed to
review the prewar intelligence activities of former U.S. defense undersecretary
Douglas Feith, a main architect of the Iraq war, congressional officials said
on Thursday.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-11-18T014228Z_01_MCC806094_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-USA-FEITH.xml&archived=False
Knight Ridder Analysis: In challenging war's critics, administration tinkers
with truth
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13185357.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
Americans less enchanted as sole superpower...Major new poll shows sharp rise
in belief U.S. should mind its own business (MSNBC)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10086642/
Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in new court filings that the
ongoing CIA leak investigation will involve proceedings before a new grand
jury, a possible sign he could seek new charges in the case. (Reuters)
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-11-18T164743Z_01_SCH860443_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-LEAK.xml
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley won't say if he was the source who
told Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward that Bush administration critic
Joseph Wilson's wife worked for the CIA. But Hadley volunteered on Friday that
some administration officials say he's not the leaker. (AP)
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20051118/D8DUTH0GB.html
Vice President Dick Cheney is not the unidentified source who told Washington
Post reporter Bob Woodward about the CIA status of the wife of Bush
administration critic Joseph Wilson, a person familiar with the investigation
said Thursday. (AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051118/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak_cheney&printer=1;_ylt=AvtIOvzJ2TWADFA.x2YrjoMGw_IE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-
Carter era CIA Chief Stansfield Turner: 'Cheney is vice president for torture'
http://www.itv.com/news/index_1447362.html
Foreign network at front of CIA's terror fight...Agency has joint operation
centers in more than 2 dozen nations (The Washington Post)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10091295/
Debate grows on foreign fighters' role in Iraq...None of those captured in Tall
Afar offensive was from outside country (The Washington Post)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10076523/
Lawmakers used influence and cash rolled in...Dozens of congressmen pushed
Interior while accepting lobbyists' donations (AP)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10083819/
The US military on Wednesday acknowledged it might have killed civilians in the
Iraqi city of Falluja with white phosphorus munitions during the battle against
insurgents a year ago. (Financial Times)
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/5fc7a7b4-56f9-11da-b98c-00000e25118c.html
President Bush told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that the United
States supports a proposal from Moscow that could deny Iran the ability to
produce nuclear weapons. (AP)
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20051118/D8DUUD280.html
Iran admits having nuclear black market data...U.N. agency: Revelation is sign
of cooperation but more must be done (MSNBC)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10095684/
The discovery of a secret Iraqi Interior Ministry torture chamber confirms what
has been an open secret in Baghdad for months: Pro-Iranian militia have deeply
infiltrated the ministry and are acting as a law unto themselves. (The
Washington Times)
http://washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20051117-095201-6504r
Opinion/Editorial
Terry: Did Hillary Lie America Into War?
http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=10326
Shafer: Bob Ain't Judy...But the similarities don't flatter Woodward.
http://www.slate.com/id/2130598/?nav=tap3
Ridgeway: And Another Thing, You Donkey Heads...Cheney falls way down the
rabbit hole over Democrats' dissent
http://villagevoice.com/news/0547,ridgeway,70176,2.html
Doonesbury http://www.ucomics.com/doonesbury/
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