Links of the Week - Lots of Videos Edition

US Credit Ratings Downgraded for 1st Time Ever
For the first time in the nation’s history, the US lost its AAA credit rating which was awarded back in 1941. Yet further sign of the problems the GOP manufactured crisis on the debt ceiling has caused. Their willingness to commit literal economic suicide for the entire country demonstrated just how little confidence even investors now have in our country. Ironic, considering most of what the GOP does is to benefit Wall Street. As if often the case, too much greed has resulted in far reaching consequences. Sadly, this will be yet another way for the GOP to spin things in their favor as most people don't have the brains or understanding to recognize how easy all of this could have been avoided. Instead they have proven beyond doubt just how far gone the GOP but with a significant amount of power to back the crazy up with due to complete lack of leadership from Obama who doesn't see a position he isn't willing to cave too. The GOP spin will be the high debt caused the downgrade and thus their approach is the only way is directly contradicted by S&P's own statements on the cause.

S&P also changed its assumption that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts would expire by the end of 2012 “because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues. More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating,” S&P said.

Note that "revenue increases" is another way of saying increase taxes by closing loops holes or ending existing tax cuts which the GOP refuses to do under any circumstances. In short, the GOP refusal to compromise and deal with the debt in an adult manner underlined our current leadership's dysfunction in a way that could no longer be ignored. No fake crisis, no awareness of just how bad things are.

New Spider-Man RevealedAbout a month ago Peter Parker died in a battle against the Green Goblin in Ultimate Spider-Man #160. The Ultimate SM universe is a modernized version of Marvel that takes more liberties with the characters. An example of that is this week's news that the replacement Spider-Man is a half black, half Hispanic named Miles Morales. Of course the right wing movement had a fit over this. Posts about the change were pretty much flat out racist and of course Glenn Beck diving in claiming it is some conspiracy orchestrated by Michelle Obama. In reality, the writer Brian Michael Bendis, had been considering it for a while and decided to commit to it after seeing Donald Glover in the costume for an episode of Community (great TV show). How this will play out in comic book form and how successful this change will be may take many months to determine.

Links of the Week - Mostly Lego and Movies

End of the Space Shuttle Era
Today marks the official end of the Space Shuttle program as the Shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Thursday morning. Atlantis received a little fan love as it was towed home to the theme of Star Trek: Voyager. The program was launched back in 1976 with the test shuttle named Enterprise in homage to the Star Trek series. I was fortunate enough to see a night time shuttle launch back in 1996 I think. I don't remember exactly when but what I do remember is that amazing moment when night turned to day and the full capabilities of what mankind can do when driven towards a purpose that isn't entirely motivated by greed but simply for the quest for knowledge. I doubt we will see the like ever again. The first video is the towing (sound doesn't kick in for about a minute).



30 Years of the Space Shuttle in One Launch
At the link is a look back at the Shuttle program as Gizmodo combined footage from 30 years of launches to kind of emulate a single launch. A true end of an era.

Links of the Week - Safe Travels Atlantis

Space Shuttle's Final Launch
Today was a true end of an era as Atlantis became the final space shuttle launch in history. The program is officially retired after 30 years in service. The first shuttle, Columbia, on April 1981 and today marks the 134th and final mission. This is the probable first phase of the eventually elimination of NASA as private corporations get paid more and more to take over their responsibilities. Considering knowledge for knowledge's sake has no value to corporations, this day will probably mark the beginning of many ends to come in regards to space travel and the quest of knowledge of the universe.


Lego Batcave
Another work of Lego art. This one is a horizontal, more or less three floor representation of the Batcave complete with Batmobile, aircraft, and more that was created by Alex Schranz. Hit link for the gallery. (via Brothers Brick)

Links of the Week - Mubarak Resigns

Dictator Mubarak Era Ends in ResignationAfter 18 days of protests, Egyptian "President" Hosni Mubarak resigned turning the government over to the military's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. In theory this could lead to democracy returning to the country with open elections instead of the essentially fake elections of the last few decades. It is also possible that the military simply decides to overthrow the country and install a dictator. Currently Egypt is in celebration mode so doesn't seem "What next?" has been considered just yet. The military has mostly taken a neutral position on the protests and attempted to maintain the peace and disrupt attempts at violence. What violence that occurred was mostly against pro and anti-Mubarak protestors. The net result is the military leadership clearly does not want to interfere with the wishes of the Egyptian people. A lesson the US could learn as Mubarak was a creation of the Reagan administration and supported by all that followed. Congratulations to the people of Egypt! The road ahead is long but may it be glorious.

FBI Investigating Scientology
Finally after decades of reports, the FBI has finally decided to do its job and investigate the Church of Scientology. The church has long been accused of essentially treating many of members, especially those in "Sea Org" as virtual slaves, abusing children and engaging in practices that you would expect to read about from a dictatorship instead of a so-called church. The cult, of course, denies the allegations and probably even now using its full legal and lobbying efforts to end the investigation as soon as possible. While I expect nothing will truly come of this, it is hopefully one of many small steps needed to end this dangerous and greedy cult. Hit the link for the details.

Links of the Day

Fox News' Black Panthers Video Faked by GOP
An investigation into the "New Black Panther" video that Fox News, especially Megyn Kelly, spent months used as "proof" of some grand country wide "voter intimidation" conspiracy has turned out to be a complete fake. The video was actually the creation of GOP attorneys and the full video proves it (at the link). Something that Fox News probably is completely aware of but edited for their narrative of fear. After all the only party historically to engage in tactics to prevent people from voting is the Republican Party. They often support any initiatives that would restrict voting to white Republicans. However, "they do it too!" is a great way to warp the conversation is even there is only one example to hundreds and even if that one example turns out to be a fabrication.

Sony's PSP2, NGP Announcement Video
Hit the link to watch Sony's entire press conference where it announced its Next Generation Portable device as a successor to the PSP. The device is expected to have the near graphic power of the PS2 and probably cost twice as much when released around this Christmas.

John Barry Dead at 77
Oscar-winning composer John Barry died Monday of a heart attack in New York. He won five Oscars over his career for Born Free, The Lion in Winter, Out of Africa, and Dances with Wolves. He also scored almost all of the James Bond films and is responsible for pretty much ever musical queue that makes you think "007". Condolences to his friends and family.

Links of the Week

PSP 2 Officially Announced (gallery)
Sony has officially announced its next generation hardware and software. The codename of the device is NPG (Next Generation PSP) but PSP2 seems to fit better until the official name is released. The device sports 4 core processor, near PS3 level graphics, two touch screens, two cameras, microphone, speakers, six-axis motion sensing system, GPS, Wi-Fi, and more. It appears to be a touch bigger than the current PSP system but has a lot more power and more potential with Sony envisioning people switching back and forth between saved games on the PSP2 and the PS3. The game will support downloading games from the Playstation Network like the PSP Go does and interestingly it will have a flash drive cartridge support like the Nintendo DS does so retail will be happy. There is no release date or price but I imagine you are looking at around $299 and higher. In additional, Sony announced the Playstation Suite which is an Android application that will allow playing certain Playstation Network titles on Android devices. This is probably what explains the leaked Playstation Phones over the last few months as devices have probably been tested to take full advantage of the PS Suite. Below are various videos from the keynote in Japan.
PSP2 Revealed | Gameplay | Little Deviants

2011 Oscar Nominations
Hit the link for the list of nominated films in the various categories. Few surprises involved with the pack leaders being The King's Speech (12 noms) and The Social Network (8 noms). About the only surprise is Christopher Nolan did not get a Best Director nod for Inception which doesn't really surprise me consider most of the Academy is made up of older (like 55+) members that probably didn't understand most of Inception. That skewed age range is important to keep in mind as it often explains the nomination and winners. The age gap should favor the superior The King's Speech to win Best Film over The Social Network which for reasons I can't fathom is a critical darling. My picks for likely winners for Best Actor are Colin Firth, Best Actress to Natalie Portman, and Toy Story 3 for Best Animated Film. Any other choices would just be random guessing on my part.

Links of the Week

Keith Olbermann Fired by MSNBC
"MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors." With that one brief statement, Comcast has made clear who is now in control of the network. A question many had is exactly what would happen with MSNBC and its left leanings which are the political opposite of Comcast leadership who prefer to avoid controversy and fully support the GOP. This might be the beginning of an answer. Olbermann, who was integral in turning the network from a third place to second place news network, was considered the most "left" on the network by most even though his viewpoints are really right up the middle of the political spectrum. He is blunter then most in expressing them. Bluntness is something people claim to like but few really do. The other shows he helped create will remain on the network but expect a toning down and as contracts expire a replacement to something that more reflects the GOP and pro-corporate agenda that Comcast prefers. If you are the GOP and Fox News it is party time as another "enemy" of the party has been silenced. Where Keith goes from here is unknown as CNN will not have him as their hatred of controversy has reached such huge proportions that they have virtual become irrelevant in the news business. I wish him luck on his future endeavors and while I have a feeling his TV career is over, he can easily have a second life online.

Links of the Week

Daily Show Smacks GOP for Blocking 9/11 Bill
When Jon Stewart gets angry, that is usually when the Daily Show is at its finest. Thursday's episode is an example of that as the laid a smack down on the GOP who, in a quest to add $900 billion in debt so the rich can get richer, continues to filibuster the 9/11 First Responders bill. The bill would help provide healthcare coverage to the brave men and woman who searched day and night searching for lost loved ones after that tragic day. As Stewart points out, you would think the party that gets outraged, with a huge assist from Fox News, on any little 9/11 related slight would be all over this bill but nope. This is a no brainer. This bill, more than any other, shows beyond doubt that the GOP has only one priority - get the rich richer. If not rich, then you can frankly just go to hell as far as they care. Not much better is the press which continues to show indifference, I guess because it isn't "sexy" enough but more than likely because they can't handle more than one major story in a 24 hour period. Anything then that and their on air talent gets lost. The entire episode should be watched as it begins with Stewart’s outrage, goes into an interview with a few 1st responders and then has Stewart correct so-called religious Mike Huckabee who manufactured excuses for the GOP's behavior but corrected every step of the way by Stewart. Why anyone supports a party that makes it clear that if you don't belong in the top 2% they could give two craps about you is something I will never understand.

Watching Fox News Makes You Stupid
As the graph shows, the more you watch Fox News, the less you know. Since Fox makes its bread and butter by essentially selling the same lie over and over until people believe it is true, can't really say the results are surprising. Still, having a scientific study back it up does not hurt. The study was based on polling 616 voters, finding how much they watched each network and what they knew about certain facts. Emphasis on facts. Not opinion, not policy but actually proven facts. The result is all there on the graph. You watch Fox News, you risk becoming stupid. Need more proof, go chat up a random Tea Partier.

Links of the Week

Gawker Media Passwords Released to Public
If you have ever commented on Gawker, IO9, Gizmodo, Lifehacker or other sites of the company, then you need to change your password ASAP. You might also consider changing your password to any sites that make use of that same username and password combination especially if used for personal information.

Fox News Boss Orders Slanted News
For a while now Fox News has claimed it is a real news organization by saying there is a difference between its real news times and its opinion news times. Realistically there is no difference as the network is truly 24/7 GOP opinion machine but many remained convinced. New proof further supports this notion as a memo from Bill Sammon, a Fox Managing Editor, pretty much forced all Fox News reporters, on air talent, etc to make sure they use GOP approved phrasing for things like "government option" instead of "public option" because in polls it shows people would support that wording less. After the memo went out, the change went into effect across the board in all the "real" news hours.

Links of the Week

Sorry for lack of updates, frankly just been busy with posting on the other blogs. Here you go though, a little bit longer than normal link list.

Largest Lego Ship Ever
Hit the link for images and video that shows off a 23 foot Lego recreation of the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid. The ship was constructed to mini-fig (1/40) scale with Wildcat and corsair airplanes to give it the 1945 look from when it was built. A truly awesome creation.

No Bank Accounts Costs Money
A reporter learned the hard way that not having a bank account can be expensive. After around 30 days of not using a bank, the various fees resulting fees cost $93 or possibly at least $1100. The lesson seems to be that even though banks no longer really function as lenders but more as fee machines, it is still cheaper to have an account then not have one since they will find a way to get their pound of flesh one way or the other.

Zack Snyder Directing Superman
After many false starts with the commercial failure of Superman Returns (good ideas but homage taken too far), WB finally seems ready to move on. Watchmen, 300 director Zack Snyder will helm the film. He also hinted, but has not officially confirmed, that Zod will be the film's big bad. It seems likely this will be a reboot of the franchise rather than continuation of the story where Returns left off.

Lego Space Habitat
A gallery that shows off a huge habitat complete with commercial areas, living space, space port, and more. It makes heavy use of a modular design so it’s actually like a lot of identical living spaces with slight changes to each to give it the cohesive but unique look.

Chasing Fox
An interesting article from New York Times about MSNBC's growing pains as it attempts to catch up to the ratings of Fox News now that the network has surpassed CNN. It gives a peek behind the scenes at some of the egos and infighting that flares up occasional, especially between management and the on air talent.

Donald Duck vs. Glenn Beck
An inspired mash-up that combines the many cartoons of Donald Duck with the equally hate filled crazy talk of Glenn Beck.


Portable XBox 360 Slim
Ben Heck is back with a new completed project. For all intents, he crammed an XBox 360 into a kind of briefcase with a 17 inch LCD screen. The result is a fully functional XBox that you can take with you wherever you want. He probably needs to add a handle.


Scream Awards Back to the Future Recreation
In homage to the 25th anniversary (and help sale the impending Blu-Ray edition), Spike TV put together a shot for shot recreation of the teaser trailer from 1985, complete with appearance by Michael J. Fox.

Destroyed and Rebuilt in 3 Minutes
A pretty sweet video that combined 45,000 photos to show the deconstruction and reconstruction of an office building in Paris.

Links of the Day

Streetfighter, MegaMan Style - The amusing image to the left is the cast of Streetfighter restyled to mimic the design of 8-bit MegaMan. If only they could create a game that used those designs.

GM's 60 Day Return Caveats - GM, in a bid to increase sales, has started a 60 day money back guarantee only it has a few holes in it. One takes advantage of buyer's remorse by not allowing you to return the vehicle until after 30 days of ownership. A second issue is only the cost of the vehicle + sales tax. Any add-ons, aftermarket equipment, title and registration fees have to be eaten by you so that’s hundreds of dollars hit two essentially borrow a car for two months. The biggest problem though is you can't return the vehicle if it the cost of repairs exceeds $200, a value determined by the dealer. Considering something as simple a cart hitting the side door can exceed that value, this pretty much makes the deal void. Long story short, this return policy has no value and should not play a part whatsoever in your purchase decision.

Masters of the Universe Movie Lives...Sorta - The option for the He-Man movie lapsed at Warner Bros so Columbia has stepped in to take on the potential franchise. The projects will start from scrap, tossing attached director John Stevenson, producer Joel Silver and writer Justin Marks. Basically what little ground was made is back to square one so a movie, if ever made, is years away.

Outfoxed - Click the link for story of Fox lying about their manufactured rally at the capital for Glenn Beck's 9/12 hate fest event and also watch Outfoxed from a few years ago that documents how and why Faux News operates the way it does.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA - Hilarious video that has a bunch of stars participate in a "PSA" asking for the public to protect insurance companies, CEO's and their billion dollar profits that Obama is trying to take away. After all, as the GOP keeps telling us, corporate America must be protected at all costs.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Links of the Day

Snopes.com Review - An interesting article about the fact checking site and whether or not it is partisan and accurate. The overall score is an A on all levels. It turns out the site is owned by David and Barbara Mikkelson and not some corporate entity. I know I use the site anytime I have concerns over a BS statement in email and the like.

Ashton vs CNN On Twitter - The race is as Ashton Kutcher and CNN's Newsbreak accounts try to be the first to reach 1 million followers. Ashton was behind by 50k but has closed the gap to just a few thousand (976,351 to 972,573). Currently I have avoided following either. However, unknown to either, Oprah has joined twitter and will promote it on her show tomorrow and has the following to blow by them both with ease.

Tax Day Protests - A nice summary from Countdown that summarizes my opinion on the whole thing. It’s a corporate created "protest" being sold as grass roots as a lot of uninformed followers protest tax increases that will not even effect them and only the very rich sponsoring and promoting the protests. I just don't get why people consistently act against their own self interests when it comes to politics.


Star Wars with MacGyver Opening - Excellent job of editing to use footage from the Star Wars trilogy that uses the TV series opening and style.


"We Didn't Start The Flame Wars" - Hilarious video based on Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire." I swear those are comments that I have read almost word for word on many websites.

Watch We Didnt Start the Flame War on CollegeHumor

Links of the Day

The Big Takeover - A snarky but good look into what caused the failure of AIG that needed taxpayer bailout and why the bonuses are so bad. In general, the main bad guy is AIG Financial Products division led by Joseph Cassano who caused the company to buy all the bad debt that it couldn't unload and nearly caused its bankruptcy. He and his people are the same people that are supposed to get the $165 million bonus money. Yep, they nearly destroy a company and their reward is more money. Cassano was finally laid off but he was given $34 million in compensation and $1 million a month from AIG to consult. Basically Wall Street's version of policing itself is to hand out money freely to its biggest con artists. For all the Republican talk of why deregulation is required for all things, I give you AIG as a reason on why it’s absolutely necessary.

Colbert Tops NASA Poll - As a sign of the Colbert Nation strength, Stephen Colbert asked for people to vote for "The Colbert" as the name of the new wing of the international space station and they did raising him to the top spot over second place name "Serenity." A name I assume is from the Firefly TV series (and movie). Now the contest wasn't to actually name the module but simple pick a primary suggestion that NASA may or may not use. NASA has said its official determination will not be made until next month.

AIG To Rebrand - What does failed company do with a horrible reputation? Rename itself of course. AIG is going to spend some of its taxpayer money to rename itself to AIU Holdings Ltd and already started the process with removing AIG from its headquarters in New York. Sadly, a new name often does wonders for a company as the public quickly forgets what the old name really represented.

Bill O'Reilly Ambush Story - Bill O'Reilly is an ass. A huge idiot of an ass that is only outmatched by his ego. Someone dares to question him; he sometimes will sic his attack dog, a pathetic shell of a man named Jesse Watters. Jesse then goes out and follows you around as he tries to get a "gotcha" moment. Failing that he will suddenly ambush you maybe in your yard, at work, or on vacation as the story at the link indicates. From there he will ask a bunch of stupid loaded questions of the "Why did you eat your baby?" variety that gets heavily edited to make it seem like you dodging something. It’s basically a big "fuck you" to his audience because he knows most are simply too stupid to question what they are seeing. If you are on the receiving end of such behavior, simple say "Before I comment, can Bill answer questions about Andrea Mackris" Repeat that name over and over as Bill will refuse to allow any footage to air that utters that name. BTW, she was a women he sexually harassed and settled out of court with.

Inside Consumers Reports, Trailers, Palin Stupidity and Ann Nixon Cooper

Inside Consumer Reports' Testing Lab - From Gizmodo, an article that has images and two videos from the magazines testing labs. If you don't subscribe, I recommend it, as it can save you some time and money and maybe provide that tipping point when debating which products to buy.

The Day The Earth Stood Still TV Spots - I am not sold on this movie yet. The effects look good, Keanu Reeves taste in entertaining movies is rock solid, it’s just that I still have no idea what the story is about. I guess the earth is about to kill the human race unless one guy can be convinced (probably by the kid he runs with) not to. Havoc ensues in the meantime. The special effects look really good though based on the spots below.



Meet Ann Nixon Cooper - The 106 year old from Atlanta was the centerpiece of Barack Obama's acceptance speech. As they said she has seen a lot of history and met a lot of those figures too. Oddly she hasn't met Obama yet but hopefully that will change. Either because he gets an invite to his inauguration or because he comes to Atlanta to help Martin defeat that slime Saxby Chambliss.

Palin vs McCain Information - From Fox News, behind the scenes information is starting to come out regarding Palin and her extreme lack of knowledge and attitude she had during the campaign. Everything you hear about her continues to support the notion that she is truly Bush in drag. We had eight years of a non-intellectual that remains curious about nothing and it seems Republicans want the female version of the same thing.


Windows 3.x Discontinued - 18 years later and Microsoft has finally ended the licensing of the legendary operating system. My first computer ran off of 3.1 and its how I learned many of the computer skills I have today. It is amazing how much computers have and have not changed over the years.

Bill Moyers Turns the Tables

If you ever watch the nastiness that is the O'Reilly Factor, one of the tactics the program likes to use is the ambush interview. The idea is basically attack the unsuspecting victim with loaded questions to illicit a certain response so once edited they can go "See, I was right!”

It’s a way that O'Reilly tries to appear like a journalist or anyone with credibility while not actually doing the work that credibility requires...say doing the work yourself. Instead he sends his lapdog Factor producer Porter Berry to do the work for him. In general the tactic works because most of the targets but then most of their targets don't have the wealth of experience that Bill Moyers has.

The result is the tables are quickly turned on Porter in the below unedited footage has his loaded questions are pushed aside and he is confronted with his own behavior and that of his stations. It is hilarious to watch. To bad more don't have the quick wittedness to do that more often to Porter. I just wonder what will air on the O'Reilly Factor because I guarantee some choice editing will occur because rule #1 is do not embarrass O'Reilly.

Update: Check out the second video to see what O'Reilly put on the air just as a sign of how misleading he can be in his "reporting." His crew took a 10 minute exchange and reduced it to about 10 seconds, removing all context. Then he allow his resident hack, Tonya Reiman, do a body language "reading" to fill out the time since the footage was mostly un-usable for his purposes.

Fox Assistant Fire For Voting

In a bit of interesting news, a Fox News production assistant was fired for admitting to John McCain that she voted for him at the Time 100 party last week. Apparently admitting your vote is "journalistically unacceptable."

From TV Newswer: When Sen. John McCain walked by, the assistant said, "I voted for you in the primary, you're going to win." McCain was overheard saying to her, "You're not supposed to reveal that." A video of the incident can be found here.

Lots of questions come to mind. Such as why is revealing your vote "journalistically unacceptable"? Why isn't that a requirement? Shouldn't transparency and being upfront about potential conflicts of interest be something that every journalist should strive for? Why does McCain comment that the revelation was wrong? Why is he aware of a set of rules that the public isn't privy too? The press is supposed to serve the public but incidents like this prove the contrary.

I have no love for Fox News. Face it, more then likely voting Republican is practically a job requirement, but honestly shouldn't be punished, it should be praised. Even when it’s accidental.

Fox News Distorts April Fool's Poll

Phoenix Fox 10 News marches in the same beat as its parent channel of Fox Noise, by distorting an April Fool's Poll that asked "Who is the most foolish American?" The announced winner is Britney Spears, complete with footage and quick summary of her recent antics. As the screen grab shows though, the winner, and by alot, is President George Bush at 40%. Note how he is listed last, rather then first as the declared "winner" Britney Spears is located. One could blame that on how the list is compiled, but note the screenshot. Below is a clip, notice towards the end how it sounds like the news anchors caught their on air mistake but decided to push on through without correcting it. Of course they are just reading from a teleprompter so the mistake is less theirs (course they could have corrected it) and more the powers that be that chose to be deceptive.

Bill O'Reilly Lose to Cut Mics

Why o why does anyone bother to come on Bill O'Reilly's show? He only wants one thing from his guests - to ape his opinion. Anything else gets a mic cut, both on his tv show and radio show.

A recent example is with Colonel Ann Wright, a 29 year veteran of the US Army.

WRIGHT: "I want to make sure the United States treats people properly.."

O'REILLY: "Sure you do. Sure you do."

WRIGHT: "I surely do. That's what I spent 29 years of my life trying to do."

O'REILLY: "Sorry. No you didn't. You know what happened to you…somewhere along the line you started to dislike your own country…."

WRIGHT: "I served 29 years. How many did you serve? Where did you teach the Geneva Conventions?"

O'REILLY: "Cut her mic."

I don't know how anyone can be suprised by this. O'Reilly exists to push the Bush administration agenda, no matter what it is. Thats fine, but its the slimeyness that he goes about it. The self rightousness and the complete fabrication of "facts". When presented with an opposing viewpoint or facts that don't support his worldview, he shuts people off. Its his show, he can do that, which returns to the basic quesiton...why bother appearing on his show? Republicans are smart, they only pop up on programs friendly to them. Democrats need to learn to do the same thing, especially if it involves O'Reilly and Fox Noise.

I miss the days where programs where an exchange of opposing ideas rather then a barrage of attacks. The recent Jon Stewart interview of John Bolton is an excellent example of how it should go.

The two questions that should be asked and asked and asked of all pro-war hawks is "What does Iraq have to do with the war on terrorism?" and "How do we know when a victory has been achieved?" I have yet to see an answer to either question beyond the nonsense "to bring freedom". Really, how do you know you have won a war when you can't even define what the criteria are for victory?