h/t to my friends at The Political Carnival with their cartoon of the day. So what do you think about Sister Sarah ever attempting to take a serious run for the presidency? I think the chance is somewhere between slim and none that she even lasts until the first debate. If she does throw her hat in there she'll quit just before that debate is scheduled and blame the media for demonizing her after she's raked in as many campaign contributions as possible from the suckers who don't know any better. Then she'll go back to ClusterFox and tell everyone how the "lamestream media" never gave her a chance so she just had to quit and John Ziegler can make another revisionist history excuse for a "documentary" and pretend he's relevant.

If not Palin, who might be the next GOP candidate for the presidency that would actually have a chance to win their nomination? I'm thinking someone who is on almost no one's radar screen right now, and that's David Petraeus. Your thoughts on that or anything else that has caught your attention today welcomed.

Open thread below...

[Update: Sinclair's Last Chance via

Josh Marshall's right, Sinclair is beginning to crack. But, as he notes, their new plan to force a "news show" that juxtaposes parts of "Stolen Honor" with the shameful lib'ral media's behavior in this matter just ain't gonna cut it. Luckily, Sinclair has a way out.

I was on a conference call this morning with Deborah Rappaport, a California-based philanthropist who is offering Sinclair quite the face-saver. She's bought rights to the excellent, accurate and extremely well-reviewed documentary Going Upriver, which follows John Kerry through his war heroism and anti-war activism, and is offering an edited version (42 minutes long, exactly the timespan of Sinclair's proposed program) for broadcast before the election. Not only is she offering it, she's willing to pay $1 million dollar sabove the ad revenue the time slot would normally generate and cover all the fines and fees incurred from preempting stations. So long as Sinclair shows the documentary before the election, in a time slot with comparable viewership to Stolen Honor's, and with a similar amount of advance work (publicizing it, running ads, etc), the offer is valid. This would allow them to show both sides of the controversy and demonstrate the balance they feel is lacking from other media outlets. The offer was delivered this morning and Sinclair has been asked to respond within 24 hours. This is as good as it's gonna get for them, and it's the final test of whether or not they're a business who simply wants to show both side or an arm of BC04 that's wasting shareholder dollars.

For more on "Going Upriver", check out Kevin Drum's review here.

[Update ll: Despite the assertions made in "Stolen Honors," NBC's David Shuster reports that "dozens" of former Vietnam War POW's say that John Kerry's name was never even mentioned once by their Vietnamese captors

As the Olympic torch made its way through San Francisco today -- the only US city on the relay schedule -- protests raged as anti- and pro-China demonstrators clashed over Beijing's record on human rights. David Shuster reports for Hardball on all the turmoil, including what some believe to be a veiled threat from President Bush, urging China to start a dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

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Rosie O'Donnell says there will be no deal between her and MSNBC.

Hmmmm....maybe now's the time to start a petition to get David Shuster or Rachel Maddow a chance at the slot...

Shuster asked the right question of Rep. Blackburn and predictably the attacks followed. (Newsbusters) Whenever someone leaks info to right wing blogs---red flags should go up. Via Blue Texan:

Shuster's apology [re: Marsha Blackburn] may have been premature. The tiny hamlet of Bon Aqua, Tenn., is where Bohannon lived in the months immediately prior to entering the Army. The Census Bureau places his home in Blackburn's 7th Congressional District.

Media Bistro asks a good question:

Why did MSNBC rush Shuster to apologize? And, more importantly, who made him do so? Or did Shuster and MSNBC just not have the info (or didn't do the research) that Scripps dug up?

We know that Scooter Libby isn't around anymore to call NBC and complain to the Russert's of the world---so who is the new contact from the WH that's putting the heat on?

UPDATE: Oye:

FishbowlDC hears that MSNBC General Manager Dan Abrams asked David Shuster to apologize for Wednesday's Rep. Marsha Blackburn incident and even wrote the bulk of Shuster's on-air apology...read on

Things aren't looking good in Camp Rove. David Shuster once again does a great job of putting the pieces together.
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Raw Story:

"WHILE HIS SUPPORTERS CONTINUE TO PUT ON A GOOD FACE, SOURCES CLOSE TO KARL ROVE SAY THE PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR IS NOW MORE WORRIED, NOT LESS, THAT HE IS GOING TO GET INDICTED. THE SOURCES SAY ROVE WAS SURPRISED BY SOME OF THE QUESTIONS HE WAS ASKED AND BY THE FACT THE SESSION STRETCHED ON FOR THREE AND A HALF HOURS....read on

(sorry for the caps)

This is not how Tony Snow would want to start off at his new job. MSNBC is reporting that the grand jury will meet again on Friday.

Iraq Three Years Later: The Path to War

Take a listen to NPR's "Morning Edition."

"This week marks the third anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq. Mike Shuster tracks the events leading up to the U.S.-led invasion. These include Bush administration claims -- since discredited -- of ongoing Iraqi nuclear weapons development and links with al Qaeda. (hat tip Brian)

David Shuster puts together one of his really good compilations-this one on Bush and Domestic Spying.

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Iraq and 9/11 myths
On Hardball, David Shuster issued a report about the alleged link that the WHIG's spun between Iraq and 9/11.

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Isn't it interesting that Dick Cheney said Iraq and 9/11 were not connected back in '01?

Russert: Do we have any evidence linking Saddam Hussein or Iraqi's to this operation?

Cheney: No.

Why was Rumsfeld targeting Iraq so early on? Does the group PNAC come to mind? There are great clips from Bush and Cheney trying to link Iraq with 9/11. Remember those pesky polls (that the White House now down plays) that showed 45% of Americans thought Saddam was personally involved in 9/11? Do you think Judy Miller had anything to do with that also? The White House sent a letter to Congress telling lawmakers that force was authorized against those that "aided in the 9/11 attacks."

David Shuster reported this morning on MSNBC that George J. Tenet said he didn't tell the Vice President or the VP's office about Wilson nor was he asked about this by investigators two years ago. Who is lying and who is telling the truth? I do know that there is a lot of lying going around and it's apparent they are turning on each other.

Merry Fitzmas!