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During the second presidential debate, undecided voter Susan Katz expressed to the governor her concern that a Romney presidency might be a return to the policies of the Bush Administration that hurt the economy, asking the governor how he would be different from President Bush.

Romney then proceeded to list a number of ways his policies were different from those of the Bush Administration, but as a quick fact-check (with video clips... my favorite kind) clearly shows, Romney's policies are exactly the same as the Bush Administration.

We've seen the reaction from the extreme right and their attempts to block aid to Haiti after the earthquake hit, but don't you know, FOX News found that it wasn't even that newsworthy to boot.

On January 13, Fox News' three top-rated programs for 2009 -- The O'Reilly Factor, Hannity, and Glenn Beck -- devoted a combined total of less than 7 minutes of coverage to the earthquake in Haiti, instead choosing to air such things as Beck's hour-long interview with Sarah Palin, Bill O'Reilly's discussion of Comedy Central host Jon Stewart, and Sean Hannity's advocacy for Massachusetts candidate Scott Brown's Senate campaign. By contrast, the content of MSNBC's three top-rated shows underscored the significance of the Haiti disaster; Countdown, The Rachel Maddow Show, and Hardball devoted a total of more than two hours to the earthquake.

Seven minutes in three hours. Wow. I mean even if you'd rather not see a continuous stream of earthquake news on 24/7 cable, most Americans would still like be be kept up to speed on what's happening there. Not FOX News. I guess they figure their audience feels like Pat Robertson does.

O'Reilly did better tonight. But it's obvious he's trying to catch up now.

Thanks to last night's Rachel Maddow Show, we DFH's are now PLF's...watch that left eardrum, Mister P. Open thread below.

RACHEL: On the issue of intelligence—tainted evidence and those things—were you ever present at meetings at which the interrogation of prisoners, like Abu Zubaida, other prisoners in those early days, where the interrogation was directed? Where specific interrogation techniques were approved. It has been reported on a couple of different sources that there were Principals Meetings, which you would have typically been there, where interrogations were almost play-by-play discussed.

POWELL: They were not play-by-play discussed but there were conversations at a senior level as to what could be done with respect to interrogation. I cannot go further because I don't have knowledge of all the meetings that took place or what was discussed at each of those meetings and I think it's going to have to be the written record of those meetings that will determine whether anything improper took place.

But it was always the case that, at least from the State Department's standpoint, we should be consistent with the requirements of the Geneva Convention. And that's why this was such a controversial, controversial issue. But you’ll have to go, and in due course I think we all will go, to the written record of what memos were signed. I'm not sure what memos were signed or not signed. I didn't have access to all of that information.

MADDOW: If there was a meeting, though, at which senior officials were saying, were discussing and giving the approval for sleep deprivation, stress positions, water boarding, were those officials committing crimes when they were giving that authorization?

POWELL: You’re asking me a legal question. I mean I don't know that any of these items would be considered criminal. And I will wait for whatever investigations that the government or the Congress intends to pursue with this.

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Yup, that's John McCain boarding the yacht of Raffaello Follieri, former playboy beau of actress Anne Hathaway and current felon. What's the Ol' Maverick doing celebrating his 70th birthday on a yacht in Montenegro with his campaign manager Rick Davis? The Nation has the scoop.

The McCain-Follieri Love Boat

John McCain has been hammering rival Barack Obama for being little more than a vapid "celebrity" and "elitist." But The Nation has obtained a photo revealing just how star-struck a straight-talking maverick can become when offered the chance to celebrate his birthday aboard a yacht filled with celebrities--even if one of those celebrity types turns out to be an A-list con man.

Download | play Download | play (h/t Heather)

What would the reaction be if it were Obama schmoozing on the yacht of a Hollywood celebrity with David Axelrod? Do we even have to ask?

Yglesias sums it up:

Long story short, John McCain who hates lobbyists and celebrities decided to spend his seventieth birthday partying on a yacht off the shore of Montenegro with an Italian con man and his movie star girlfriend, a meeting organized by a lobbyist who also happens to be McCain’s campaign manager.

John Amato will be on The Rachel Maddow Show on Air America at 4:30 pm Pacific this afternoon. He's scheduled to discuss the Tobias/DC Madam scandal. You can stream audio here.

Heard this on the Rachel Maddow Show on my local AAR station.

LA Times: (reg req.):

The Energy Department said Tuesday that it was investigating a series of alleged safety problems at its Pantex nuclear weapons plant near Amarillo, Texas, including complaints by employees that they were being required to work up to 84 hours a week to meet decommissioning schedules for nuclear weapons.

[..]The Pantex plant, which has 3,500 employees, handles the servicing of nuclear weapons and the decommissioning of excess weapons under arms control treaties. During the Cold War, it was the sole assembly site for nuclear bombs.

Employees characterized conditions at the Pantex complex, which sits on 25 square miles and began nuclear work in the early 1950s, as "degraded" and in disrepair in many areas. The letter also said engineers were being required to work up to 84 hours in a seven-day week and production technicians 72 hours in a six-day week.

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