morning dose...

Thom Hartmann: "Hyping Terror for Fun and Profit"

"More than 100 Clear Channel Stations to Get Fox Newscasts":
"Working this closely with a premiere national news provider for the majority of our news/talk stations makes overwhelming sense," John Hogan, chief executive officer of Clear Channel Radio, said in a statement. "Because of the breadth of this relationship, our local news directors will get a more customized and higher-quality national news product - and that's great for listeners."

Yum. Right-wing Media Consolidation. It's what's for breakfast.

More Torture. And coverups of torture. And scary stuff that sounds like it's right out of some Tom Cruise movie. From Salon.

Pandagon reminds us of Tommy Thompson's remarks about the vulnerability of our food supply to terrorists. And, more importantly, explains why the man said what he said:

More seriously, Thompson's a pro. He doesn't walk out and ruminate on massive holes in American security because it happened to pop into his mind on-route to the podium. This is something that's obviously been scaring him for awhile, scaring him enough that he consciously decided to overshadow his tenure and implicitly admit to failure in order to raise the alarm. And that means his attempts to sound the sirens within the Bush Administration failed. I don't think this can be read as anything but a last-ditch effort to inspire the widespread fear needed for public pressure on the issue. And that can't be be read as anything but a commentary on how closed the Bush Administration is to dissent, even from within their own ranks. Too speak the Right's language, the Bush Administration is unserious about protecting Americans from the threat of Islamo-fascism. For shame.

As I wrote above, the news cycles have been blazing by so quickly that Thompson's three-day old comments are now historical artifacts. That's pretty scary. When a cabinet secretary tosses his legacy away in a final bid to draw attention to a gaping security flaw, we should be listening. Hell, we should be demanding, screaming and yelling. Instead, we're readying ourselves for tomorrow's revelations. We keep doing this and, one day, we'll wake up to grim anchors doing live coverage of the attack on our food supply. And we'll wish the Bush administration has paid more attention to Tommy Thompson when he tried to warn them. We'll wish we paid more attention when he tried to warn us.

Howard Dean's speech about the future of the Democratic party is good:

I'll give this to Republicans. They know the America they want.
They want a government so small that, in the words of one prominent Republican, it can be drowned in a bathtub.
They want a government that runs big deficits, but is small enough to fit into your bedroom.
They want a government that is of, by, and for their special interest friends.
They want a government that preaches compassion but practices division.
They want wealth rewarded over work.
And they are willing to use any means to get there.