fivecats | Entries tagged with keith olbermann

Another Sunset
September 2005 Raleigh, NC
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Dinner last night was celery sticks because I couldn't drag myself away from the television again.

There are lots of images and stories coming out of New Orleans, but in a country where the current administration has so cowed the media, I'm not very trusting of a lot of those sources. I'm sure there is some good happening down there, but my suspicion is that there's a whole lot more bad going on than we're being shown.

I'm down to trusting four news sources:

*

interdictor has been blogging with a live video stream from a building in New Orleans since it all started. The images he and his co-workers have posted and described show what's really happening in the downtown area.

* Anderson Cooper's 360 on CNN. Cooper is on the ground in New Orleans, broadcasting his segments live, typically on overpasses and/or areas where flooded, fetid streets are right behind him. He's out on boats in the water every day seeing for himself what the situation is like. Unlike journalists in their safe, air conditioned studios who can "maintain their distance" from the story, Cooper has become more and more wrapped up in his story. As a result, he's giving an unflinching look at the conditions and the people there with honesty, respect and intensity.

* Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. Olbermann is a rare type of journalist these days. He's involved in the right causes, calling things as he sees them and sparing no one. If you haven't seen the Countdown "Timeline" of Events, you should. If you haven't heard his editorial piece on the response to Hurricane Katrina, you should.

* The BBC World News: It's just amazing what the world knows about us that our own media won't discuss.

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What is also amazing me is just how continually out of touch the current administration is with the realities of life both in New Orleans and for it's residents -- both current and former.

Barbara Bush, talking about refugees in the Houston Astrodome, said, "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this --this is working very well for them."

Dubbya, himself, told Rep. Pelosi of California that he saw no reason to fire David Brown, the inept head of FEMA.

Dick Cheney finally put in his token appearance in the gulf region today. An off-camera protester helpfully told him to "Go f*ck yourself"

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Oprah Winfrey has been doing her show from New Orleans this week. I haven't seen any of it, with the exception of this happy-ending story for all of you pet lovers out there.

And I was really angry at The Daily Show for taking last week off. They have tried to make up for it with several stories -- "Inarguable Failure", "Bush's Timeline" and "Meet the F**kers" -- all available on the Select a Video portion of TDS site. One of the stories included this list: