KO's 1st Anniversary Show

I watched Keith Olbermann's 5th Anniversary show on MSNBC a few hours ago. One of the centerpieces of the show was a rebroadcast of Olbermann's August 30, 2006 first "Special Comment" ripping Donald L. Rumsfeld. For many of us this was a true "defining moment." I vividly remember watching it at that time.

As a former broadcast professional, I found it really weird that this "Special Comment" video was pristine but the audio sounded super shitty -- like it was recorded down the hall. What was up with that? It sounded like MSNBC had to get the audio from a secondary source. Did they not think Olbermann was going to last and ditch the masters or is there some more mundane reason for the poor sound quality?

Dunno. I found it very strange.

-AF

More AEY Dish

Lindsay Beyerstein follows the paper trail of Efraim Diveroli's AEY VP, David Packouz. Packhouz has had a number of his own companies operating under the same roof including Intelliteran and Dyna Core/Dynacore/Dyncore. I immediately realized as did Ms. Beyerstein that Dyna Core sounds suspiciously like big time established military contractor DynCorp. While Dyncorp features real heavies like retired Generals Barry McCaffrey and Anthony Zinni, Packhouz' Dyna Core appears to be run by a bunch of twenty-somethings.

-AF

Lou Dobbs' Cotton' Pickin' Flub

As a former major market broadcaster with over 10 years experience, I'm well aware of the perils of adlibbing. But I also know that in order to advance and then stay at the top of your game, you must learn to edit yourself. You develop an ability to hear most of what you're saying the split-second or two before it leaves your mouth. Otherwise you can only hope to eke out a living in what my old communications prof called the "tall grass."

I'm fascinated how the longer some of these folks stay in the biz, the more atrophied this editing skill can become. It's a combination of hubris and laziness. Hubris comes with the territory and fosters a belief that they are infallible. This leads to laziness as in "I'm so good I don't have to prepare." A lack of show prep inevitably leads to disastrous adlibs. This very bad habit is hard to break.

Show prep isn't just about news, facts and figures. It's also about the presentation of whatever info or opinion you want to get across and how you are going to deliver your message. From what I have seen of Lou Dobbs, he does an adequate job with the former and precious little of the latter.

-AF

(HT TPM)

Top Ten John McCain Myths

Mediamatters rolls 'em out:
#3. John McCain is a straight talker.
Eh, not so much.




Free Ride: John McCain and the Media available now.

-AF

Jericho Comes A Tumblin' Down

I hopped on the Jericho bandwagon way late. I had mistaken Jericho for more 24-style terror porn. I caught up during the writers' strike when jack all was on the telly.

I found Jericho to be the anti-24 -- a well written realistic drama featuring fully realized characters and the courage to kill some of them off. Its domestic terrorist-caused post-apocalyptic landscape was peopled with patriots, traitors, prodigal sons, lovers, duty-bound soldiers, Blackwater stand-ins Ravenwood, Halliburton/KBR clone Jennings & Rall, heroes, zeros and those in between, However, CBS deemed Jericho's first season ratings insufficient and canceled it.

An inspired fan campaign rallying around the war cry of the inaugural season's finale (recalling one of US history's great moments: the surrounded Gen. Anthony McAuliffe's response to German demands that he surrender) delivered 20 tons of nuts to CBS Television HQ.

CBS changed course mustering up seven more episodes. But its post-writers' strike viewership didn't come close to matching Season 1 ratings. So CBS scuttled Jericho less than halfay halfway thru Season 2. The Boston Globe has a Jericho appreciation here. The SciFi Channel is in negotiations to pick up the series. **fingers crossed** SciFi already has the rights to rebroadcast previously aired episodes.

Watch Jericho online or on DVD.

-AF

Rove Claims Tail & Horns Retractable

Retractable? More like tuck and cover.
Think Progress has the viddy.

-AF

Mukasey & Public Integrity

Scott Horton knows the score.

-AF

If We Have To Go All The Way To Denver For Her Health Plan...

...I'll be pissed.

Josh Marshall analyzes Hillary Clinton's interview in today's WaPo. Hillary is vowing to stay in the race straight to this August's Democratic National Convention. Mr. Josh sez this is all about Hill's desire to "resolve" Florida & Michigan.

I disagree completely. (Please understand I m not a Clinton hater. I've already laid out where I stand). Hillary's "All The Way To Denver" stance is not at all about Florida and Michigan. It's never been about Florida and Michigan. Obviously, it's not to Clinton's benefit to split the delegates in half. She's confident that the DNC will be unable to put together a re-vote. So what's the deal?

This "resolution" may be Clinton's stated raison d'être but "resolving" Florida and Michigan is only a pretense. (Remember, Hillary's camp raised no objections when the DNC decertified those primaries). While maintaining this pretense, Hill gets the added benefit of portraying herself as a champion of democracy by refusing to allow Michigan and Florida voters to be disenfranchised. This position is really all about extending the race until Hillary and Bill get as close to what she wants as they are going to get.

What does she want? Ideally the Clintons' continued quest for power offers a chance at redemption. This is their last best chance to regain some of the face lost they lost during Bill's last year in office as a well as a huge flip-off to their critics. It's also about the Clintons' inability to accept the fact that they squandered Hillary's "presumptive nominee" status. In short, it's all about their needs not ours.

Perhaps that's what bothers me most about this posture. Not unlike George Bush, the Clintons' have put their ambitions before our needs -- the needs of both party and country. I'd feel the exact same way if Hillary's and Barack's positions were reversed.

I have another bone to pick with Sen. Clinton. Speaking with The NYT on Friday, she finally divulged some deets on the proposed premium cap for her health care plan. (Hillary first mentioned this cap concept six months ago!). Her cap maxes out at a potential 10% of a family's income. These stats courtesy of The Times:

The average cost of a family policy bought by an individual in 2006 and 2007 was $5,799, or 10 percent of the median family income of $58,526, according to America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade group. Some policies cost up to $9,201, or 16 percent of median income.

The average out-of-pocket cost for workers who buy family policies through their employers is lower, $3,281, or 6 percent of median income, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health research group.

Sorry Hillary. Until you lay it out in great detail, I cannot be filled with confidence in your plan. It would be fantastic if this leads to improved health care for the poor and middle class. I cannot yet tell. What concerns me specifically is how this will work for those of us who are ill and/or otherwise disabled. If you take even half as many pills to have some semblance of a "normal" life as I do, you too would feel anxious by the expectation that you'd end up a ten-percenter. The various health-related lobbies aren't going to spend upwards of $1 billion dollars this year, including campaign contributions to candidates of both parties, to allow the common man to catch a break.

My message to Hillary and Barack? Get back to me with your pitch to rid health care of the graft, the waste and excessive big pharma profiteering. Pass laws allowing us to bring prescription drugs in from Canada and demanding the negotiation of drug prices under Medicare. Then we can talk about how much I'll pay for my health insurance.

Then we can talk about my vote.

-AF

Will Rove Get Popped For Gov. Siegelman Persecution Prosecution?

TPM has the rundown in Siegelman: Rove's Fingerprints "Are Smeared All over The Case"



A couple of TPM commenters raised the question $64,000 question: Will Bush pardon Rove?

For Rove to get a post-conviction Bush pardon, the current DOJ would have to act with unnatural speed to bring Karl to trial. Remember, it took almost fourteen months from Scooter Libby's indictment to his trial's start. As stupid as he may be, Bush would not dare put Rove on trial before the upcoming election. Even if for some reason Bush wanted to, Cheney wouldn't let him. By now I think both are too concerned for their “legacy” to purposely make any missteps before November.

Bush could pardon Rove before Rove was even charged. But there would be a tremendous outcry. The MSM is just starting to become aware of this story. This awareness is only going grow now that Siegelman is out and free to do interviews. Again this will not be addressed in any way until after the election.

Rove's best bet is for his formerly hated archenemy McCain to get elected. Why do you think the Rovester has been advising the guy he tried to destroy with his infamous SC push polling?

-AF

+ For some additional perspective on the Siegelman case consider this: It took the Alabama courts' and DOJ almost 9 months to let Siegelman (D) out pending his appeal. Even though the charges against him were far more serious, Brent Wilkes (R) spent just 5 weeks in jail before being sprung pending appeal.

Lawyers, Guns and Money

That would be a perfect title for The Efraim Diveroli Story...




The exemplary Lindsay Beyerstein has some fine reporting on this saga at Majikthise:

Records from the Florida Secretary of State show that Efraim's father, Michael Diveroli, is the manager and registered agent of Worldwide Tactical, LLC, located at 925 41 St. (Ste. 106), Miami Beach, Florida. Diveroli was also the registered agent and president of the now-defunct Advantage Police Supply, LLC, principal office 925 41st St. (Ste. 306).

Efraim Diveroli's company, AEY, gave the same address to the Miami Dade County procurement office.

AEY also provided that address, down to the 306 suite number, when it was awarded a multi-million dollar contract with the Army in 2007.

Michael Diveroli's Worldwide Tactical, LLC has been awarded over a million dollars in federal contracts since 2000, records show. Worldwide Tactical also got an emergency two-year contract in 2006 to supply cots to the State of Louisiana. Worldwide Tactical recently renewed a contract to provide cold weather search and rescue gear for Lincoln/Lancaster County, Nebraska.

What I find remarkable about this story is that this neophyte kid was able to secure $1 million+ in government contracts seemingly without the now customary pattern of contributions to the Republican Party or right wing causes. I checked both Newsmeat and OpenSecrets (for some reason Opensecrets' website is down this AM). I found nothing for the Diveroli Family or Uncle Bar-Kochba Botach. The only player in this saga with any clear record of political contributions is Efraim Diveroli's lawyer, Hy Shapiro. Over the past 15 years Shapiro has contributed $3250. All of it went to Democrats.

In my prior post I alluded to the many consumer complaints against Botach Tactical ("WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD!") That's the LA co. owned by Diveroli's Uncle Bar-Kochba Botach. Here's a sampling: At ResellerRatings.com Botach Tactical's lifetime rating is 2.04 out of 10. Sample entries on Complaints.com here and here. Pissedoffconsumer has more. There are also entries at RipoffReport and Epinions. Finally, there's this story about how Botach brazenly off a supplier's (!) product design.

-AF
+Update: Makithise has more dope on the Diverolis and Botach Tactical plus the news that young Efraim has fled the country rather than face the music here as well as testify before Congress.