General Dissent:  To paraphrase "Body Heat", Sometimes the hypocrisy comes down so heavy you feel like you should wear a hat. A conservative publication calling General David Petraeus a "sycophant" in its cover story... A conservative jack-in-the-box... Comedian Rush Limbaugh... compounding his "phony soldiers" comment... first by denying that he'd said what he said... then by adding Congressman Jack Murtha to the list. Our fifth story on the Countdown: for some reason there does not seem to be a George Bush-led race among Republicans to blast either Limbaugh or "The American Conservative" the way they so happily wrung hands over the MoveOn.org Petraeus advertisement.

The Edwards Interview:  Elizabeth Edwards joins us -- on the campaign, on her husband's campaign to accept federal funding and the limitations they provide.

ODDBALL: More mascot violence and the worst wrong tape ever rolled in a sports report.

The Clinton Interview:  Other than the periodic appearance of Angelina Jolie, or the guys who started You-Tube, or the President of Malawi, or the head of Cisco Systems... They are not a stand-out-of-the-crowd, kind of crowd. Yet, in our third story on the countdown -- the 400-plus attendees milling around a New York hotel for the three days of the annual Clinton Global Initiative... made 245 new philanthropic pledges which will positively impact the lives of just about... 100 million people. Not a bad way to spend a little over half a week. The last part, now, of my interview with the man, **of** initiative.

Who Farted?: Inside the Tom Cruise movie flatulance story. 

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: A german factory worker, traffic engineers of Seminole County Florida, and David Horowitz vie for tonight's top honors.

Race & O'Reilly:  If you think Bill O'Reilly capable of anything, you are mistaken. For days now, he has argued-- sometimes with black people-- that his comments last week about black people were not offensive...to black people. In our number-one story tonight, there is one thing O'Reilly appears incapable of doing... despite his claim that he was taken out of context, he seems incapable of playing any tape that would put into context... his surprise at the civil demeanor of black restaurant patrons.

Big show tonight...we'll have more fallout from those Rush Limbaugh comments regarding soldiers who favor withdrawal being "phony soldiers", including retired General John Batiste who is not pleased with Mr. Limbaugh.

Also, Keith will interview Elizabeth Edwards as her provocitive ad "A Question For You" continues to swirl around the internets.

We'll play the rest of the Bill Clinton interview and update you on the latest on the Bill O'Reilly rampage...we'll tell you who he would like to 'strangle' and we'll have more tape you'll be interested to hear.

No Way Out:  As if it were not bad enough that the next president of the United States will inherit the disastrous aftermath of the invasion of Iraq...It is ever more likely tonight that the president after that one could also be left with a U-S presence on the ground there, more than five years from now. Our fifth story on the Countdown: At last night's debate in New Hampshire... The three leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination all refusing to promise that they would withdraw all American troops from Iraq by the end of their first term.

Uncle Sam is Watching You: If you need evidence of how fragile American freedoms can be... you need only look at constitutional wounds that are still raw.  The administration's use of secret surveillance programs... legalized by a compliant congress only after they were disclosed in the media. Or the recently departed attorney general's threat to prosecute reporters for disclosing information he deemed a security breach. Our fourth story tonight.. yet another lesson in subverting the constitution... by killing the news media with kindness.

ODDBALL: A two headed turtle and guy chased by the cops takes a nap in the middle of the road.

The Clinton Interview: Our third story on the Countdown...Wait'll you hear his story about how giving people loans to sell reading glasses could change the economy -- and the literacy rate -- of the world's poorest and most illiterate countries. First, in our third story on the Countdown, the politics of the moment...With our special guest, the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton.

Clinton on Giving:  Our number two story on the Countdown, more of my interview with the 42nd President of the United States. And his remarkable charity juggernaut the Clinton Global Initiative. Now in it's third year, drawing funds to help people from all around the world, even in the smallest ways, and drawing people, like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Dana Perino, John Gibson and Rupert's mothership vie for tonight's top honors.

The Falafel Guy Fatwa:  In the past couple of days, Bill O'Reilly has devoted large sections of his show to defending himself against critics who pointed out the racism in his surprise that people in a black restaurant know how to order iced tea without cursing about somebody's mother. Mr. O'reilly has again questioned why no one is addressing the context of his remarks. Which is confusing, given that he has refused to play the recording of those remarks -- with or without context -- on his own show. For people other than O'Reilly, the primary question has been whether he knew it was racist. But in our number-one story tonight, it is time to consider another question... is Bill ill? Not to equate racism with mental defect, although the argument can be made. 

Fresh off his Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York yesterday, former President Bill Clinton will sit down with Keith tonight to talk about everthing from global health, poverty, education and climate change...to politics in this country, the state of the war in Iraq, and his wife's bid to replace President Bush. 

Yeah, you heard us!  Here's a piece on MSNBC.com about funnyman and TV personality Mo Rocca's involvement with a NYC charity that gives scholarships to kids so they can attend Catholic schools.  How did he arrive at this particular philanthropic cause, you ask? 

I flirted with a number of different causes.  For a while I was really into permanent recognition of Taiwan as an independent state, but they didn't want me.  I didn't pass for Taiwanese, I guess.  So I sort of settled for this.

The full interview is definitely worth a read.

Can You Fear Me Now: Our fifth story on the Countdown: The Bush administration's effort to scare or even shame Congress into doing its bidding... In this case, into giving it 190 billion more dollars for the war in Iraq. by invoking the 9/11 attacks... took two hits today... one symbolic, one judicial. Tonight a federal judge in Portland has just ruled that two provisions of The Patriot Act are unconstitutional because they permit, "the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment." And the symbolism: Defense Secretary Robert Gates... evidently departing from the prepared text of his opening statement on Capitol Hill this afternoon: apparently dropping a planned reference to the 9/11 attacks.

The Stalls of Justice : Larry Craig -- back in court but not back in good graces in his party... And Rudy Giuliani -- firing another key campaign worker -- on the night of the "9/11 for Rudy" fund-raiser.

ODDBALL: On the gridiron...what is becoming an ugly trend in modern sideline entertainment: When mascots attack. And the last thing you'd want to find in that used smoker you picked up on the cheap: human appendages.

O'Reilly in Color: Bill O'Reilly is in big trouble, not unlike the seismic gurglings that erupted into the Don Imus Crisis of last Spring. Part one of our series: Out To Lunch. Will Fox finally fire Billo...Or will his big giant head just going to explode of its own accord?

Kiss My Asterisk: The debate over what to do with the baseball Barry Bonds hit for his record-breaking, but ever-dubious, 756th career home run is over. The Hall of Fame agreeing to accept the ball, with an asterisk.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Alexis Glick, Rudy Giuliani and Ann Coulter (aka Coulter-geist) vying for tonight's honor...

Countdown to the Debate: The Democrats debating tonight at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, with the growing sense that the nomination that the nomination is Senator Clinton's to lose.

Big debate tonight from Dartmouth College on MSNBC hosted by the one and only Tim Russert.  We'll have complete debate preps, with Chris Matthews joining Keith right before the thing kicks off at 9pm ET.  If you have a question for one of the Democratic candidates...you can submit them here, and maybe Tim will use it on the air.

Also...we'll have the latest on the most recent case of 9/11 tourettes by the Bush Administration. 

We'll bring you all the details from Larry Craig's day in court today (will the judge toss out his guilty plea? Will he buy the 'wide stance' argument?).

Keith will give you all the latest on Bill O'Reilly's non-attempt to redeem himself after his dubious comments about dinner at Sylvia's in Harlem.  He went on another defensive diatribe last night.

Plus an update on that Bonds home run ball...big show, hope you'll join us!

Fear Factor:  The socalled Patriot Act had nothing to do with patriotism...So it should come as no surprise that the "Protect America Act" has little to do with protecting Americans... nothing to do with protecting their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms like privacy... and everything to do with the White House's effort to operate outside the law. Our fifth story on the Countdown: The changes that were made last month to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillence Act were apparently made under false pretenses -- Congresswoman Jane Harman on that, in a moment. First. The Bush administration is tonight fighting to make those changes permanent... seemingly by scaring the Democratic majority into compliance. Hey, it has worked before.

Listen To Me:  George W. Bush giving advice on Iraq...To Senator Clinton, or Senator Obama. Advice on how they can stay there, plus keep Gitmo going. Seriously.

ODDBALL: Lady Ninja Bandits, a white koala, and a lawnmower race.  YAY!

Mr. 9/11: Around the country tomorrow night, supporters of Rudy Giuliani will hold house parties to raise money for his presidential campaign. In our third story, the Countdown to 2008, if you attend the one in Palo Alto, California, when you reach into your wallet to pay your way in, you will get morbid proof that, despite his denials, Mr. Giuliani is exploiting the events of September 11th, 2001. He first based his consulting business... and then his campaign...

Stalls of Justice: At tomorrow's hearing for Idaho Senator "Men's Room Larry" Craig, the senator will not appear... despite the fact he is asking a court to withdraw his guilty plea... because he did not quite understand what he was doing... at an earlier hearing, which he also did not attend. But if you think the guilty plea means Craig's days of public service are over, well, he's still lending a hand to his fellow man. You should excuse the expression.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Duncan Hunter, Billo and....Billo vie for tonight's top honors.

The Halo Effect:  The comparison, in terms of consumer madness, is to the last Harry Potter book, or the I-Phone. The comparison, in terms of first-day profit, is to the last Spiderman movie. The money, and the madness, are about... Halo Three.Our number one story: great -- now, what's Halo Three?

In The Mahmoud:  We survived Castro and Kruschev addressing the UN (and Kruschev banging his shoe), and the Shah at the White House, and David Duke in the Louisiana State House of Representatives. Yet all eyes were on the Iranian President in Upper Manhattan today... Thus, were fewer, on the American President at the United Nations in Midtown Manhattan. Fewer still on Capitol Hill, in Washington, where Democratic lawmakers limped out of their losing battle to withdraw U-S forces from Iraq... to spar, instead, with a lame duck White House over domestic spending. Our fifth story on the Countdown: Yet we are told that it's the Iranian President who should worry us.

Hillary 4 Pres, Says Pres: Another prominent Republican predicts Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic Nominee. Well, not that prominent, just the president. And what a curious link, between the writer to whom he revealed that prediction, and the key softball question in last week's presidential news conference.

ODDBALL: Baboon crime...a golf fan takes a dive...and the Nigerian Parliament throws down.

The Nexus of Politics & Terror:  The Bush Administration knowingly used, quote "bogus intelligence," un-quote to make lawmakers believe there was the chance of an imminent attack on the U.S. Capitol, and thus frighten them into passing a temporary expansion of its powers to spy on Americans under the FYCA act. That's the charge of the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Terrorism Risk Assessment. Our third story on the Countdown: for two years, this newscast has recorded the Administration's willingness to terrify the public into voting Republican... it has chronicled the fears of the politicization of terror, fears originating even from the first Homeland Secretary, Tom Ridge. But these charges -- from California Democrat Jane Harman -- are the most overt accusations yet, of a government gone so wrong, that it is using the terrorists' weapon of fear, against its own people -- and against other legislators who won't go along with the program.

Think of the Children! "I'm not here to destroy Britney," he said, "I'm here for the kids." In our number two story on the Countdown, his name is Tony Baretto... Britney Spears' former bodyguard. The evidence he offered a judge... was probably key... when that judge ordered twice-weekly drug testing for Ms. Spears... in her ongoing custody battle. Mr. Baretto told the Today Show's Matt Lauer about that drug use -- after denying he was seeking a book deal... or vengeance for having been fired.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, Billo and Comedian Rush Limbaugh vie for tonight's top honors.

Gerbils in Space:   As the final frontier, space has made many demands...First, we sent monkeys, then humans...An now, in our number one story on the Countdown... With Mars as the next great destination... It's gerbils."One small step..." still has meaning... even if the steps are really really small. 

Some of what we're working on for tonight...

From the protests, to the amazing introduction from Columbia's President, to all the ravings of Mr. Ahmadinejad himself, we'll have complete coverage of the big speech today, and a preview of what Iran's President will say tomorrow at the UN (btw, the transcript of Ahmadinejad's denial of Iranian homosexuality after the jump...it's priceless...and here's the video).

Plus...the current President thinks he knows who the Democrat(ic) nominee for the presidency will be.  Is this Mr. Bush talking off the cuff, or is Karl Rove still in Bush's Brain?

Also...Congresswoman Jane Harman alleges that last month the president used "bogus" intelligence to scare lawmakers into thinking there might be an attack on the Capitol...so they would expand the government's spying abilities. Yes, it's the nexus of politics and terror, folks.

All that, plus Marcia Brady might have gotten busy with one girl of her own, and scientists may send gerbils to Mars.

In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country. (Laughter.) We don't have that in our country. (Booing.) In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have it. (Laughter.)

But as for women, maybe you think that being a woman is a crime. It's not a crime to be a woman. Women are the best creatures created by God. They represent the kindness, the beauty that God instills in them. Women are respected in Iran. In Iran, every family who's given a girl is given -- in every Iranian family who has a girl, they're 10 times happier than having a son. Women are respected more than men are. They are exempt from many responsibilities. Many of the legal responsibilities rest on the shoulders of men in our society because of the respect culturally given to women, to the future mothers. In Iranian culture, men and sons and girls constantly kiss the hands of their mothers as a sign of respect, a respect for women, and we are proud of this culture.

Iraq the Vote:  Our fifth story on the Countdown: after an insufficient 52-to-47 margin in July, Majority Leader Reid retaliated by temporarily setting aside the appropriations bill vowing to delay it until Republicans agreed to refrain from stalemating Iraq War legislation. Yet today in the Senate, another vote on the Levin-Reed amendment -- which would require the withdrawal of most American forces from Iraq within nine months -- was blocked by the Republicans. The only difference? Fewer Democrats voted for it. Maybe we could bring in the guy who found an exit strategy from Barry Bonds.

The Blackwater Controversy:  Now, tonight, there are three separate investigations of the Blackwater USA shootout in Baghdad. Who are these people  from the author of a book titled "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army."

ODDBALL: A fake Abraham Lincoln on a plane, and a guy who had a bite taken out of his ear...and wore a special t-shirt for his big sit down interview.

Race & the Race:  When the Democratic presidential candidates refused to debate on Fox... they were asked, with some sliver of logic -- if you can't stand up to Brit Hume, how can you stand up to Osama Bin Laden. Leaving aside the budding analogies there... In our third story on the Countdown: when the Republican presidential candidates refuse to debate at Black or Hispanic venues... why aren't they being asked if they're as racist as that seems?
 
Britney Charged: Breaking news... in our number two story on the Countdown... Britney Spears has been charged with two driving violations.... from a parking lot crash. One count of hit and run, causing property damage... and one count of driving without a license.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  The managers of the Hush Enigma Club in Devon, in England...a certain radio talkshow comedian...and a certain guy that spells his first name with two NN's vie for tonight's top honors.

Decision 756*:  Barry Bonds will not come back to the Giants, and his record home run ball may not come back to earth.  Marc Ecko, the guy who is holding an online vote to see what to do with the record home run ball, will be Keith's guest.

So the President, behaving a little bit more than usual, like we'd all interrupted him while he was watching his favorite cartoons on the DVR, stepped before the press conference microphone and after side-stepping most of the substantive issues like the Israeli raid on Syria in condescending and infuriating fashion, produced a big-wow political finish that indicates, certainly, that if it wasn't already -- the annual Republican witch-hunting season is underway.

"I thought the ad was disgusting. I felt like the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. Military.

"And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad.

"And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like Move-On-Dot-Org -- or **more** afraid of irritating them, than they are of irritating the United States military."

"That was a sorry deal."

First off, it's "Democrat-ic" party, Sir.

You keep pretending you're not a politician, so stop using words your party made up. Show a little respect.

Secondly, you could say this seriously after the advertising/mugging of Senator Max Cleeland? After the swift-boating of John Kerry?

But most importantly... making that the last question?

So that there was no chance at a follow-up?

So nobody could point out -- as Chris Matthews so incisively did, a week ago tonight -- that you were the one who inappropriately interjected General Petraeus into the political dialogue of this nation in the first place!

Deliberately, premeditatedly, and virtually without precedent, **you** shanghaied a military man as your personal spokesman -- and now you're complaining about the outcome, and then running away from the microphone?

Eleven months ago the President's own party -- the Republican National Committee -- introduced this very different kind of advertisement, just nineteen days before the mid-term elections.

Bin Laden.

And Zawahiri's rumored quote of six years ago about having bought "suitcase bombs."

All set against a ticking clock, and finally a blinding explosion... and the dire announcement:

That one was ok, Mr. Bush?

Terrorizing your own people in hopes of getting them to vote for your own party has never brought as much as a public comment from you?

The Republican Hamstringing of Captain Max Cleeland and lying about Lieutenant John Kerry met with your approval?

But a shot at General Petraeus -- about whom you conveniently ignore it is you who reduced him from four-star hero to a political hack -- that merits this pissy juvenile blast at the Democrats on national television?

Your hypocrisy is so vast, Sir, that if we could somehow use it to fill the ranks in Iraq you could realize your dream -- and keep us fighting there until the year 3000.

The line between the military and the civilian government is not to be crossed.

When Douglas MacArthur attempted to make policy for the United States in Korea half a century ago, President Truman moved quickly to fire him, even though Truman knew it meant his own political suicide, and the de-ification of a General who history suggests had begun to lose his mind.

When George McClellan tried to make policy for the Union in the Civil War, President Lincoln finally fired his chief General, even though he knew McClellan could galvanize political opposition - as he did... when McClellan ran as Lincoln's presidential opponent in 1864 and nearly defeated our greatest president.

Even when the conduit flowed the other way and Senator Joseph McCarthy tried to smear the Army because it wouldn't defer the service of one of McCarthy's staff aides, the entire civilian and Defense Department structures -- after four years of fearful servitude -- rose up against McCarthy and said "enough" and buried him.

The list is not endless -- but it is instructive.

Air Force General LeMay -- who broke with Kennedy over the Cuban Missile Crisis -- and was retired.

Army General Edwin Anderson Walker -- who started passing out John Birch Society leaflets to his soldiers.

Marine General Smedley Butler -- who revealed to Congress the makings of a plot to remove F-D-R as President -- and for merely being approached by the plotters, was phased out of the military hierarchy.

These careers were ended because the line between the military and the civilian is... not... to... be... crossed!

Mr. Bush, you had no right to order General Petraeus to become your front man.

And he obviously should have refused that order and resigned rather than ruin his military career.

The upshot is -- and contrary it is, to the Move-On advertisement -- he betrayed himself more than he did us.

But there has been in his actions a sort of reflexive courage, some twisted vision of duty at a time of crisis. That the man doesn't understand that serving officers cannot double as serving political ops, is not so much his fault as it is your good, exploitable, fortune.

But Mr. Bush, you have hidden behind the General's skirts, and today you have hidden behind the skirts of 'the planted last question' at a news conference, to indicate once again that your presidency has been about the tilted playing field, about no rules for your party in terms of character assassination and changing the fabric of our nation, and no **right** for your opponents or critics to as much as **respond**.

That, Sir, is not only un-American -- it is dictatorial.

And in **pimping** General David Petraeus, Sir, in violation of everything this country has been assiduously and vigilantly against for 220 years, you have tried to blur the gleaming **radioactive** demarcation between the military and the political, and to portray **your** party as the one associated with the military, and your opponents as the ones somehow antithetical to it.

You did it again today, Sir, and you need to know how history will judge the line you just crossed.

It is a line -- thankfully only the first of a **series** -- that makes the military political, and the political, military.

It is a line which history shows is always the **first** one crossed when a democratic government in some other country has started down the long, slippery, suicidal slope towards a Military Junta.

Get back behind that line, Mr. Bush, before some of your supporters mistake your dangerous transgression, for a call to further politicize **our** military.

---

Good night, and good luck.

Meet the Press: This afternoon sixteen more United States senators -- 72 in all -- voted to toothlessly condemn a newspaper ad by the liberal anti-war group Move On dot org... than voted yesterday to guarantee that American troops get to spend as much time at home between deployments... as they now do on the front lines of Iraq. Our fifth story on the Countdown: With their yes votes, 22-Democrats... apparently reacting -- like Pavlov's dog to a bell -- to the criticism voiced by President Bush in his news conference this morning... when he said he was quote "disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad." And so, the fallacy of who is really supporting the troops, continues.                                                                                           
Campaigner in Chief: The President turns the White House into a campaign headquarters...O.J. Simpson goes home...Ken Burns comes here to discuss his extraordinary new documentary, "The War"...And a Special Comment tonight, on the first President who forgot you weren't supposed to turn military men into political figures. All ahead on Countdown.

ODDBALL: A real man of genius, a kid bull fighter, and a nude robber.

Ken Burns' 'The War':  General David Petraeus, in his September 11th senate testimony on the progress of President Bush's surge in Iraq, called the soldiers fighting in that war "the new greatest generation"... And while there's no question that the soldiers on the ground in Iraq are equal to the best that the United States has ever turned out... they are but a fraction of the entire generation.  Which is to say that while they and their families are sacrificing for the good of our country...the entire generation, the large majority of this generation, is not. In our third story on the Countdown, Iraq plays no part in what is undoubtedly the finest television documentary series of the last decade -- or more. But for "The War" by Ken Burns -- it is, inevitably, backdrop.                 

                          
TiVo Alert!  To our number two story on the Countdown, Keeping Tabs... And the only good thing about the last week: I wasn't here for OJ Simpson's latest fiasco. Let's see...Memorabilia in a Las Vegas hotel room.  Someone had a gun. Lots of cursing.  Arrested and jailed.  Ten felony charges.  Lost the smirk. Released on bail. Got it. And now, Mr. Simpson's back home.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Billo, Michelle Malkin and a certain large headed FOX News tv host vie for Keith's comeback honors.

The President of Hypocrisy: Keith's special comment...text found here.

Tune in at 8p ET for Keith's Special Comment regarding the President's attack of the anti-war movement and Moveon.org.  We have provided an excerpt after the jump. 

(here's a pic of the ice cream cake the staff got for Keith today...in case you can't read it, it says "You're Alive!!")

Tonight marks the triumphant return of our now appendix-less leader, and not only will we give you a complete break down of the President's news conference this morning.  Not only will we bring you Ken Burns to talk about his new documentary "The War".  Keith will also deliver a Special Comment on the President's attack of Moveon.org and the anti-war movement.  We'll have an excerpt soon....we hope you join us.

The Juice is Loose:  Our fifth story.. a severe case of O.J. deja vu.  You know.. OJ gets arrested.. OJ gets hauled into court... OJ gets followed by the media....tooling down the road in a car, this time, not heading toward the border...but a casino.

Stuff Happens: In our fourth story on the Countdown, dream team two anyone? OJ Simpson seems to be in deep, as in he could spend the rest of his life in deep.  In case you missed it, he's charged with ten felony counts including burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, and even first-degree kidnaping with use of a deadly weapon.

ODDBALL: A Virgin Mary in a Lemon, a building demo, and those dancing prisoners return.

Un-Popular:  As the White House and Congress appear headed toward a showdown over the war in Iraq... it seems both branches of government are more unpopular than ever before. How unpopular? In our third story on the Countdown: lets just say they are the fat kid with glasses and the skinny kid with halatosis in the school cafeteria.

Blackwater Mess:  As if the folks in charge of the U-S diplomatic effort in Iraq... did not already have jobs that were tough enough... they now have to contend with fallout from the Blackwater U. S.A incident. In our second story on the Countdown: A preliminary report from the Iraqi government says that employees of the private contracting firm were not ambushed in Baghdad on Sunday, as they had claimed, but instead fired the first shots on a car after it ignored a policeman's call to stop. The Iraqi government also says twenty civilians were killed in the shooting... far more than was reported earlier.

Mocking the Juice: The one guy in the world who makes this OJ stuff tolerable.  The Jimmy Kimmel plant standing next to the Juice's attorney during his presser today.  Paul F. Tompkins weighs in.

Squeezing the Juice:  Our fifth story tonight... O.J. Simpson facing the actual possibility of life in prison after some severe charges were levied against him...7 felonies in all.  Day two, lockup Simpson style. He is still inside a Las Vegas prison cell and time is really flying. I mean.. literally. Simpson's Rolex watch may soon be in the hands of the Goldman Family.  A judge ruled it to be so.

"Don't Taser Me Bro!":  When you see it---you have to ask yourself...what the heck happened here?! During the question and answer portion of Senator John Kerry's appearance at the University of Florida yesterday, a student -- who may have barged to the front of the line -- asked several aggressive questions of the Senator. And Senator Kerry was clearly willing to answer.  But University police intervened.

ODDBALL: A bear in a tree...a doggie oxygen bar...and buffalo fighting.  Yahoo!

Sway the Course:  In the wake of the president's big prime time speech on Iraq... not to mention the progress report on the surge delivered by General Petraeus... there's one thing that has not surged... and that is the public's view of the war. Our third story on the Countdown: Despite the administration's PR campaign... most Americans still want the troops to start coming home. And despite the testimony of General David Petraeus... a new report -- from the Pentagon --says that security has taken a "turn for the worse"... especially in Southern Iraq.

TiVo Alert!:  Aretha Frankin had it right. She sang about r-e-s-p-e-c-t but apparently Lady Soul is not on the Ipod of at least one big N.B.A executive.  Our number two story.. New York Knicks President and head coach Isiah Thomas now the subject of a ten million dollar sex harrasment lawsuit. His innocence or guilt is still to be decided. However, Thomas may not have helped himself on the stand when he explained his philosophy about who can call a woman that word that rhymes with "which" and why skin color determines it's level of offensiveness. I kid you not.

Pluto Gone Wild:   Every dog has his day...or at least his breaking point. And in our number one story on the Countdown, Disney's Pluto has now achieved web startdom for losing his plushy temper.

Thanks to all wishing Keith well in his recovery. Keith is out of the hospital, and home recovering after his emergency appendectomy on Friday. Alison is in for him tonight...

Fed Up: After spending nearly two decades as chairman of the Federal Reserve... Alan Greenspan is kind of like EF Hutton in those old television commercials: When he talks, people listen. So when -- in our fifth story on the Countdown -- Mr. Greenspan seemed to state in excerpts of his new memoir, that the invasion of Iraq was largely about oil... people were definitely listening, and the fiscal guru created a firestorm, to say the least.

You Say Dubai, I say Hello: President Bush announces his new pick for Attorney General. He goes with practicality over partisanship. Did the White House blink or open its eyes to the reality of the senate confirmation process. And will the former attorney general scandal taint the new confirmation?

ODDBALL: Drag racing crash...traffic cam crash, and a moose gets milked.  It's appointment tv.

The OJ Debacle: OJ's not so excellent adventure. Day number one behind bars. hey--you knew someone would start a countdown clock. After all, we could be in for another long run with orenthal james simpson. Our third story tonight.. allegations of stolen goods... men with guns barging into a cheezy vegas hotel room... and a secret audio recording of the whole mess that just materialized. It is a chain of events you couldn't make up ...and you don't have to because they happened in the nevada desert.

Emmy Round-up:  It was a "green" kind of awards show...the red carpet was made out of recycled material...coincidentally, some of the winners seemed a bit recycled, too. However, the biggest loser of the night appears to be the Fox network, with Sunday's broadcast drawing nearly twenty percent fewer viewers than last year.  Note to Ryan Seacrest, don't wear costumes next time. At least not professionally. Britney? A no-show-good thing because she probably wouldn't have made it to air...The Fox censors were working overtime. They DID try to silence Norma Rae and that guy everybody loves. Our number two story tonight...the Emmys. Our correspondent is Natalie Morales.

As the Spears Turns:  Britney Spears custody battle has turned really ugly in our number one story on the Countdown.  And she has reportedly been banned from a chi-chi restaurant because she spread food on her face. But the good news for Britney -- compared to that, her performance at the "Video Music Awards" is looking better and better... Well, no, not really.

[YouTube:LEItXS35g8o]

We're hoping to have the great Ken Burns on the program to talk about his upcoming PBS documentary "The War" real soon. In the meantime, check out this extended preview...and the link to all the web exclusive teaser material. Watching these clips (the Bataan Death March story from a guy named Glenn Frazier) is a great way to pass an hour.

Keith out sick, Amy Robach filling in...and we didn't lose the tape last night, we had to switch blocks due to the President's Speech not being re-aired. So, enough aready! HA!

Extended Tour:  Defense Secretary Robert Gates tonight put new numbers on the Iraq plan laid out by President Bush... numbers that could further reduce the US presence there... but not until 2009. In our fifth story on the Countdown, Secretary Gates says troop levels could go down to about 100,000 by January of 2009... pending conditions on the ground.

Oil in the Family: President Bush has praised the Iraqi plan to share oil profits... and experts say Iraq will live and die by revenue sharing agreements. So why exactly is a Dallas oil man trying to sabotage the legislation and Iraq's future especially when he has connections to the President. Rachel Maddow is our guest.

ODDBALL: Cat on Duck mascot fighting, and a newborn baby panda finds out if it's a girl or a boy! Weee!!!

Lightning Rodham:  In what very well may be the first negative ad of the 2008 presidential campaign, Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has targeted Senator Hillary Clinton. And in a bizarre set of circumstances, former Senator Fred Thompson has also blamed something on Ms. Clinton...  In our third story on the Countdown, it's punching bag politics. With the punching bag, for now at least, the junior Senator from New York.

The Patriot Act:  He is thought to be a hall of fame coach...who wears three New England Patriot Super Bowl rings on his fingers. Now, he's known to be the first pro football coach in history found guilty of spying on the opposing team. In our number two story, Bill Belichek says he wants to forget about the charges...and think about the Chargers...his team's next opponent...while many around the league are saying 'not so fast'. 

(If) He Did It: The day OJ's tell all book is released just happens to be the same day OJ gets busted for allegedly pinching some merchandise from a hotel room. It doesn't get any freakier than that, right?

and a little bonus action...you have to love this.

Tired of the endless back and forth of the political crap here on Earth? Here are what appear to be legit pics from high above the Earth...taken by NASA's Endeavour astronauts. Click through to the link, because the smaller version we have here don't do the images justice (especially the dirty hurricane). These pics are simply awesome.

The New Catch Phrase: It used to be, that only sportscasters and carnival barkers had catch-phrases. Now Presidents have them. For war. For matters of life and death. And by themselves, they can mean the life or death -- of a presidency. Consider "Mission Accomplished"... Or -- in our fifth story on our Countdown to Mr. Bush's Iraq speech tonight -- consider "Return On Success" -- that's the new one, being broken out tonight.

Biden Time:  The president tonight with his eighth primetime address on Iraq. My special guest... Senator Joe Biden on what the democrats in Congress can do to stop him. And reaction to Representative Boehner's comment that the sacrifice we're making in money and blood is a quote "small price."

ODDBALL: Water burns...and water makes a car fly.  Dude...sweet.

Death of the Sheik:  Today's assassination of a Sunni sheik who sided with the U.S. -- who met with the President just last week -- is an example of how perceived progress in Iraq can disappear in a violent instant. And any assurances of progress should be greeted with at least some skepticism. Our third story tonight as we count down to the President's assurances of progress in Iraq...Determining the reality of conditions in Iraq depends highly on the source.

Leave Him Alone!!  Oddly enough, if the President's mo-jo were measured as sternly as that of Britney Spears, his poll numbers might be lower than they already are. Ever since Hurricane Katrina un-masked the administration's incompetence, there have been rumors of a comeback. But other than a slight blip in the approval numbers this week...no comeback has been forthcoming. And the stage on which the President's act is played out, involves realities so harsh that many people can no longer bear to watch. So in our number two story on the Countdown, the genius of juxtaposition. First, the reminder of that Britney Spears fan... regarding Ms. Spears performance at MTV's "Video Music Awards".

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: A guy from PODS Storage Company, a certain large headed host of a Faux News show, Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution.

Previewing the Speech:  Our number one story... the Countdown to the President's address to the nation.  And that speech will provide a bookend - of sorts -- to the one Mr. Bush gave on January 10th, when he announced the surge. Between that speech, and this one... 762 more American military personnel have been killed in Iraq. And tonight -- to put it in blunt terms -- Americans will be asked to categorize those deaths as worth it, in light of the so-called progress since the surge began. And Americans will be asked to concur with the troops' presence in Iraq... indefinitely.

Tonight...

A full Countdown show tonight before the President's address to the nation.  After the speech, we'll have the Democratic response...and then Keith and Chris Matthews with round out the hour with coverage and analysis of its content. 

For the 8p ET show...we'll have some exclusive speech excerpts the White House will release before Mr. Bush's address.  We'll have the story of  Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha...the  leader of the Anbar Salvation Council, who was leading group of Sunni clans against Al Qaeda in Anbar Province. And who was killed today by a bomb, just 10 days after meeting with the President in Iraq when this picture was taken.

We'll have all the latest on Rep. John Boehner's gaffe that put him in league with last night's WPITW.

Senator and Presidential Candidate Joe Biden will give his views on the Senate testimony of General Petraeus and what the President intends to do about it.  It's a busy show...lots of other great stuff as well.

 Here's the craziest use of a rubber hoses since Vinnie Barbarino's...this is too cool.