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Maybe Katie Couric never really had a chance this year to prove herself as the anchor of "The CBS Evening News." Fans, critics, bloggers, comrades and competitors had a field day throughout 2006, breathlessly complaining about everything under the sun. When rumors initially spread that CBS wanted her, the debate began heating up and seemed to take on a life of its own: Katie Would Be a Fresh Alternative and No, Katie Would Be a Disaster. She'd Lighten Up the News and She's Too Perky for 6:30 p.m. Then, on the air, Katie was Too Serious -- no, she was...

Denise Richards was involved in a bizarre incident with paparazzi Wednesday on the Canadian set of her new movie Blonde and Blonder, where laptop computers were hurled and a senior citizen slightly injured, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police tells PEOPLE. The Mounties were summoned to the movie location at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver, after Richards took issue with the presence of two unauthorized photographers on the set, said Cpl. Peter Thiessen, a media relations officer for the Richmond Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Several concerts on the Dixie Chicks' "Accidents & Accusations" tour have been canceled after slow ticket sales, but the group says it has replaced them with other dates. Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville are among 14 cities no longer on the original schedule released in May, according to a revised itinerary posted Thursday on the Dixie Chick's Web site. Other shows, including Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix, have been pushed back to later dates. The North American leg of the tour kicked off July 21 in Detroit. Billboard magazine and other trade publications...

raq protester Sheehan returns to Crawford 11 minutes ago Cindy Sheehan, who gained international attention a year ago for protesting the Iraq war, returned to the town near President George W. Bush's ranch on Sunday to resume her protest. Talking to reporters, Sheehan defended the purchase of a 5-acre (2 hectare) plot of land for use as a protest location. The land was purchased by her supporters through a third party to keep secret her connection to it. "I just had a third party do it because I know that they wouldn't have sold property to me," Sheehan said. The...

NOTE: You'll have to go to their site to read the memo where they take Owen Wilson (a recent public contributor to the Hillary campaign, by the way) to task for being in a lame movie that illegally adapted a character from one of Steely Dan's songs.

A report set for publication this week from In Touch Weekly will claim that Ashlee Simpson is considering posing nude for Playboy. Will Ashlee Strip for Playboy? The singer is now on tour and hotter than ever and if this report plays out, this may just be the move that pushes her to the A-list.

Murtha says U.S. poses top threat to world peace South Florida Sun-Sentinel Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.25.2006 MIAMI — American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to an audience of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon. Murtha was the guest speaker at a town hall meeting organized by Rep. Kendrick B. Meek, D-Miami, at Florida International University's Biscayne Bay Campus. Meek's mother, former Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Miami, was also on the panel. War veterans, local mayors, university students and faculty were in...

Henry Winkler won fame on the old "Happy Days" comedy. He played Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, also know as Fonzie or the Fonz. In real life, Winkler certainly isn't the tough guy he portrayed. He is an ardent liberal who over the years has made campaign contributions to Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, John Kerry and many of the usual suspects. Wednesday night on CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck show he made an appearance to plug his new movie. He was asked by the host: "So now if you saw -- I mean, if you had, you know, a remote control, like...

FOR A PRESIDENT who is (allegedly) the lamest of lame ducks, George W. Bush had a pretty good month of May. Not quite a merry month of May. Certainly not a Lerner-and-Loewe-like lusty month of May. But a pretty good month, and perhaps a sign of better things to come. To wit: Congress extended, and the president signed, the wildly successful supply-side tax cuts on interest and dividend income originally passed in 2003. The new tax rates are now in force until 2010, providing helpful certainty for the economy and the markets, and forcing Democrats in this year's congressional elections,...

<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police at the U.S. Capitol arrested anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan on Tuesday, shortly before President Bush was to give his annual State of the Union speech, a police spokeswoman said.</p> <p>The spokeswoman, Capitol Police Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, said she had no immediate details.</p>

Ted Koppel kicked off his neo-pundit career by delivering a stern global warming speech in New York while outside a merciless snowstorm bore down on the Eastern Seaboard in a brutal blast of freezing -- Oh, wait -- that was Al Gore, wasn’t it? I tend to get all these neo-pundits mixed up. Mr. Koppel’s post-Nightline era more correctly began with a January 29 Op-Ed in the New York Times which is actually quite similar to Mr. Gore’s address both in fervent presentation and excruciatingly bad timing. Which may explain my confusion. Ted, likely grateful to now be immersed in...

Arnold Schwarzenegger stunned California last week by selecting the former deputy chief of staff to Gray Davis, the Democratic governor ousted by the recall that brought Mr. Schwarzenegger to power, to be his own chief of staff. Conservatives are furious that Susan Kennedy, a 45-year-old former acolyte of radical activists Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda, will be Gov. Schwarzenegger's top administrator, with power to hire and fire staff. Some liberals are angry at her joining a GOP governor; others are bemused. This Wednesday, 450 Gray Davis alumni will fill the state capitol for the unveiling of Mr. Davis's portrait. Ms....

LANCE ARMSTRONG / SHERYL CROW 11:29pm 2005-10-29 ALL NEW! Seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong hosts with his fiancee Sheryl Crow as the musical guest. TV-14

This is not showing up in the English-language press, so here’s my vanity: After the election Gerhard Schroeder made what the press is calling a „bizarre“ appearance on a TV talkshow. Most everyone in my office said he must have been drunk as a lord, although some surmise he may have been on “something else”. Schröder seemed to think he had won a majority and had the right to form a government. He also sharply attacked both moderators claiming that they had tried to prevent him becoming Chancellor again but had failed. He made other vague accusations of media manipulation...

Rush transcript of NPR's Neil Conan, speaking by phone with Cindy Sheehan: NC: Very nice of you to be with us today. CS: [cheerfully] Oh, thank youuu! NC: I know that you were, uh, out in California last week because your mother was ill. How’s she doing? CS: Um, she’s doing better. They’re trying to keep her from having another stroke. And if she doesn’t have another stroke, she should be able to recover. NC: That’s good news. Now, tell us, a little bit about your son, Casey. CS: My son Casey was an amazing human being. He was gentle,...

UPDATES ON CINDY SHEEHAN VISIT TO CRAWFORD Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2005 (Reverse Time Order — More Recent Entries Toward Top) 10:30 a.m. Brad Friedman of Brad Blog’s “Operation Noble Cause” got up and running at the Camp, brodcasting. Today, Brad’s first guest speaker at noon will be actress Margo Kidder. Joan Baez is still at Camp Casey and gave a speech last night on an account of “Her Life in Activism.” This speech will be continued tonight at Camp Casey. Baez was introduced by Congresswoman Shiela Jackson Lee.

Weather Channel adopts breezier feel Aim to win new viewers, keep the old Scott Leith - Staff Yes, the Weather Channel can actually get squarer. But that's just the new logo. Beginning Monday, the Atlanta-based king of cable weather will unveil a boxy logo to replace its existing symbol, a well-known but dated badge that has barely changed since the network was founded in 1982. Channel devotees will notice more substantial chages as the year goes on. The Weather Channel, known for years by its staid style and endearingly nerdy approach, is moving to the next step in its evolution...

NBC 'LAW & ORDER' TIES JUDGE KILLER TO DELAY SUPPORTER; CONGRESSMAN PLANS LETTER OF COMPLAINT

Senators are right now debating the future of our courts and our democracy in Washington. Join MoveOn members across the country in round-the-clock, 24-hour Citizen Filibusters starting Tuesday May 24 at 12 Noon to send a message that senators should do the right thing. This is an emergency. If Republicans succeed, they’ll have complete power to reshape the Supreme Court, appointing justices who oppose the worker protections, women's rights, and environmental laws. This could be the most important decision the Senate makes this decade, because the impact of these lifetime appointments will be felt for a generation. Please consider changing...

 Pentagon Media Consultants Develop “Empower Peace” Internet Site Aimed at School Children -- (Washington, DC)  Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking records under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. ' 552, from the Department of Defense concerning Pentagon funded programs engaged in “strategic influence, perception management, strategic information warfare and/or strategic psychological operations” through media consultants, “think tanks,” foreign expatriate political organizations and Internet sites.  Judicial Watch filed its FOIA...

A leading black actor, 6ft 4in Colin Salmon, emerged last night as a front-runner to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in the next 007 adventure. Noted for a deep, commanding voice, the 41-year-old actor already has a recurring role in the Bond series as Charles Robinson, M's suave chief-of-staff. The chance to promote him, while startling, would not be unexpected. The Broccoli family, who are casting the film, the 21st in the series, are said to fear that the films have become anachronistic. They told Brosnan they wanted to "go in a new direction". Initially, this was taken to...

Lynn Ashby ON THE FREEWAY - Ah, yes. "Scotland the Brave" followed by "The Barren Rocks of Aden." You'd be surprised at the number of people who don't like bagpipe music, but these days I listen to it in my car all the time. That's because Houston has finally disappeared into right field. We now have all-conservative talk shows all the time. No, let me rephrase that. "Conservative" is too kind a word. How about "right-wing rantings by ill-informed Luddites." Proof that Houston is being held captive by the lowest common denominator comes to us with word that KTRH...

From DU (GET READY THE SPITBALLS ARE ON THE WAY!) " For months I have been predicting a Kerry landslide, something on the order of 60/40. I now doubt that it will work out that way and in fact I am becomming convinced that we are going to lose this election. We do not have to lose it, but if John Kerry and John Edwards contine to lay down in the face of filth like that spewed by Zell Miller this past week we do not stand a chance. That 11 point bounce we all deny exists is real and...

THE MILLER MOMENT: Zell Miller's address will, I think, go down as a critical moment in this campaign, and maybe in the history of the Republican party. I kept thinking of the contrast with the Democrats' keynote speaker, Barack Obama, a post-racial, smiling, expansive young American, speaking about national unity and uplift. Then you see Zell Miller, his face rigid with anger, his eyes blazing with years of frustration as his Dixiecrat vision became slowly eclipsed among the Democrats. Remember who this man is: once a proud supporter of racial segregation, a man who lambasted LBJ for selling his soul...

It was a bittersweet pleasure to go on-air Friday for two hours with my friend Jerry Agar, WPTF afternoon drivetime, from Raleigh to most of North Carolina and parts of states north and south of there. This was our last sit-down, since Jerry is moving to KMBZ in Kansas City, a larger market that wants a quick, intelligent voice from the conservative side of the spectrum. We spent 45 minutes of our time talking about the Swift Boat controversy involving John Kerry. The phones lit up, and so did the computer screen with e-mails. Both the calls and the e-mails...

George Bush-bashing celebs have joined forces with Moveon.org on a new series of campaign commercials. The celeb-studded spots feature the voices of Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Martin Sheen, Rob Reiner and Ed Asner and star Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Woody Harrelson, Illeana Douglas and Margaret Cho. Janeane Garafalo hosted Tuesday night's kick-off at Hammerstein Ballroom, billed as "10 Weeks: Don't Get Mad, Get Even!" Howard Dean, Kevin Bacon, Edie Falco, "School of Rock" director Richard Linklater and Al Franken fired up the faithful. Musical guests included The Roots, Natalie Merchant, Moby and Perry Farrell, who joined forces for Jane's Addiction's "Idiots Rule,"...

For Immediate Release Tuesday, August 24, 2004 KERRY CAMPAIGN BACKTRACKS ON FIRST PURPLE HEART AWARD Campaign Says May Have Been Self-Inflicted Washington—In a reversal of their staunch defense of John Kerry's military service record, Kerry campaign officials were quoted by Fox News saying that it was indeed possible that John Kerry's first Purple Heart commendation was the result of an, unintentional, self-inflicted wound." "GARRETT: And questions keep coming. For example, Kerry received a Purple Heart for wounds suffered on December 2, 1968. But in Kerry's own journal written nine days later, he writes he and his crew, quote, "hadn't been...

Read this March 13th, 1969 spot report on Kerry's site spot report very carefully. I did, and my jaw dropped at what Kerry & Rassman are now telling. Rassman now states publicly Washington Post Kerry got rice/shrapnel in his ass when he & Kerry fragged a rice bin with some grenades and Kerry did not get out of the way in time when they went bang. As Rassman said in the article, "Evidently, Kerry did not run fast enough. "He got some frags and pieces of rice in his rear end," Rassmann said with a laugh. "It was more embarrassing...

They’re at it again, the right wing creeps who are happy to smear democrats, and even their own, like John McCain, are now one of their slimeballs, former Gov. Mark Racicot is suggesting that Kerry is losing it, that he’s wild-eyed, irresponsible.... Scott McClelland says Kerry is "losing his cool., should not be an excuse to lash out at the president with false and baseless attacks." Atrios quotes Racicot describing Kerry."I think they have comepletely unhinged..." and suggests that they used the same strategies, in 2000 to attack John McCain and to suggest he was unstable. This labeling of a...

8/20/2004 5:16:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk, Political Reporter Contact: Chad Clanton or Phil Singer, both of Kerry-Edwards 2004, 202-464-2800; Web: http://www.johnkerry.com WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Kerry-Edwards campaign spokesman Chad Clanton released the following statement today about the new Swift Boat Veterans for Bush ad: "This is another ad from a front group funded by Bush allies that is trying to smear John Kerry. The newest ad takes Kerry's testimony out of context, editing what he said to distort the facts. He testified as a 27 year-old Vietnam veteran. He opposed a war that, at that point, cost...

The Kerry campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission that alleged the group behind the ad was illegally coordinating its efforts with the Bush-Cheney campaign. It cited "recent press reports" and the group's own statements. The Bush campaign denied the allegation. Campaigns often file complaints with the FEC, but the agency rarely intervenes quickly enough to alter the course of a race. Kerry campaign spokesperson Stephanie Cutter sought to turn the argument over presidential readiness back on the White House. "Mr. McClellan needs to understand that John Kerry is not the type of leader who will sit and...

For a newspaper that has ignored the Swift Vets, New York Times, they sure put a lot of time and effort into that graphic in the last weeks. How long was it in the making while nary a peep about the Swifties was in the Times?  

Sen Kerry losing his cool should not be an excuse for him to lash out at the President with false and baseless attacks...Kerry campaign has been noticeably silent, and in many instances has actually fueled these kind of attacks by shadowy groups, Press Secretary McClellen says during Crawford, TX briefing

Friday, August 20 2004 KERRY CAMPAIGN'S FIRST SERIOUS MISTAKE: Yesterday afternoon I received a form email from John Kerry campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill. It began: Today marks the end of the dishonest and disgusting smear campaign against John Kerry and his crewmates from Vietnam. This morning on the front page of the Washington Post, one of the central figures in the effort to distort John Kerry's military service was completely discredited. The Kerry campaign must have thought that yesterday's front page Washington Post story attempting to discredit one of Kerry's critics, coupled with Kerry's public engagement of the...

Media Matters for America Asks Top Booksellers to Review Policies on Selling 'Unfit for Command'; David Brock Calls AntiKerry Veterans Book 'the Hitler Diaries of this political season' To: National Desk, Political Reporter Contact: Naomi Seligman of Media Matters for America, 202-756-4108 WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- On the heels of the August 19, 2004 Washington Post article shining the light that a key allegation in "Unfit for Command" is false, Media Matters for America (MMFA) called on three of the nation's leading booksellers to, at the very least, inform customers about the book's false allegations and lies. David...

US Senator John Kerry’s campaign team today called for a book which contains “proven falsehoods” about the presidential candidate’s Vietnam war record to be taken off the shelves. Unfit for Command, written by a former US sailor who served in Vietnam, alleges that Mr Kerry lied to win his war medals. It also claims that the former Swift Boat captain, who hopes to oust George Bush from the White House in November, won a silver star for bravery by actually shooting a lone, fleeing teenage Viet Cong soldier in the back. Mr Kerry yesterday made his first direct attack on...

Kerry: Bush Lets Groups Do 'Dirty Work' RON FOURNIER Associated Press BOSTON - John Kerry fought back Thursday against campaign allegations that he exaggerated his combat record in Vietnam, accusing President Bush of using a Republican front group "to do his dirty work" and challenging Bush to debate their wartime service records. "Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: Bring it on," said the Democratic presidential candidate, reviving an old war and campaign slogan amid strong urging from party leaders for him to respond to two-week-old GOP assertions. As Kerry...

UPN has reportedly commissioned advertisements touting William Shatner's (James T. Kirk) return to Star Trek. CBS Television City Research Center, located in Las Vegas's MGM grand hotel, is showing a commercial for Enterprise's fourth season announcing a guest appearance by Shatner, according to a post by 'Lt. Barclay' on the TrekWeb message boards. Barclay said in his report that the center previewed an episode of CBS's new comedy series, Centre of the Universe, for visitors. "During the show, a few UPN commercials were shown, including one for Enterprise," he said in his report. The Enterprise ad reportedly contained scenes from...

YAHOO CAPTION: Democratic presidential nominee US Sen. John Kerry plays guitar during a rally in Jefferson City, Missouri, as he and running mate John Edwards continue on the two-week, 3,500 mile 'Believe in America' tour across America (AFP/Justin Sullivan)

When it comes to toeing the Dem line, NBC's Campbell Brown takes a back seat to no one, including Katie Couric. Filling in for Al-Kaety today, Brown did her best Terry McAuliffe impersonation. Interviewing Tim Russert, Brown showed a clip from the swift boat veterans' TV commercial in which a number of Kerry's fellow veterans question his honesty and integrity. Campbell was utterly disinterested in whether the charges are true. Indeed, she effectively seemed to presume the falseness of the allegations. She observed to Russert: "Republican Sen. John McCain says the ad is dishonest and dishonorable." She then asked: "Should...

Sharon Stone blames US President George W Bush for the absence of a lesbian kissing scene in Catwoman - because of the current conservative climate in America. Basic Instinct star Stone, 46, was keen to enjoy an intimate moment with Oscar-winning co-star Halle Berry, but believes a puritanical streak running through the country put an end to any potential girl-on-girl action. Stone says: "Halle's so beautiful and I wanted to kiss her. I said, 'How can you have us in the movie and not have us kiss? That's such a waste.' "That's what you get for having George Bush...

Sen. John "Bunny Suit" Kerry has a Dukakis-like knack for unfortunate photo opportunities. Did you see the footage of him crossing Lake Michigan on a ferry and imitating know-nothing Democrat activist Leonardo DiCaprio in the "I'm the king of the world" moment from "Titanic"? Fox News Channel newscaster Carl Cameron this morning made a quick observation on whether it was advisable to recreate a scene from the world's most famous doomed ship. Senator, just because you're treading water and starting to sink doesn't mean ... oh, maybe it does.

UPDATE: NASA to Make (Kerry) Photos Available Again After a legal review by NASA lawyers, the photos of Sen. John Kerry in the famous ,"bunny suit" will be posted sometimes this evening on http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov.Check back for more details as they become available. Freeper comment: (This is from a certain Floridian newspaper this afternoon....developing.....) The full story is at: http://www.floridatoday.com/topstories/072904bunny.htm

SOMEONE on "The Simpsons" is coming out of the closet and could get married. "Simpson" producers, including creator Matt Groening, let the news slip out at the San Diego Comic Conven tion over the weekend. But they did not say who it would be. The way-too obvious choice would be Waylon Smithers, evil nuclear-power tycoon Montgomery Burns' timid toady — who for years has harbored a not-so-secret love for his fragile, scheming century- old boss...

NEW YORK - In an unprecedented move the San Francisco 49ers have saturated their players in two and a half hour "diversity sessions", designed primarily to incorporate tolerance in the NFL locker room. 49er players sat through the sessions that were presented by a tandem duo who discussed sexual orientation diversity (among other things). In recent years the organization had undergone two "embarrassing" incidents involving the topic of homosexuality. A former player Garrison Hearst had publicly stated that no gay player would be "accepted" in an NFL locker room. The other incident involved repeated, reported, harrassment from players on the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Sept. 11 commission is standing by its finding that al-Qaida had only limited contact with Iraq before the terrorist attacks. The 10-member, bipartisan panel issued a one-sentence statement Tuesday saying it had access to the same information as Vice President Dick Cheney, who suggested strong ties between ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. That assertion was one of the justifications the Bush administration gave for going to war with Iraq. In a preliminary report released last month, the Sept. 11 commission cited contacts between Saddam's regime and Osama bin Laden but said there was no...

While America just turned 228 a couple days ago, today's my birthday. And I'm not ashamed to tell you I turn 50 today. Frankly, I'm proud. I'm glad I made it this far. Even though my feet hurt, even though my joints ache, I'm happy I've had the chance to see what I've seen in the last half century. Even though my eyes don't see as well as they once did, I feel like my perception of reality is sharper. I feel blessed. Another thing: The older I get, the more I realize how little I knew when I was...