Stupak Leaving an Opening?

Everyone has a price, it seems.

George Stephanopoulos basically gets on his knees and begs him to vote yes. So nice for the Democrats to have one of their operatives posing as a newsman.

'I'm Terribly Sorry, But David Gregory Had a Fit'

Looks like the pressure of following in Tim Russert's footsteps is getting to David Gregory. I guess Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews aren't the only egomaniacs at NBC.

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was all set to appear this Sunday on ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos until yesterday, when Scarborough canceled because David Gregory, the host of NBC's "Meet the Press," allegedly threw a fit.

"What is David Gregory so afraid of?" asked one network insider.

Stephanopoulos was first pitched to have Scarborough as a guest by Scarborough's "Morning Joe" co-host on MSNBC, Mika Brzezinski.

"About three weeks ago, George got a handwritten note in the mail and a copy of Scarborough's book, 'The Last Best Hope,' " said our source. "The note said, 'Would you consider putting Joe on your show?' "

Last week, the booking was finalized. "She [Brzezinski] said she checked with all the high-ups at NBC," said our source.

But on Wednesday night, Stephanopoulos was alerted there might be a problem. Scarborough is said to have informed him, "I'm terribly sorry, but David Gregory had a fit." Yesterday morning, Scarborough canceled his appearance, leaving Stephanopoulos scrambling to find a replacement guest.

Stephanopoulos declined to comment, but an ABC source said, " 'Meet the Press' has lost more than half a million viewers on David Gregory's watch. That explains his tantrum, but it does not excuse it."

Since Gregory took over on "Meet the Press" last December after Tim Russert's death, viewership of the still top-rated Sunday morning show has plummeted. "Meet" topped "This Week" by 2.2 million a year ago, compared to 240,000 this past Sunday.

Obama 'Report' by Obama Lawyer Clears Obama Chief of Staff

We can all go back to sleep now. Rahm Emanuel is in the clear. Expect the full report to be released somewhere around 11:55 pm on Christmas Eve, while everyone is snug in the beds with happy dreams of hope and change dancing in their heads.

George Stephanopoulos broke some news today when he reported that his former fellow Clinton White House colleague Rahm Emanuel was cleared by an investigation by Greg Craig, the former Clinton White House lawyer, into contacts the Obama transition team had with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office (so far as we know Blago had no role in the Clinton Administration even though the former president and Blago both have a thing for Elvis, thank you very much.)

As Stephanopoulos reports in his blog (he also said this on "This Week" this morning:

Sources tell me that the Obama team's review of contacts with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will show that Rahm Emanuel had only one phone conversation with Blagojevich.

The contact, described as a "pro-forma" courtesy call, came as Emanuel was named Chief of Staff for Obama. Most of the discussion concerned Emanuel's Congressional seat (which had previously been held by Blagojevich), with only a "passing reference" to the Senate vacancy, according to these sources. No deal for the Senate vacancy was discussed.

Speculation in Washington and Chicago has been swirling for a week now over what the Obama team's report would find. Until now, the contents of that report have been kept sealed, at the request of the U.S. Attorney's office. Last Wednesday, Obama said he found it "a little bit frustrating" that the report had not yet been released.

In the meantime, let's all go back to pretending Obama has nothing to do with the corrupt Chicago machine that got him where he is today.

Clinton Advisor: 'Those People Are Shit' (Update: Bogus)

Granted, this is from 1992, but it does give you an idea what the Democrats and Clinton folks really think about the little people.

Calling them "worthless white niggers" can't go over well.

Update: A dirty trick?

More here.

In all fairness, I'm removing the video.