I understand the need to update us on the bird flu, but I do have a suggestion. The normal flu kills an average of 250,000 people per year. I am not sure about the situation in other parts of the country but where I am in NJ, there is an extreme shortage of flu vaccines and I understand from speaking to doctors and pediatricians that it is even worse than last year's shortage. A clinic was opened to the elderly a week ago for free inocculations but was immediately closed when the staff released a statement saying that they did not receive the vaccines they ordered due to a shortage. Perhaps the bird flu scare is a diversion. Would you be willing to investigate?

Enjoyed your little chat with Conan last night, and way to go plugging the blog! Seriously, you have won over one true cynic here.

Keep it up, and try to figure out a more interesting angle on "Democrats don't know what they stand for." I think they do, actually, and their biggest problem is the constant repetition by reporters that they don't. GOP maorities on all sides, and an embattled, paranoid "We're not liberal, see!" news media . . . must be quite suffocating sometimes.

Mr. Williams,
A comment on Kelly O'Donnell's report on the bird flu. You introduced the report acknowledging many americans are scared by this, Ms. O'Donnell ended the report with an inaccurate statement that adds to that fear. In the report it was stated that there is no evidence of an imminate outbreak, and that the preparations being proposed could take years to put into place but an outbreak could take place at "anytime". A more accurate statement is that an outbreak could occur before the plan is in place, but anytime can be construed as imminate. Even if this was a quote from a source, it was poorly chosen. This may seem to be nitpicking but for a profession that uses words, I would like those words to be chosen with better discretion. Thank you for this venue to comment.

Very disappointed in your news coverage last night. I strongly disagree with your implication that the move to close the senate and force a discussion regarding the investigation into the events leading up to Iraq was simply an attempt to gain media attention or to wrest attention from the republicans. The war in Iraq is the single most important issue in this country, impacting not just our citizens but our image in the world. If we were deceived, if manipulation of facts and false data were given to the public, we need to know it. If there are traitors and thieves in our White House, we need to know it. Bird flu? Please. It is not communicable between humans; it cannot be transmitted from one person to another. Very few people in our country live in close contact with birds or fowl. Even a diseased bird is edible if it is cooked thoroughly, and scientists are already saying any vaccine we develop now will very possibly be ineffective when and if a pandemic arrives here in a few years. To elevate this issue as the "most important" of the day is, in my opinion, not a sound decision.

It is imperative that Iraq remain foremost in the public conscience despite every other woe. We citizens value our rights and liberty, but would willingly squander these were we to allow this administration free reign to perpetuate war. Hobbes and Locke agree that there is no freedom where there is war. Freedom requires stability and there is no stability where there is war. War, however, does not only destabilize the occupied but also destabilizes the occupier; and the citizens belonging to either tend to lose. We citizens must, therefore, be constantly concerned about the Iraq war.

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K! The Presidential administration suspiciously nominated a sure-fire non-starter to create chaff, the material sent into the air to deflect heat-seeking missiles. By timing it just right, the Smartest Man In Politics sent up chaff prior to his own troubles being laid bare, then slam-dunked the next available news cycle with a hard-core loyalist nomination to the Supreme Court, effectively sucking all the oxygen out of the room. Reid and the Dems must know this, and so by invoking Rule 21 they actually called a time-out to get behind closed doors and talk about something. My guess is they are asking Reps for a deal, because if they push Alito, the Dems will come back and push Iraq and Plamegate. Tit for tat. Quid Pro Quo.

Or maybe not.

Brian, I just want to go ahead and say that you got a really good picture up there on this blog post -- there's a lot of people in the news media who don't have good pictures and you know what... they don't get a lot of comments cause people see their face and are all, "Ugh, he looks horrible." So good work on the picture.

I am not poliocially astute, but I am old enough to recognize politics when I see it. I would guess that the White House believes that the general public is not smart enough to see through their attempts to change the subject re: lying to the grand jury. That was an easy one as my husband does the same thing when he realizes I have him cornered in a dishonest statement.

The Bush Administration rarely does anything by coincidence. The timing of the Supreme Court nominee and the announcement of the bird flu program are great things to talk about in the news. But they also carry along the goal of stealing our focus away from critical (and often negative) issues surrounding our nation and the Administration. It is easy for the media to follow the most recent announcements, but the more a news agency gets shepherded by the White House Machine, the more our nation will forget to ask the important questions regarding failures in Iraq, intelligence scandals, and the meltdown of our domestic security and disaster response. I applaud that Reid finally showed the guile necessary to hit the brakes and get everyone in Congress to remember that just because the White House isn't talking about Iraq today, doesn't mean it ceases to exist. I believe the move by Democrats today was in spite of the White House's distractions, not because of them.

I think if anybody was "ham-handed" it was the GOP who promised an investigation, but refused to hold it in 2004 when the public should have been informed of any White House misuse of intelligence.

Now its time for the truth to come out.

I hope NBC thoroughly covers this new investigation as the facts come out, and does a little prying on its own. When Libby goes to court on Thursday, it would be great to see an accompanying piece about Italy's role in providing the phony Niger/uranium story, and claims that Italy circumvented the CIA to give this false information directly to the Bush White House.

Brian,
The Democrats are all hyperventilating so much now they need oxygen. They wanted Karl Rove's head and they didn't get it. They called for the head of Tom DeLay and the case is imploding. So what's left for them to do but make it up. They will do ANYTHING to discredit Bush (I'm thinking back to the CBS scandle. I think it's time for the Republican party to do a little investigating themselves say ah why when the Sudan's were handing Clinton Bin Laden on a silver platter why he turned them down THREE TIMES!! I could go on but you get the idea. I am sick to death of these liberals who say everything is Bush's fault...darn I got weeds I better write Bush.

I think the ham-handed move to keep up momentum was taken by the GOP when they broke promises and kept information on this important topic away from the public during the 2004 elections. I remember when the press couldn't stop talking about Hillary Clinton losing one document. Look at the size of this. Bush lied us into war. The GOP has covered that up. Will the press even report it when the truth comes out?

Thanks to NBC news for leading with the Bird Flu at this point it is the most important information you can give to people. People that want you to lead with tricks that DEMS. and REP. play can wait for later. but where are the stories about gas prices our prices are down to 2.18 gal from 2.79 first of the month.

The War and the misleading information that got us there is one of the most important issues facing the nation. It should not be dropped and its high time someone stood up and "raised a stink" about it!! But I also understand that the big media corporations that helped put the current admistration in office are unable/unwilling to report or investigate the administration for fear of facing the heavy handed consequences to their own bottom lines. What we want is the truth!

The Dems' move is about both partisanship... and accountability. there needs to be a full accounting into the WMD issue, esp. since Roberts agreed to it. You think the GOP is going to investigate its own actions, especially after last week?

Gee, I really enjoy your blog - sort of a preview of the news. But I hope today's entry is not a sign of what will be broadcast. How can you repeat a one-sided attack on the Democrats' closing the Senate without ever giving the Democrats' stated reason for doing it? You're usually more fair than that. Perhaps tonight you'll find a moment to mention that this is an attempt (however "ham-handed") to find out why we're in Iraq.

Brian,
Maybe, just maybe, the Democrats are finally getting their act together and starting to operate as "the loyal opposition." Their approach in invoking Rule 21 draws attention to the critical isssue of whether the Bush administration lied to the American public about Iraq. Certainly, they lied to the world through General Powell's unfortunate testimony before the United Nations. It's about time that this issue is being raised. As bumper stickers have noted, when Clinton lied to the American people, nobody died as a result. As you pointed out earlier in the week, we now have over 2,000 young lives to mourn.