Iran: No Nuke Tale To Tell

Plus: Wolfie’s back — and you’ll *never* guess what he’s up to...when the scandals get hot, the scandalized go to Bali! ... did your favorite ridiculous political quote of the year make the list? We’ve checked it twice...why we hope there’s no wardrobe malfunction at this year’s SuperBowl Halftime Show!...how to spend $1 million a minute...monkeys — now they’re funny AND good at math...and why you should put down the peppermint cocoa and pick up the rum-spiked cider. It’s Tuesday, December 4 and this is Mic Check. Do a little Snoopy Dance when no one is watching.

Celebration Excuse

Tuesday’s Just The Day After Tomorrow Of Sunday

1872

The American ship Mary Celeste is found full sail, moving towards the straight of Gibraltar, completely crewless. We’re not sure what happened, because scurvy and gangrene don’t make you disappear.

1945

The US Senate approves US participation in the United Nations by a vote of 65 to 7. We wonder what the vote would be today. We know what Ron Paul thinks.

1959

A monkey returns to Earth safely after being launched 55 miles high into outer space. Do you think at takeoff Neil Armstrong was thinking, “It sure is comforting that only ten years ago they were launching monkeys just barely out of orbit?”

1952

The Great Smog descends upon London. Combining with air pollution it kills more than 12,000 people in the ensuing months. Makes Stephen Kings “Mist” a little less sci-fi.

1956

During a recording session an impromptu jam session occurs including Carl Perkin, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley. The session was released over thirty years later under the moniker the Million Dollar Quartet. But we think that group would be worth considerably more.

1980

Led Zeppelin formally announces its breakup, ascends stairway to heaven.

Ve Are Nihilists, Lebowski

1934: Wink Martindale, famous game show host
1949: Jeff Bridges, Academy Award-nominated actor best known as “The Dude”
1964: Marisa Tomei, the Academy Award-winning actress and star of Before the Devil Knows Your Dead
1969: Jay-Z, the hugely successful drug dealer turned rapper. Also the president and CEO of Def Jam Records, with a net-worth of $547
1973: Tyra Banks, Supermodel and reality TV and talk show host

Daybook

STUMPIN’

NPR-Iowa Public Radio “Radio Only” Democratic Debate. All democratic candidates will be in attendance
John McCain campaigns in New Hampshire
Ron Paul will be a guest on the View

CONGRESS

HOUSE

2 PM

House Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee hears testimony from a number of individuals within the health services community including Dennis Williams, Deputy Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration during a hearing on health issues-related legislation.

SENATE

9:30 AM

Senate Appropriations Committee Labor, HHS, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hears testimony from Robert Murray, owner of the Crandall Canyon Mine, during a hearing on the mine collapse.

9:30 AM

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Investigations Subcommittee discusses unfair credit card interest rate increases, focusing on instances in which rates may be raised on cardholders who have not violated any conditions.

10 AM

Senate Judiciary Committee meets to discuss the health care and law enforcement implications of electronically prescribing controlled substances.

10:30 AM

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hears testimony on the development of a comprehensive response to food safety issues.

2:30 PM

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee State, Local and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration Subcommittee holds a hearing titled, “The New Madrid Seismic Zone: Whose Fault is it Anyway?” The seismic zone stretches from Missouri to parts of Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

TV

TIVO…
Oprah: Why We Can’t Stop Talking About Eat, Pray, Love!
The View: Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, from the movie No Reservations and Little Miss Sunshine Abigail Breslin, and guest co-host Kate Walsh of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice
Regis and Kelly: Actor Ben Affleck, Bayside wrestling star turned Dancing Star Mario Lopez, and John Quain of the New York Times
Ellen: Rapper Snoop Dogg, co-host of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show David Frei, and Days of Our Lives star Bryan Dattilo
STAY UP FOR…
Leno: David Copperfield (pre-sexual assault investigation), a young George Clooney, and comedian George Wallace (Rerun circa 1994)
Conan: SNL and 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan, Into the Wild star Emile Hirsch, and author AJ Jacobs who spent a year attempting to live according to all the moral codes expressed in the Bible (Rerun)
Last Call: From the TV show Moonlight actress Shannon Sossamon, and R&B star Alicia Keys (New episodes for Carson, because let’s face it, whether it’s his delivery or his writers, something doesn’t work)
Daily Show: Comedian and actor Denis Leary (Rerun)
Colbert Report: Mad Money host Jim Cramer, and long-time editor of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker Tina Brown

 

Eavesdrop

STEAL THIS AUDIO

BELLIGERENT BUSH BROWBEATS CONGRESS

Who: Our complainer-in-chief, President George W. Bush acknowledges the return of Congress to Washington.
What: Still smarting from the Congress’s use of a loophole in the rules to prevent the President from making recess appointments of contentious individuals to important federal positions, the President goes on the attack.
Why you should care: Contrary to what President Bush thinks, the Congressional branch is equal in power to his Executive branch. And using their power to check his is kind of part of the process. Like a spoiled kid from Nanny 911, the President is used to getting his way all the time. The Republican Congress wrote him literal and figurative blank checks for six years. And now wants to claim the mantel of fiscal conservatism?

The Audio

  • President Bush notes that only one of the Senate’s twelve spending bills has managed to make it into law. He fails to mention this is because he’s vetoed much of that popular legislation when it reached his desk.
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  • The President complains about the Senate blocking his ability to make recess appointments. Wonder if that’s the reason the Senate allows itself the option to not technically go on recess?
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  • Oh wait, here’s something the Congress did manage to do this year: a controversial update to FISA that gave Bush and the Attorney General sweeping surveillance powers. The President wants Congress to extend it. Folks who love their civil liberties think differently.
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  • After running up the kind of debt that would get a gambling man’s legs broken, the President has the nerve to act as if he is a fiscal conservative.
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Popularity Contest

Catch the wave...

NYT: A Vote for Latin

WP: Losing Ground In Iowa, Clinton Assails Obama

USAT:Ohio State, LSU set for title game in New Orleans

LAT: CNN: Corrupt News Network

ABC: Peterson Under Investigation for Police Misconduct

CBS: Romney To Give “Religion Speech”

CNN: Why bad kissers don’t get to second base

FOX: Sperm Donor Ordered to Pay Child Support for 18-Year-Old

Masthead

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Mic Check is produced every weekday by Christy Harvey, Sara Langhinrichs and Nicole Murphy, and is a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Read more about Mic Check.

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