John Kerry was on "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos, this morning. He spoke against Bush's warrantless wiretaps, calling them "a clear violation of the law."

Kerry said "that the administration has made no effort to consult Congress about any possible alteration to the law that he says restricts the wiretaps -- the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA," and called for a special counsel and independent investigation into the matter.

Senators John Kerry and Jack Reed held a press conference this morning after Bush's speech on Iraq. During the press conference, Kerry and Reed both "said they were disappointed by Bush's plan, which they said fell short on specifics and ignored basic realities in Iraq."

For anyone who missed the Kerry/Reed press conference, a complete audio is available here.

John Kerry was on the Ed Schultz Show earlier today. Hat tip to europegirl4jfk on DU for grabbing the clip.

It was an excellent interview about Iraq, Murtha and more... an absolute must listen

Listen here.

"There's mud being thrown, but I've got news for you, it's one directional mud." -- on the Bush administration's accusations

"These guys are living in an unbelievable land of illusion." -- on Iraq

John Kerry took Bush to task on his Veteran's Day Speech, on the Senate Floor today. In a fiery rhetoric, Kerry blasted Bush today, on the lies he spewed in his speech, last Friday -- from the rush to war based based on faulty intelligence data, to the spin Bush put on Kerry's own statements, John Kerry pinned Bush on the carpet.

The following is the text of John Kerry's Floor Statement:

MR. PRESIDENT, Veterans Day is sacred - or it is supposed to be. Veterans Day is a day to honor veterans, not to play attack politics. The President, who is Commander in Chief, should know and respect this.

They are at it again... those "Smear Boat" Veterans who are shills for the Republican Party.  One would think that the Republican Party is in enough hot water right now (corruption, cronyism, scandals) and these fools would know better than to start dredging around for more publicity for their lost cause.  But NO... Carlton Sherwood and his band of twisted cohorts who defamed John Kerry, are suing John Kerry and a former campaign staffer, claiming that they defamed him.  

David Wade a Kerry spokesperson told AP News yesterday, "This is simply more of the same smears and sleaze against a decorated Vietnam veteran from more of the same serial liars who disgraced themselves in 2004. It's too bad the truth doesn't matter to the right wing when there's a chance to fund-raise based on outright falsehood and slander."

Carlton Sherwood claims that "the film was funded only by Vietnam veterans from Pennsylvania." Sherwood, himself is resident of Harrisburg, PA. The group fronting for Carlton Sherwood in the filing of this lawsuit is the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation, who weren't even in existence during the 2004 campaign. Their website states they were launched on "05/05/2005."

A Democratic Daily exclusive:

Last week, I had the opportunity to interview actor, activist Ed Asner. Ed Asner is a longtime activist for many causes dear to liberals. He's a brilliant, sensitive man with a profound understanding of the current pulse of politics in our nation.

My thanks to Ed Asner, for taking the time to speak in depth with me on wealth of subjects including his longtime involvement as an activist, Cindy Sheehan, the new book about the Bush administration that he co-authored with Burt Hall: Misuse of Power, what he loves most about America .  

Pamela: At a time when we could certainly use more outspoken activists, the question for any great activist is what inspired you to get involved?

Ed Asner: I've always considered myself a liberal. Coming up in the blacklist era, the question was always do I shut up and go along, or be in the same boat with those blacklisted.

When El Salvador happened, I asked myself, if not now, when? In what was a humanistic statement, I became the spokesman for medical aid to El Salvador. When attacks were launched against me verbally for my participation, I responded in kind. I was somewhat blacklisted. My acts forestalled my going gently into that good night. I learned a savage lesson.

USA Today reports that "Fighting cancer is new mission" for Lance Armstrong. Armstrong a member of Bush's Cancer Panel since 2002, publicly criticized the cost of the war in Iraq, in comparison to budget for cancer research.

"Funding is tough to come by these days," he says. "The biggest downside to a war in Iraq is what you could do with that money. What does a war in Iraq cost a week? A billion? Maybe a billion a day? The budget for the National Cancer Institute is four billion. That has to change. It needs to become a priority again.

Advance copy to The Democratic Daily...

For Immediate Release:

Today, Senator John Kerry; Senator Carl Levin, Ranking Member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations; and 24 other Senators formally requested that Congress investigate the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity -- a leak a senior administration official described at the time as "meant purely and simply for revenge."

"Americans deserve a Congress that holds Washington accountable for the truth about our national security.  Can anyone argue with a straight face that Congress has time to look at steroid use in baseball but doesn't have the will to provide congressional oversight of the leak of a CIA agent's name?  It's long past time to stop putting politics ahead of the public good, get to the bottom of a national security breach and restore credibility to Washington," said John Kerry, who authored the letter.

Below is the text of the letter sent today: