Rachel Maddow tells America to "Google 'Truman Commission'" -- and they do!

[Newsjock]

On tonight's "Bushed!" segment of Countdown, Rachel Maddow said that if we wanted more information on one of her "-gates" (sorry, I wasn't paying close enough attention to remember which one -- I'm sure y'all will fill in the blanks for me), "you should Google 'Truman Commission.'"

Well, just now, over on Current TV, they did their hourly recap of Google's recent 10 most-searched terms. And right at #3, with a "NEW!" flag, was ... Truman Commission.

http://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=%22truman+commission%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

[Muttocracy]

1. Cool! now, I, uh, need to look something up... nt

[MadMaddie]

2. People are educating themselves

this is awesome!! This is the one thing the Republican machine fears mos......


educated Americans. ha..ha..ha..

[bdamomma]

15. educated Americans would scare them alright.

that is why we have the media to sanitize our news.

[tsuki]

3. General Marshall once commented that the Truman Committee was

worth a division during WWII.

[LibertyorDeath]

4. Rachel takes names & kicks ass all with a disarming smile...

She's excellent imo...

Sounds like she's got a big following.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. I was among those who Googled it...

During World War II, Harry Truman established what became known as the Truman Commission. The Commission consisted of a group of dedicated public servants who were committed to examining all financial and military transactions related to the war effort. Their work served to expose and eliminate any waste, mismanagement, or corruption which could have detracted from the effectiveness of Allied troops. The accountability and efficiency which they helped to create and defend was pivotal to winning the war. The money, time, and resources which the Commission saved could be used to build another helmet, or another bullet, or another tank. And these individual pieces added up to a truly historic whole.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

6. I know another part of the story

At one point the Truman Commission was starting to look into why so much money and personnel were being funnelled into Oak Ridge and New Mexico. FDR's folks had to let him in on the Manhattan Project to get him to stop.

[ellie]

11. Me too!

I read the same passage you did.

[Hekate]

7. I just googled it myself. Rachel is so cool. nt

[ColbertWatcher]

8. I've been keeping track of the "Gates"...

...almost from the start (I missed the first three, I think)

But, because I don't type very fast, I can only get the name of the gate, but not very many details (I suspect people can watch the videos online?)

Anyway, I keep them here, such as it is.

It's a page on the Truthiness Encyclopedia, so you may be a little "shocked" by some of the language, but it's all in jest.

[madokie]

12. What, with a mouth like that and you can't type fast

do tell. :-)

great link http://www.wikiality.com/Bushed btw

[ColbertWatcher]

16. Thank you. n/t

[TNOE]

13. Great link.

Bookmarked.

[ColbertWatcher]

17. Thank you. n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

18. Better late than never...That is a great link!!

[JoDog]

9. I always do

What charming, incredibly intelligent people tell me to do.

[barbtries]

10. from one of the responses:

Published on Thursday, March 2, 2006 by St. Louis Post-Dispatch
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0302-24.htm
March 2 2006

Harry Truman Wouldn't Stand For It
by Sarah Anderson


In choosing the Truman Library in Independence as the place for a major speech today, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld no doubt hopes some of the World War II victor's sheen will rub off on him.

One important part of former President Harry S Truman's legacy that Rumsfeld seems unlikely to highlight is his crusade against war profiteering. As a U.S. senator in 1941, Truman drove thousands of miles around the country going from one defense plant to another documenting waste and fraud. He then headed the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program -- the Truman committee, for short. The process saved American taxpayers $15 billion (in 1940s dollars). And by uncovering faulty military equipment, he prevented the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of U.S. soldiers.

Contemporary military auditors have discovered corruption no less shocking than that which Truman observed on his muck-raking roadtrip, but the Bush administration has remained virtually silent on the subject. In 2005 alone, defense contracts totaled more than $270 billion, and the White House recently requested an additional $72 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Given these vast sums, greater oversight is needed.

In Congress, bipartisan bills in both the Senate and House to create a Truman-style oversight committee sit in limbo. Since the Iraq War began, there have been only a handful of hearings on military contracts. Between 1941 and 1948, the Truman committee called 1,798 witnesses for 432 hearings and issued 51 reports.

[MJW]

14. Rachel Maddow is extremely smart , and cool

I tend to take her seriously and if she wants me to google something , by golly I google it!