Wednesday newsletter!

[Muffstser]

Here ya go:

Tonight on Countdown
------------------------------------------------------

President Bush urged lawmakers Wednesday to give Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts "a timely hearing, a fair hearing" during a Senate confirmation battle that both sides expect to center on abortion. Abortion, a polarizing issue for lawmakers, will be the "hot button" issue in the confirmation battle, conceded Fred Thompson, the former senator who will shepherd Roberts through the Senate. But Thompson cautioned lawmakers not to read too much into Roberts' seemingly conflicting legal positions on Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8625492/

Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann broadcasts LIVE at 8 pm et, and the count is never complete without you. Join us.

Keith blogs: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/

A history of drama, revenge and vindication. Senate battles over Supreme Court nominations go back to 1795. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8616433/

Karl Rove & the leak investigation: John Dean joins Keith tonight.

Under fire for presidential adviser Karl Rove's role in the leak of an undercover CIA agent's identity, the Bush administration on Wednesday labeled as "bad public policy" legislation to protect reporters from being jailed when they refuse to reveal their sources. The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering a bill sponsored by Sen. Richard Lugar and Rep. Mike Pence, both Indiana Republicans, that would protect reporters from being imprisoned by federal courts. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...R2005072000258.html

San Diego's acting mayor has been convicted of taking illegal campaign cash, leaving the nation's seventh-biggest city rudderless at one of the most troubled points in its history. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...R2005071900155.html

James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original "Star Trek" TV series and motion pictures who responded to the command "Beam me up, Scotty," died early Wednesday. He was 85. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8643634/

That's some of what we're planning for tonight's show.

Finally,
R.I.P., Arnold the Crime-Fighting Pig. The beast died last month from apparent heart failure. He was 6. Arnold earned his name after sinking his teeth into one of two intruders who tried to rob his owner, Becky Moyer, at gunpoint in February 2001. She had just returned home when the two men confronted her in her garage. Moyer screamed, and Arnold sprang into action. When he clamped down on the burglar's leg, the intruders bolted and left behind a puddle of blood. "I never dreamed, never dreamed that a pig could be a protector," Moyer said. "Never." http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ARN...S.html&SECTION=HOME
As Charlotte would say, that's "some pig."

-- Carey Fox