The Mark Riley Show Blog

After three years of waking in the middle of the night to bring you the first news of the day with our own brand of humor and irreverence The Mark Riley Show will officially come to an end on May 11th.  However, our last live show was today .  Next week we have lined up our friend and ultimate beltway insider, Brent Budowsky, to talk with Mark about the Iraq war, presidential politics and much more.  Also, you'll hear some of Mark's favorite interviews with musical guests we've had on the show over the last year.  I think you will enjoy these. 

Mark and I will spend the next couple of weeks preparing for the launch of a new show here on the network (as well as adjusting to a new sleep schedule) starting May 21st from 8pm to midnight featuring contributions from other Air America hosts such Bobby Kennedy, Mike Papantonio, David Bender and Laura Flanders, as well as newsmakers, artists, musicians and the like.  The new show is called The Air Americans.  Stay tuned and stay with us.  We look forward to your continued support.

Ron Dodd, Executive Producer

Happy Friday Early Birds!!!

As usual Riley will have all the top news stories of the day. In the Top of the News Barak Obama has been placed under the protection of < a href=" http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/03/obama.protection/index.html"> The Secret Service as a result of his campaign office recieving higher volumes of hate mail and threatening phone calls.

Also in the top of the news The GOP had their first debate today. The leading candidates showed their continuing support for the Iraq War but talked in depth about how the war had been severely < a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18466314/"> mismanaged.

RIley will have all the top stories of the day Plus as usual we will have a Juicy Grapevine Segment and you will also hear from Jim Hightower.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

It wasn’t that long ago that former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey was quitting his job and admitting he was a gay American. Now he’s been accepted into a three year master of divinity program at the flagship seminary for the 2.3 million member Episcopal church in the US. He starts classes in September.

In a way, this is what I love about the church of which I’m a member. After all, I was a lapsed churchgoer when I found my way to an Episcopal congregation that is as progressive as they get. On the other hand, McGreevey’s redemption comes at an interesting time. He’s locked in a bitter divorce with his estranged wife. She’s just dropped a book that details her version of their marriage, and it’s not very flattering to McGreevey.

He’s also spent much of his political life telling stories of his upbringing as a Roman Catholic. Obviously this path isn’t open to him in the church of his youth. Yet close friends say he’s always wanted to be a man of the cloth. He’s apparently been attending any number of prayer sessions at his adopted church, St. Bartholomew’s in Manhattan.
There will no doubt be those who will be dubious about McGreevey’s effort at redemption. Yet, for some strange reason, I personally am pulling for him to make it.

After all, there is a Biblical passage about those who are without sin casting the first stone, right? 

HAPPY THURSDAY EARLY BIRDS!

Riley will have all the top news stories of the day. In the top of the news there is growing concern from a number of Kurdish and Sunni officials that the latest version of the new Iraqi oil bill will not fairly represent the interests of Kurdish and Sunni Minority groups within the Iraqi government.

Also in the top of the news Democrats are trying to find a way to regroup after Bush's veto of their latest Iraqi War Funding Bill. Progressive Democratic Senators like Russ Feingold and Centrists like Bob Nelson are trying to do the impossible:Create a bill that they can send to the president that he would be forced to accept! Is that possible!

Plus we will have Jim Hightower and a Juicy Grapevine Segment for you!

Get out of Bed and Rise with Riley!!!

Good Morning Early Risers happy Weds!!!

In the top of the news this morning President Bush has successfully vetoed the potential legislation that would have lead to an actual time frame for a pull out of US troops in Iraq. This has lead to the true begining of a major political war between < a href="http://therawstory.com"> Democrats and Republicans

Also in the Top of the News Thousands of Immigrants marched in cities across America yesterday as may 1st has become a day of National Solidarity for undocumented workers throughout the US.

Riley will break it down for you this morning so listen in and learn!!!

Not too long ago, we told you the story of a woman the media have now dubbed “The DC Madam”. Deborah Jean Palfrey claims to have the names of some 15,000 clients in her “little black book”, and many of them are well known names inside the Beltway.

Palfrey claimed her first big name victim last Friday. Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias resigned suddenly after he revealed he used Palfrey’s escort service, quoting here, “to have gals come over to the condo to give me a massage”. Tobias denies having sex with any of the “gals”, an assertion that bolsters Palfrey’s contention her business didn’t provide sexual services to clients.

Two weeks ago, Palfrey named one Harlan Ullman as “one of the regular customers”. Ullman, who’s denied the allegation, is one of the leading theorists behind the “shock and awe” strategy used in the invasion of
Iraq. And as they say on those late night infomercials, wait…there’s more.

On her Web site, Palfrey reveals she gave copies of certain  years of her records to ABC News. She of course is trying to fight a federal racketeering beef that could land her in jail for a long stretch. ABC plans a 20/20 segment about Palfrey next week.

Will Deborah Palfrey’s revelations bring down more powerful men in DC? You can bet if she’s got a list of 15,000 clients, there are 30,000 DC men who are sweating bullets until this whole thing is settled.