Keith Olbermann/Tonight on Countdown - "The Politics of Pandering"

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President Bush and congressional Republicans are aiming the political spotlight this week on efforts to ban gay marriage, with events at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue - all for a constitutional amendment with scant chance of passage but wide appeal among social conservatives. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13142607/

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

The first National Guard troops sent to assist immigration agents prepared Sunday to work on projects near a fortified stretch of desert along the U.S.-Mexico border. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13140235/from/RS.3/

In the ballroom foyer of the Embassy Suites Hotel, the two-day International Education and Strategy Conference for 9/11 Truth was off to a rollicking start. Such was the coming-out for the movement known as "9/11 Truth," a society of skeptics and scientists who believe the government was complicit in the terrorist attacks. In colleges and chat rooms on the Internet, this band of disbelievers has been trying for years to prove that 9/11 was an inside job. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/05/us/05conspiracy.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Follow-up to Keith's "Malmedy" segment...

For more than a month, Laura VanRyn's friends and relatives thought she had survived a van crash that killed five people, and they celebrated the young woman's milestones as she recovered. Then came the stunning news last week of a tragic mix-up: It was not VanRyn, but a college classmate who had survived in a coma-like state. On Sunday, friends and relatives gathered to remember VanRyn, a 22-year-old senior who was just weeks shy of graduation. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13146424/

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are rumored to have secretly asked "American Idol" runner-up Katharine McPhee to sing at their upcoming wedding. Actress Holmes reportedly met McPhee at Los Angeles' Church of Scientology, where the singer allegedly attended courses with her boyfriend, and has since become a huge fan of the pretty brunette. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=5721

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

Finally,
Hell, Michigan - With Tuesday being June 6, 2006, one town in Michigan is ready to heat it all up with a celebration. Even the town's mayor, John Colone, is all fired up for the event. Colone says, "I've got `666' T-shirts and mugs. I'm only ordering 666 (of the items) so once they're gone, that's it. Everyone who comes will get a letter of authenticity saying you've celebrated June 6, 2006, in Hell." There will be live entertainment and a costume contest planned for the festivities. The children's play area shall have the Gates of Hell installed for the event. While talking about the gates, Colone said, "They're 8 feet tall and 5 foot wide and each gate looks like flames, and when they're closed, it's a devil's head."
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003812540
This town must throw one hell of a Halloween party.

-- Carey Fox

Countdown Home: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/

Other News:
Gunmen in police uniforms raided bus stations Monday in central Baghdad, kidnapping at least 50 people, including drivers and passengers preparing to travel outside Iraq, an Interior Ministry official said. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13143129/

The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide the extent to which public schools can use race in deciding school assignments, setting the stage for a landmark affirmative action ruling. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13147234/

Rep. Patrick Kennedy has ended nearly a month of treatment for addiction to prescription pain drugs and had an appearance scheduled Monday in his home state of Rhode Island. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13018895/

A pilot suffering a heart attack made an emergency landing on a highway, saving his three passengers shortly before he died. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13147788/

The Supreme Court on Monday limited the use of civil anti-racketeering laws by companies seeking damages for allegedly illegal acts by their competitors. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13149109/from/RS.5/

The site of a proposed $3 billion hotel, condominium and casino complex backed by George Clooney has been sold to a competitor, the latest in a series of high-rise projects here that have been scrapped before groundbreaking. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13146745/

"Clean your plate or else!" and other authoritarian approaches to parenting can lead to overweight children, a new study finds. Strict mothers were nearly five times more likely to raise tubby first-graders than mothers who treated their children with flexibility and respect while also setting clear rules. But while the children of flexible rule-setting moms avoided obesity, the children of neglectful mothers and permissive mothers were twice as likely to get fat.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13141227/

Don't be surprised if Tom Cruise becomes a NASCAR fan. Scientology is getting into the wildly popular race sport. "Dianetics," the book written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, is sponsoring a racing team - dubbed "Ignite Your Potential" - that will tour the NASCAR circuit. A Dianetics Racing Web site is being set up for fans. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13105675/

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