During today’s House debate on Iraq, virulently anti-Muslim Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) said supporting the anti-escalation resolution would “aid and assist the Islamic jihadists who want the crescent and star to wave over the Capitol of the United States and over the White House of this country.” Moreover, he said, “I fear that radical Muslims who want to control the Middle East and ultimately the world would love to see ‘In God We Trust’ stricken from our money and replaced with ‘In Muhammad We Trust.’” Watch it:

In December, Goode wrote a now-infamous letter attacking Muslim Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and warning “American citizens” to “wake up” or “there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office.”

Digg It!

UPDATE: TPMCafe:

A top official at a leading Muslim group has just told us that GOP Rep. Virgil Goode’s fear that U.S. money may soon be stamped with “In Muhammad We Trust” is rather at odds with the actual history and theology of the Muslim religion. As this expert points out…Muslims don’t worship Muhammad. They are are monotheists worshiping a single God, called Allah in Arabic — not the individual Muhammad.

Full transcript: Read more

Federal auditors today told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that the government has wasted $10 billion on “overpriced contracts or undocumented costs.” Of that amount, more than $2.7 billion were charged by Halliburton. The Government Accountability Office warned that “the problem could worsen,” given “limited improvement so far by the Department of Defense.”

UPDATE: Watch video highlights of the hearing HERE.

Last Sunday, the Bush administration finally presented its long-delayed intelligence briefing on Iranian arms shipments into Iraq. Prior to the presentation, a U.S. official told the New York Times that it had been delayed because they were “trying to scrub” the intelligence, adding “the last thing we want to be accused of is cherry-picking.”

While much of the information had previously been known, the highlight of the presentation — as reported by ABC World News — was that it was “the first time military officials…made the link to the highest level of Iran’s government.” But the briefing “offered no evidence” to substantiate that claim. After coming under intense scrutiny for an intelligence presentation that was approved by the highest levels of the administration, the White House has slowly backed off its claims of Iranian government involvement.

Today, CNN reported that the White House is now blaming the anonymous intelligence briefer who presented the information. According to CNN’s Ed Henry, the White House says the anonymous intelligence briefer went “a little too far” in stating the evidence. But, as Henry said, “that begs the question why the administration has taken so long to clarify those comments.” Watch it:

Transcript: Read more

“Keith Olbermann will continue to be a thorn in Bill O’Reilly’s side for at least four more years,” MSNBC reports. Olbermann has agreed to a “second term” with NBC News that “will take him into 2011.” Besides hosting “Countdown,” Olbermann will now “contribute occasional essays to ‘NBC Nightly News’ and there will be two prime-time ‘Countdown’ specials a year on NBC.”