sometimes facts can be upsetting. they can also be illuminating. that is hardball for now. before we go we want to send our best wishes to our friend barbara walters who is undergoing heart surgery this week. good luck, barbara. countdown with keith olbermann starts right now. which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? gusher. the gulf spill disaster hearings on capitol hill and if blame were oil, the country would now have enough for a thousand years. the president of bp america points the finger of the operator of the rig safety device. why did transocean s blowout preventer, the key fail safe mechanism fail to shut in the well and release the rig? political fame theater, the blame assignment analyzed by joe romm.
but next time, we ll call you. thank you, kent. that was awesome. anytime. that does it for us tonight. i m chris hayes, countdown with keith olbermann starts now. good night. which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? gusher. the gulf spill disaster hearings on capitol hill and if blame were oil, the country would now have enough for a thousand years. the president of bp america points the finger at the operator of the rig safety device. why did transocean s blowout preventer, the key fail-safe mechanism fail to shut in the well and release the rig? political fame theater, the blame assignment analyzed by joe romm. the supreme court release the kagan. the nominee has thin experience.
upsetting. they can also be illuminating. that is hardball for now. before we go we want to send our best wishes to our friend barbara walters who is undergoing heart surgery this week. good luck, barbara. countdown with keith olbermann starts right now. which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? gusher. the gulf spill disaster hearings on capitol hill and if blame were oil, the country would now have enough for a thousand years. the president of bp america points the finger of the operator of the rig safety device. why did transoceans blowout preventer, the key fail safe mechanism fail to shut in the well and release the rig? political fame theater, the blame assignment analyzed by joe rome. the supreme court release
republicans in congress, they came out of the debt ceiling fight lower than the president. they did not do well. does that mean they re vulnerable i. think they are. the president was effective this morning. he went out and got concrete again. he said here s our choice. we can either fix 35,000 schools for our kids and make them work or we give tax loopholes for oil companies. we can t do both. let s not kid our side. better to get action than blame assignment. right? you re no, no, no. get the bridges fixed. he needs to have some economic improvement to do well next year but also has to deal with recalcitrant republicans. giving republicans including especially house republican leader eric cantor a little credit for not outright rejecting his proposal. not yet. here s more of his speech today in cantor s own district. he is really leaning forward here. to use a local phrase. let s listen.
here he is. look at the bottom of the screen. the names of bridges in eric cantor s district down in the richmond area structurally deficient. that bridge that fell in minnesota described at structurally deficient before it collapsed. don t forget, too, with republicans in congress, they came out of the debt ceiling fight lower than the president. they did not do well. does that mean they re vulnerable i. think they are. the president was effective this morning. he went out and got concrete again. he said here s our choice. we can either fix 35,000 schools for our kids and make them work or we give tax loopholes for oil companies. we can t do both. let s not kid our side. better to get action than blame assignment. right? you re no, no, no. is it better get the bridges fixed and roads? get the bridges fixed. he needs to have some economic improvement to do well next year but also has to deal with recalcitrant republicans. giving republicans including especially hous