The story starts off well:

MSNBC is removing Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as the anchors of live political events, bowing to growing criticism that they are too opinionated to be seen as neutral in the heat of the presidential campaign.

David Gregory, the NBC newsman and White House correspondent who also hosts a program on MSNBC, will take over during such events as this fall’s presidential and vice presidential debates and election night.

The move, confirmed by spokesmen for both networks, follows increasingly loud complaints about Olbermann’s anchor role at the Democratic and Republican conventions. Olbermann, who regularly assails President Bush and GOP nominee John McCain on his “Countdown” program, was effusive in praising the acceptance speech of Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

However, if you look closely it doesn’t appear that the failing network is making the kind of substantial change that would be required to restore its reputation (”restore” is a bit generous given that MSNBC has never had much of a positive reputation):

Olbermann and Matthews will remain as analysts during major political events, and officials at both networks, who declined to be identified discussing personnel moves, said Olbermann had initiated the discussions to clarify his role. They said Olbermann’s influence at MSNBC would in no way be diminished and that the shift would enable him and Matthews to offer more candid analysis during live coverage.

In Olbermann’s case bias doesn’t even adequately describe his unique brand of progressive nutiness. Just look at the stories on his Countdown with Keith Olberman website:

Is McCain overplaying the P.O.W. card?
Olbermann chastises McCain: Grow up!
Swiftboater tries to sink Obama
Olbermann: RNC ‘tribute’ inappropriate

Keith also poses the question on the mind of progressive conspiracy theorists everywhere:

Did terror alerts suspiciously follow bad publicity about the White House? Check out this timeline and draw your own conclusions.

But there’s more than McCain bashing and downright kooky conspiracy theories on his site. Look at this :

Barack Obama on Monday!

Others Blogging:

Michelle Malkin
MSNBC, the left-wing basket case cable network, is in full meltdown mode. After several weeks of on-air sniping and tantrums from the Spittle Twins, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, executives at NBC apparently staged an intervention. They will no longer anchor political coverage or the debates. The fair and balanced savior?

In a classy move McCain calls a truce of sorts:

John McCain is airing a one-evening-only ad with a simple message for Barack Obama: “Job well done.” The ad coincides with Obama’s nomination acceptance speech.

McCain congratulates Obama for his nomination. McCain recognizes the symbolism of a black man accepting the nomination on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The ad will run Thursday on national cable television before and after Obama’s address.

It’s a moment worthy of recognition even if Obama is not the right man for the job.

Perhaps the most devastating quote comes from Obama himself:

“If I were seriously to consider running on a national ticket, I would essentially have to start now, before having served a day in the Senate. Now there’s some people who might be comfortable doing that, but I am not one of those people.”

The Democrats are going to regret getting caught up in the hysteria and nominating a totally unqualified candidate. Many of them already are.

Every cult needs a temple but this is more than a bit over the top - even for a man of Obama’s arrogance:

He will stride out to a raised platform to a podium that can be raised from beneath the floor. Once Obama speaks, confetti will rain down on him and fireworks will be fired from around the stadium wall.

Biden is, not surprisingly, a dud - chiefly so, I believe, because voters realize that no VP choice can offset Obama’s lack of experience:

It’s official: Barack Obama has received no bounce in voter support out of his selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his vice presidential running mate.

Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Aug. 23-25, the first three-day period falling entirely after Obama’s Saturday morning vice presidential announcement, shows 46% of national registered voters backing John McCain and 44% supporting Obama, not appreciably different from the previous week’s standing for both candidates. This is the first time since Obama clinched the nomination in early June, though, that McCain has held any kind of advantage over Obama in Gallup Poll Daily tracking.

The convention doesn’t look like it’s going to fire off any spikes in the polls either but to be fair it’s early. The Democrats, however, don’t have many more days to waste.

Alice_H has been providing a steady stream of updates, via Twitter, and tons of amazing photographs via her Denver Stuff blog. I’ll add links to other protest followers as I find them but you can find your own right here.

Twitter is a great place to find emerging news and to gauge opinion on important stories. Click here to monitor the discussion about the potential threat to Obama.

I hope these reports are overblown:

Federal authorities have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday afternoon amid reports that a fortunate traffic stop by Aurora Police may have disrupted an assassination attempt against Barack Obama.

KUSA-TV is reporting that two men have been arrested on weapons charges after the traffic stop early Sunday.

The first man, identified by the station as Tharin Gartrell, 28, was charged with suspicion of being a felon in possession of a weapon after police found two rifles, a high-powered scope and methamphetamine in his car after the traffic stop.

We won’t know more until Tuesday. The Rocky Mountain News seems to have more information than anyone else at the moment:

Aurora police arrested a longtime drug user Sunday afternoon during a routine traffic stop where the man was seen “weaving,” sources said. Two possible other accomplices also were arrested, according to police.

Police found four weapons, including two rifles and two handguns, in a rented pickup.

That arrest then led authorities to a second man staying at the Cherry Creek Hotel at 600 South Colorado Blvd in Glendale. When authorities knocked on the man’s door, they say he jumped out of his sixth floor window, landing on an awning and running from the scene. They say they soon found him with a broken ankle. He too was arrested.

One of the suspects has been identified as 28-year-old Tharin Gartrell.

Police found a rifle in the man’s pickup and methamphetamine. The man allegedly made comments about Sen. Obama, but sources wouldn’t say what they were.

These men sound like petty criminals or drug dealers - not competent assassins. I hope that is the case.

Opening night needs drama so Ted hopped on a plane:

Sen. Edward Kennedy is expected to make a dramatic appearance Monday night at the Democratic National Convention, his office said, marking his second public appearance since brain surgery in June.

It is unclear whether he will make a speech at the convention, which got under way Monday evening.

The four-day event culminates Thursday when Sen. Barack Obama officially accepts his party’s nomination.

Elizabeth Edwards would have been a solid choice too but I suspect she’s tired of being used.

This place has progressive types freaked out. They’re calling it “Gitmo on the Platte” which would be a usually just be a funny bit of propaganda but they’re actually paranoid enough to believe it:

How ironic that this big event celebrating the coronation of a candidate for our next President is also exposing a first amendment threat to free speech. Can anyone remember the Nazi’s and the USSR?

What’s the difference here when people are going to be sent to a 18-by-18-foot holding cell made from chain-link fencing in groups of twenty for speaking out?

Those who dare to protest too loudly will find themselves in cages staring at signs that say, “Warning, electric stun devices used in this facility.” At first, officials had planned on running razor wire across the top of the cells, but public outcry since the outing of their secret little plans, has made them reconsider.

The first female division chief in Denver’s Sheriff’s Department, Marie Kielar, admitted that there were no plans to release information about where protestors would be held at, according to the Colorado Independent. Why the secret?

What are the officials worried about? Are they reacting to the planned protest by Sen. Hillary Clinton’s die-heart supporters?

Mass arrests of rampaging Hillary supporters? Cross your fingers!