Tony's tabs

5 p.m. ET

The debate over funding for Public Broadcasting is really heating up this week as the House prepares to vote on a measure that would significantly slash Big Bird's budget.

At the heart of the story is the question of bias in the PBS and NPR programming, and whether the administration is trying to craft them into a more GOP-friendly network. We'll debate it.

Later in the hour, a look at how The Terminator is doing as governor of "Caulifonia."

On the blogs today, a lot of reaction to Durbin's apology on the Senate floor. Critics of the Illinois Senator have made two major arguments: That his comments hurt troop morale and have provided fuel for the fire in the Arab world. Many conservatives, even elected officials, have referred to the enormous play the story got on Al Jazeera, the Arab media outlet.

Did it really get that kind of attention? I have surveyed both the English language and the Arabic versions of Al Jazeera's websites. So far, I have found only two references to Durbin at all, and one was an AP article.

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Some Muslim bloggers have certainly come to Durbin's defense, but mostly in the context of points they were already making about alleged abuses in the detention camps.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

In short, I have not found evidence of enormous play for the Durbin story in the Arab world. I did, however, find some very passionate views among military blogs and I will share them.

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Web links

• Technicalities
• Baldilocks
• Red State-John Cole
• Black Five
• Al Jazeera English Version
• Al Jazeera
• Veiled4Allah

E-mail us:
Maciulis@MSNBC.com