Here are some stories to chew on today.   I’ll respond when I can — during breaks during my 3-hour show today.

– President Bush’s speech in Israel.  Was he referring to Barack Obama’s foreign policy?

– Tennessee Republican Party campaign ad against Michelle Obama:  family members fair game?

– How about those t-shirts that 44 seniors from Livonia Michigan wore that say, “Puschin’ it to the Limit.  Class of .08″  Should they have been suspended, banned from their prom?

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I’ll be hosting all three hours (6am -9am ET) on Friday (Gretchen will be out celebrating her daughter’s 5th birthday).  Hope you’ll tune in!  And I’ll be live blogging at the same time!  Oh, and I’ll be spinning plates and spitting wooden nickels.  It oughta be quite the spectacle.

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So I had that long-awaited meeting with our blog gurus and there are some exciting developments in the pipeline I want to pass along.  The site will soon be redone with a snazzy new look and more user-friendly elements.  They’re working on interesting ways for you to share elements of your lives with me and with each other.  Soon, in addition to your comments, you’ll be able to send me video and photos on the day’s news and watercooler topics.  I’ll pick a few each week to post on the blog and even the AtSS.  Also, I’ll be blogging live everyday from 6am - 10am (M-F) and your comments will be moderated instantaneously during that time.  And, I’m going to try to read more of your comments on the air during FOX & Friends First (6am - 7am edt).  There’s even more coming down the pike but there’s only so much excitement I can take in one sitting, so I’ll share that later.  With the new developments, we’d like to add some structure.  I’ll post a topic for us to bat around, usually based on something noteworthy from the 6am show and we’ll use this blog to continue the conversation.  We’ll try not to stray too far afield from that topic.   So while we await the new and improved site, please know I love your enthusiasm for the blog and the show and look forward to growing our great Greenroom community.  

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Puh-leease. Barack Obama knows how many states there are. This was clearly a slip of the tongue. He meant to say he’d visited 47 states. Steve just posited on the air that if John McCain had made a slip like that, the mainstream media would have fried him. Your thoughts? If you missed it, check out the video below.

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The actor Evan Handler was here to talk about his memoir called “It’s Only Temporary: The Good News and the Bad News of Being Alive.” The book is about his struggle and ultimate triumph following a cancer diagnosis. But, come on Evan, let’s get an equally pressing issue — Sex and the City!! Give me some juicy details about the movie. No, wait, don’t! Don’t spoil it for me! I may have been sending him mixed messages. Evan recommends everyone buy his book on their way to the movie. (He just wrote that). He seemed confused (ok, annoyed) by my pestering him to talk about the movie. I told him my theory that the producers of the show had actually planted a listening device in my house for their weekly story ideas. He asked if I’d gotten an actual psychiatric diagnosis for my condition. “Huge ego?” I offered. “Paranoia,” he retorted.

Dee Snyder of Twisted Sister was also here — he arrived by way of custom-made motorcycle by Full-Throttle designed to draw attention to his personal cause of improving babies’ health through the March of Dimes. Two of Dee’s four children were born prematurely (as were two of mine) and we bonded about the deep anxiety that surrounds parents of preemies. As Gretchen pointed out, the March of Dimes website can be a balm to ease those fears and answer questions. As you can see in the photo, I attemped to mount the bike but my skirt would not allow that manuever.

And who knew William Shatner is also a spokesperson for the March of Dimes? As we discovered, that wasn’t the only life experience he and Dee Snyder shared. If you tune into the AtSS, you’ll hear how they both went from riding high as stars to being down and out…then came back again. And you’ll hear a disturbing story about his run in with a frisky gorilla, plus a word not normally uttered on morning television. I substituted that word for “Cheese” when we took this shot.

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Hillary had a huge win last night in West Virginia.  For once the polls got it right — she won about 67 percent to Obama’s 27.  Our FOX exit poll found that she still has a huge advantage with white, older, religious, rural, less well-off voters.  And further that 35 percent of her supporters in West Virginia say they’d prefer to vote for John McCain than Barack Obama, if they were the only two candidates left in the general.  So given all that, why are some Democrats calling for Hillary to get out?   And if you are one of those people who think it’s time for her to go, how and when should she exit? 

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Here’s my humble solution for the moment. It came to me in a dream (I was nodding off in an edit training session). Let’s try a separate post for all you guys to chat during the day even when I’m not here (though I’ll try to check in regularly). And we’ll keep our regular, show-related, Greenroom-based topics for everyone else who’s not (yet) part of the club. So, here’s your countdown like we do in this biz — In 1, 2, 3, Go!

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Sounds ominous, doesn’t it? I’ve now read the oh-so lively debate you all had yesterday about the future of In the Greenroom. I’m thrilled to know that the Greenroom has become “appointment blogging” for so many of you. And don’t worry, we’ll figure out a way to accomodate everyone’s needs without alienating our old friends. High-level meetings (14th floor!) are planned for today to discuss the way forward. I’ll keep you, pun-intended, posted.

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Did you see this segment at 6:15 this morning?  We had 19-year-old Brittany Gegner on to explain how and why her absenteeism from high school led to her father’s 6-month jail sentence.  A judge had ordered Brittany’s father, back when she was 17, to be responsible for her education.  So, when she skipped school and didn’t graduate, her Dad had to pay the price.  What about personal responsibility?  If she didn’t care about her education, what could her father do?  And NOW her father can only be released early from his sentence IF she passes her GED test, which she’s been unable to do.  What do you make of this? 

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