Midterm Election Politics Galore And A Little Bit About The War (Monday's Show)
Hi everyone. We are Andersonless tonight. Apparently he's on vacation. Hopefully he's somewhere very far away and not listening to any of the fallout from the sniper story because things are getting pretty crazy. I wonder how many wingers will assume his absence is somehow related. Interestingly, while other cable shows covered the controversy, 360 itself was hands off tonight. Although I hear the Wolfbot interviewed that jerk Duncan Hunter. The whole situation is just ridiculous. Anyway, tonight we've got John King for a change because John Roberts is in Iraq and he joins us live at the top of the hour to tell us that an Iraqi American Army member has gone missing. JR was embedded and on a routine patrol when they got the call and they subsequently went on a house to house search. This eventually lead them to a tv station that is affiliated with the largest Shia group in Iraq's parliament. The soldiers then searched the station and confiscated a bunch of guns, which sort of turned into a bit of a diplomatic incident, but it's apparently all good now.
On next to a piece from Suzanne Malveaux about how 'stay the course' is, well, not working. Duh. And now Bush is trying to play it off like he never said that five zillion times over the past three years. These guys consistently forget the invention of videotape. So now Bushco is calling for bench marks for the Iraqi government, which sounds suspiciously similar to the democrat's plans. The dems call hypocrisy after being smeared as the 'cut and run' party and the repubs play innocent, but it all really comes down to semantics. What really matters is that October has been the deadliest month in two years. Following the piece we have Michael Ware live and he tells us that it's too early to tell if any new strategies are working. Although he thinks in regards to Maliki the US has invested "all its political capital in a toothless tiger." Also, we're only a few thousand away from having all Iraqi army/police trained, yet the violence remains. There's another failed policy.
For more politics we transition to a taped interview with Joe Klein, who thinks the shift in the stay the course rhetoric smacks of desperation. You think? I think everything they do smacks of desperation. Joe is tickled by the fact that normally the democrats couldn't win on Iraq with no plan, but that's exactly what they're doing. Except, hold up. Don't they have a plan? Call me crazy, but I remember months ago the democrats being criticized for not being unified on the issue-having too many plans if you will. John Murtha wants redeployment. Joe Biden wants to split the country in three. You can't have too many plans and no plan all at once. The media needs to stop switching narratives. Or, you know, they could not try to pigeonhole everything into a storyline and actually report what's true.
On now to a piece from Candy Crowley on the nasty battle for the retiring Bill Frist's senate seat. The mud is flying, people. It looks as though Harold Ford (D) crashed Bob Corker's (R) press conference and the RNC is running an ad against Ford that is so low that even Corker thinks it's over-the-top. Yet it's still playing because, as Candy points out, it may all come down to Tennesse. That state, Missouri, and Virginia are going to be the three that decide who gets the senate. And I just have to say that Candy just lost major points with me for pronouncing Missouri as Missourah. Everytime someone does that I die inside a little. Oh, also of note is that if Ford wins he will be the first African American senator of a southern state.
Next up we have a Gary Tuchman piece set in Montana that focuses on the youtubization (Did I just coin that word?) of the current election. We all saw how George Allen got burned for his Maccaca comment, though I'm going to have to disagree with Gary's statement that he apologized. Anyway, now some campaigns are being followed with video cameras whose operators are hoping to catch the next gaffe. Case in point: Conrad Burns. The republican incumbant from Montana is being trailed at every public appearance he makes and has been caught on video falling asleep at an agricultural policy meeting. Some may think the videotaping is going too far, but I like it because it makes it almost impossible for politicians to pander. In the age of youtube you can't say one thing to one group and then something completely different to another because there's a record out there.
To discuss all this we have blogger Andrew Sullivan and David Gergen. The Gerg is in the studio for a change and Anderson is missing it. Bummer. Andrew says that the youtube videos are "like crack to me and my readers." So true. He points out that the videos are like viruses that can't be controlled by one person, thus creating true democracy and the possiblity of changing the dynamics of a campaign. The Gerg agrees that we're coming up on a time where the internet will surpass television in importance for campaigns. He points out that every election we say it's the nastiest and every time we're right. He also indicates that it's always the party that's behind that stoops the lowest with attacks, which is what we're seeing from the republicans. Finally, The Gerg pronounces Missouri correctly. Oh how I love The Gerg.
After this we have a Joe Johns piece on Ohio's conservative problems. They've got all sorts of corruption going on with Bob Ney, Governor Taft and others. Social conservatives are also discussed and it's pointed out that they feel taken for granted with this White House. Um, duh. On the flip side, more conservatives are finally speaking out against the Christian Right, including former house leader Dick Armey. After the piece we're back with Andrew and The Gerg, who states that the conservative coalition is cracking up. Suddenly that fine oiled machine of libertarians, social conservatives, neocons, and fiscal conservatives is splitting up into every man for himself. Andrew says that it's funny because it's actually the conservatives that are really mad about everything that's going on. Uh, liberals are pretty pissed too, thank you very much. Due to their anger, The Gerg thinks some conservatives might vote democratic to send a message. John King then asks a very leading question that ticks me off. He wants to know if conservatives are different than liberals in that they're willing to lose because they have principles. Excuse me? As if liberals don't have principles? Please. Andrew then agrees, but to be honest, I think he was agreeing before John finished the sentence and I don't think he was expecting John to say liberals there. Just my reading on the whole situation.
On now to a Jeff Koiange piece about Madonna's African adoption. Okay WTF is up with this story? Madonna is everywhere yet I don't know a single person who actually cares about her adoption. Jeff's fallen a long way from his excellent Darfur reporting. Although really, with all the horror he sees he probably jumped at this story. I don't blame him. We end out the night with John Roberts live again and now he's got video. We get to see some of the search that John told us about at the top of the hour...and we're out. Not bad tonight. B-
Thoughts? What do guys think of Andrew Sullivan? And how awesome is youtube?
On next to a piece from Suzanne Malveaux about how 'stay the course' is, well, not working. Duh. And now Bush is trying to play it off like he never said that five zillion times over the past three years. These guys consistently forget the invention of videotape. So now Bushco is calling for bench marks for the Iraqi government, which sounds suspiciously similar to the democrat's plans. The dems call hypocrisy after being smeared as the 'cut and run' party and the repubs play innocent, but it all really comes down to semantics. What really matters is that October has been the deadliest month in two years. Following the piece we have Michael Ware live and he tells us that it's too early to tell if any new strategies are working. Although he thinks in regards to Maliki the US has invested "all its political capital in a toothless tiger." Also, we're only a few thousand away from having all Iraqi army/police trained, yet the violence remains. There's another failed policy.
For more politics we transition to a taped interview with Joe Klein, who thinks the shift in the stay the course rhetoric smacks of desperation. You think? I think everything they do smacks of desperation. Joe is tickled by the fact that normally the democrats couldn't win on Iraq with no plan, but that's exactly what they're doing. Except, hold up. Don't they have a plan? Call me crazy, but I remember months ago the democrats being criticized for not being unified on the issue-having too many plans if you will. John Murtha wants redeployment. Joe Biden wants to split the country in three. You can't have too many plans and no plan all at once. The media needs to stop switching narratives. Or, you know, they could not try to pigeonhole everything into a storyline and actually report what's true.
On now to a piece from Candy Crowley on the nasty battle for the retiring Bill Frist's senate seat. The mud is flying, people. It looks as though Harold Ford (D) crashed Bob Corker's (R) press conference and the RNC is running an ad against Ford that is so low that even Corker thinks it's over-the-top. Yet it's still playing because, as Candy points out, it may all come down to Tennesse. That state, Missouri, and Virginia are going to be the three that decide who gets the senate. And I just have to say that Candy just lost major points with me for pronouncing Missouri as Missourah. Everytime someone does that I die inside a little. Oh, also of note is that if Ford wins he will be the first African American senator of a southern state.
Next up we have a Gary Tuchman piece set in Montana that focuses on the youtubization (Did I just coin that word?) of the current election. We all saw how George Allen got burned for his Maccaca comment, though I'm going to have to disagree with Gary's statement that he apologized. Anyway, now some campaigns are being followed with video cameras whose operators are hoping to catch the next gaffe. Case in point: Conrad Burns. The republican incumbant from Montana is being trailed at every public appearance he makes and has been caught on video falling asleep at an agricultural policy meeting. Some may think the videotaping is going too far, but I like it because it makes it almost impossible for politicians to pander. In the age of youtube you can't say one thing to one group and then something completely different to another because there's a record out there.
To discuss all this we have blogger Andrew Sullivan and David Gergen. The Gerg is in the studio for a change and Anderson is missing it. Bummer. Andrew says that the youtube videos are "like crack to me and my readers." So true. He points out that the videos are like viruses that can't be controlled by one person, thus creating true democracy and the possiblity of changing the dynamics of a campaign. The Gerg agrees that we're coming up on a time where the internet will surpass television in importance for campaigns. He points out that every election we say it's the nastiest and every time we're right. He also indicates that it's always the party that's behind that stoops the lowest with attacks, which is what we're seeing from the republicans. Finally, The Gerg pronounces Missouri correctly. Oh how I love The Gerg.
After this we have a Joe Johns piece on Ohio's conservative problems. They've got all sorts of corruption going on with Bob Ney, Governor Taft and others. Social conservatives are also discussed and it's pointed out that they feel taken for granted with this White House. Um, duh. On the flip side, more conservatives are finally speaking out against the Christian Right, including former house leader Dick Armey. After the piece we're back with Andrew and The Gerg, who states that the conservative coalition is cracking up. Suddenly that fine oiled machine of libertarians, social conservatives, neocons, and fiscal conservatives is splitting up into every man for himself. Andrew says that it's funny because it's actually the conservatives that are really mad about everything that's going on. Uh, liberals are pretty pissed too, thank you very much. Due to their anger, The Gerg thinks some conservatives might vote democratic to send a message. John King then asks a very leading question that ticks me off. He wants to know if conservatives are different than liberals in that they're willing to lose because they have principles. Excuse me? As if liberals don't have principles? Please. Andrew then agrees, but to be honest, I think he was agreeing before John finished the sentence and I don't think he was expecting John to say liberals there. Just my reading on the whole situation.
On now to a Jeff Koiange piece about Madonna's African adoption. Okay WTF is up with this story? Madonna is everywhere yet I don't know a single person who actually cares about her adoption. Jeff's fallen a long way from his excellent Darfur reporting. Although really, with all the horror he sees he probably jumped at this story. I don't blame him. We end out the night with John Roberts live again and now he's got video. We get to see some of the search that John told us about at the top of the hour...and we're out. Not bad tonight. B-
Thoughts? What do guys think of Andrew Sullivan? And how awesome is youtube?
posted by eliza at 12:53 AM
3 Comments:
Nice recap of a really good 360. I'm enjoying JK anchoring and loved the Gerg in studio.
I worship YouTube :)
Maybe they stuffed John in there to anchor because they thought he would be appealing- silver haired and all.... NOT.
I love YouTube! My goodness the things you can find!
Andrew Sullivan is great! I respect his integrity. I don't believe in his politics but he stands his ground and doesn't spew the party line.
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