Politics, Religion, And Honoring Our Veterans

Hi guys. We begin tonight with Anderson talking about the recent niceties at the White House and this intros into a Bill Schneider piece that for once isn't dominated by polls. Now that the democrats have more control they're going to have to pull together more on Iraq strategy and what stance they decide to take might be evident in who they chose next week to be majority leader. Right now it looks to be between Steny Hoyer and John Murtha, the latter being the bolder choice. He's also my choice. Rumor has it Hoyer and Pelosi don't get along, so I really don't want them spending all their time trying to undercut each other.

On now to a Brian Todd piece about how the GOP is really mad about the timing of Bush's Rumsfeld decision. Some believe that if he would have axed him weeks ago it would have saved their seat. Bush claims that he didn't get rid of Rumsfeld before the election because it would have sent the message that he was making a decision for political purposes. Um, as opposed to every other decision he's made? I don't think the man has ever made a decision that wasn't for a political purpose.

Moving on to an interview with CNN analyst Ron Brownstein and Time Congressional Correspondent Perry Bacon. Ron thinks getting rid of Rumsfeld before the elections would have helped the GOP, but Perry thinks they would have had to do it much earlier. Perry believes the democrats can do little on foreign policy anyway, but Ron believes the fact that they now have oversight power and are able to talk about alternatives is going to make a difference. Then Perry spouts the totally insane talking point that the democratic win is actually good for Bush because it will force them to show how they govern. Let me let you in on a little secret here Perry, the democrats may end up sucking, but the only way they can turn out worse than what we just had would be if they actively tried to be horrible.

Transitioning now to a Joe Johns piece related to Mark Foley. Oh, you thought that went away, didn't you? We now learn that democratic operative Lane Hudson was behind the outing, but before the righties get their panties in a twist, it should be noted that he actually met with a reporter about doing a story in July. However, that turned out to be a no go, so he created a blog called "Stop Sex Predators" and posted some of the emails. ABC then picked up the story from there. Hudson insists he was just doing what he thinks was right. I honestly don't care what his motives were because what he did was right and if a republican operative exposed a democratic predator I'd think what they did was right too.

Next up we have an Anderson piece on evangelicals, who are feeling a little bit blue these days. Homophobe James Dobson is accusing Washington of ignoring issues important to the values voter. Ugh, I hate that term. Everyone is a values voter. No one doesn't vote their values. It's just that some people's values are different than others and no, James Dobson's are not better. Conservative Christians gained a lot of momentum under Reagan because he latched onto the abortion issue, then they slinked from the public eye due to scandals, and lastly got manipulated again under Bush. How people can continue to be taken advantage of by politicians for decades and not realize it is beyond me. I'm a fairly religious Methodist and I'm sickened by the religious right and how Christianity is portrayed because of them.

Keeping on the topic we have an interview with "Tempting Faith" author David Kuo and Charmaine Yoest, vice president of the Family Research Council or NAMBLA. Anderson reads Dobson's recent statement and Kuo replies with, "When you whore yourself to politics you shouldn't be surprised to get treated like a whore." Daaayaaam! I like this guy. Anderson is equally suprised by the statement, but gives a more demure, "yikes." David thinks that the name of Jesus is being tarnished by politics. Amen brother! I've met lots of people who want nothing to do with religion because they think it's all about hate and what the Dobsons of the world preach. It makes it kind of hard to spread the Good News. Charmaine, being from the FRC, of course disagrees. In fact, she thinks religious people should actually get more involved with politics and she mentions the civil rights movement and woman's suffrage. Um, big difference there. Those people were working to progress the country, not move it backwards. Also, those people marched and worked on the ground giving their blood, sweat, and tears. They didn't sit comfortably on their butts doing their radio shows and sending out emails. And I don't recall Martin Luther King making millions and using his name to hawk things like a diet shake, as Pat Robertson does. The people of the past Charmaine talks about were the real deal, the people she follows are nothing more than Pharisees. She then tries to claim that the democrats just won because some of the candidates were pro life and the party is trying to move from a "radical leftist agenda." Oh yes, that radical agenda of a livable wage, civil liberties, accountability, energy independence, and a healthy environment. Thankfully Anderson shuts her up by noting that evangelicals actually voted in basically the same numbers they did in 2004 and David admits that how much power they have is actually overblown. As we leave the interview Charmaine states that the US has "always had religious people at the forefront of change for justice for people." Just not justice for gay people I guess.

On now to Michael Ware live to talk about a new Al Qaeda in Iraq tape that mentions Rumsfeld's sacking. He tells us the insurgents have become more sophisticated in their propaganda war. Anderson asks how big Al Qaeda in Iraq is and Michael replies that it's definitely in the thousands, but hard to say. From Michael we go to an Anderson piece on homeless Iraq vets in which Anderson actually went into the field for the interview. In the piece we meet Joe, who is now living out of his car. While in combat Joe suffered a traumatic brain injury and broke his back, which resulted in a fusion. He's now unable to lift more than 10 pounds and therefore couldn't go back to his auto mechanic job. He tried another job, but ended up landing in the hospital with back pain. Man, I feel for this guy. My back is fused in two places and I've got steel rods and screws and everything too. I know how hard it is for me to work and I imagine he's in worse shape. Joe has also recently been diagnsoed with PTSD. Some family has offered him help, but he's too proud and right now he just feels lost in the system. It's so sad how we treat our veterans. After CNN contacted the VA, Joes disability status was bumped up to 100%, meaning more money. Yay CNN! However, Joe won't believe it until he gets the check. Let's hope he does.

Next we have an Arwa Damon piece on Will Mock, a 23 year old soldier who served in Iraq. CNN actually spent what looks to be a lot of time with Mock and they have a lot of footage of him talking about his experiences and what it's like to be a soldier. He seems very honest, unassuming, and a general nice guy. I could see myself being friends with him. Unfortunately Will won't be making any more friends because he was killed by a roadside bomb on October 22. It doesn't seem fair. But that's war I guess. Wow, there's no good way to make this transition, so I'll just say that The Shot tonight is a video from youtube of an adorable baby laughing its head off. This Shot is in honor of Erica's last day before she goes on maternity leave. Congrats Erica! We'll miss you! Pretty good tonight. B+

Screencaps by stormi0611

So what are your views on the David Kuo/Charmaine Yoest interview?