Maliki, Bush, Plane Contamination, Whirling Dervishes, And A Drunk Danny Devito (Thursday's First Hour)

Hi all. I sat down after the show on Thursday to do the first hour review and my lights starting going on and off. There was no way I was going to put in all that work only to lose it, so hence my lateness. We're still in Amman tonight and we begin with an Anderson piece on Bush and Maliki, who finally met. Bush gives us his standard tough talk and makes it clear he's standing by Maliki. However, Maliki best not get too comfortable because privately the White House is expressing doubts. Besides, I think the last guy Bush publicly supported like that was Rumsfeld and we know what happened there. John Roberts continues with this topic with a piece that focuses on Bush's rosy view of Iraq. Basically he thinks we're winning, though he has toned down his comments post election. He also refuses to call the civil war a civil war because that would admit failure. It's all about belief with this president. He's a very "if you build it, they will come," kind of guy. Of course if Bush played the Kevin Costner role in that movie he probably would have hired Halliburton to build the field.

We then move on to a live discussion with John, Anderson, and David Gergen. The Gerg is asked if Bush will heed the call of voters who obviously want a change in Iraq and he replies, "Not only no, but hell no!" David. Such language. Think of the children. John, who recently spent a month in the country, thinks something big needs to happen on the political end for there to be any change. Moving on to a piece from Elaine Quijano we learn that the Iraq Study Group (ISG) suggests troop reduction begin early next year and the report also wants the US to urge Maliki to meet certain goals to stop the violence. Bush is playing down the report, so I guess that means this is all moot because he's just going to do whatever the hell he wants.

On now to a taped interview with Jimmy Carter. I love Jimmy Carter. He's probably the only president that has been alive in my lifetime that I consider to be a good person. Carter prefers a more rapid withdrawl from Iraq, but he thinks the ISG report is better than nothing. He believes the presence of US troops is actually inciting violence and there is a way to declare victory and get out. Anderson asks about Iraq being a mistake and Carter replies that it's one of the worst we've made as a country. He also points out that one of the worst things about it is the abandonment of Afghanistan because we actually had a shot there. Word to that. Even a lot of, and maybe even most, liberals were behind that war because it made sense. Iraq? It'd be like if we attacked Canada and then in response Canada invaded Mexico.

Transitioning now to a Nic Robertson piece on how Maliki is in trouble. This little trip was suppose to bolster his power, but instead it's done the opposite. There's even a big Sunni-Shia bloc forming against him in the government. Basically everyone in Iraq is disappointed with the Jordan meeting. Be glad you're not Maliki right now. We then move on to a taped interview Anderson had with Nic, "Cobra II" author Michael Gordon, and former Lieutenant Colonel Robert McGinnis. Robert says Maliki has no control over anybody. Anderson wants to know what incentive the militias have to disband and Nic replies, "nothing." I wouldn't want to disband either. If your country is at war and you can't trust the government or the police, who are you going to turn to?

John Roberts then intros us into a Matthew Chance piece on the latest involving the poisoned former spy. It just keeps getting more and more interesting. Now a couple of British planes have been grounded due to radiation and these were planes that did flights between Russia and London. The Kremlin is starting to look very guilty, though of course they deny any involvement. Upwards of 33,000 passengers may have been exposed, which seems like a major deal, but the British are taking it with their trademark stoicism. Thank God that didn't happen in the US. People would be freaking out and Bush would be pinning it on Al Qaeda and giving speeches about how it proves we need to stay in Iraq. A former Russian Prime Minister has also fallen ill of a mysterious illness, so the plot thickens.

Next up we have a piece from Delia Gallagher about the whirling dervishes of Turkey. They're a big tourist draw. Looking at my notes it appears I have written they are a big terrorist draw, but I'm guessing that's not right. Although wouldn't it be cool if we could just whirl some dervishes and have all the terrorists come to one place? Anyway, the whirling dervishes are actually pretty cool to watch and the spinning is the way that they worship God. In the 1920's they were banned out of fear that they were a threat to the secular Turkey government, but then the ban was lifted after people realized they were good for tourism. Ah, the power of the almighty dollar...or, er, whatever they use in Turkey. After the piece Delia joins us live to tell us that the Pope prayed in a mosque, which is apparently a big deal.

Our final piece tonight is from Jeanne Moos on Danny Devito's interesting performance on The View. I like that they had Jeanne do this piece because it's basically CNN's way of saying, "yeah, we know this isn't really news, but we thought you might want to be entertained for a couple of minutes." I'm sure everyone has heard by now that Danny went on The View smashed and made an idiot of himself. I've heard the right wing is up in arms over his Bush comments and normally I like Bush bashing, but this was just cringeworthy. I have a new rule: if celebrities want to drink they have to remain in their homes until sober again. Oh and if they're racist they just have to remain in their homes forever. I'm looking at you Michael Richards. During the clip Danny jokes how he utilized everywhere in the Lincoln bedroom and John and Anderson think this is hilarious. All I can really think is, "ew." Anderson can see them including that little tidbit in the tour now. I'd like to give John congrats for finally achieving good banter with Anderson. I knew you could break him. After all, it will be a while before Erica gets back. Very solid show with lots of different stories. A-

Screencaps by stillife and bcfraggle.

Is Maliki on his way out? How far do you think this Russia story will go?