Shooting At Virginia Tech: Day Four (Thursday's Show)
Hi all. Well once again the show was pretty sucky, so let's just speed through with another sort-of review, shall we? Anderson is still on the campus, and I'm still not quite sure why. We begin with a piece from him on Cho that informs us he purchased the handgun online. Then we move on to a John King piece that shows us new pictures of Cho's suite. I don't know why that's necessary, but they've stopped with the constant pictures of him with the guns, so I guess I'll just be happy. Next it's "expert" time! Dr. Helen Morrison seems to want to blame this on repressed homosexual urges. I swear, it alway falls on the gays, doesn't it? I mean, the guy was stalking girls, not guys. Anderson makes that point and she gives us some psycho babble, which might be true in this case or might be complete crap, but we'll never know. Dr. Gail Saltz takes the play angle and speculates he might have been abused since he wrote about molestation. And I've written about a woman who shoplifts, but I'm no thief. Although to be fair, she does basically state it might just be a delusion.
Next up we have a Tom Foreman piece on getting the mentally ill help in college and then there's an expert on what the university can do. Okay here's my question: what if next time it's not a student? We're going to have to think broader. Moving on to an interview with "Electroboy" author Andy Behrman about his struggle to get diagnosed and treated as bipolar. It's a really interesting story, but bipolar disorder is different I think that what Cho was suffering from. After that there's even more coverage on Cho and then we have a Matthew Chance piece on the reaction in South Korea. Yes, they actually did a piece from Korea. I mean, it made news there, so I guess that makes it legitmate news here, but it still boggles the mind. The hour ends with an Anderson piece that is a tribute to the victims. Now this they did a nice job on. Respectful at least. I especially like the way they went out to commercial-no annoying graphics or sound effects.
The second hour starts with a whole bunch more Cho stuff, most of it repeat I think. Next there's an author that I mostly missed (sorry, snack time), but it sounds like he was talking about some social issues that I'm interested in, like the fact that we have more mentally ill in jails and prisons than treatment centers. After that we have a Tom Foreman repeat and then OMG other news! In a Candy Crowley piece we learn that the Supreme Court made the landmark decision today to uphold the partial birth abortion ban. The previous court went the other way, so it's safe to say that Roe is now officially threatened. So that sucks. I'm actually not as pro-choice as one might assume, but banning abortion is just something we can't let happen. I really wish both sides of the debate could come together to work on preventing unwanted pregnancies before they happen, but I guess I'm just a dreamer. Anyway, the 2008 candidates are already all over it, playing to their bases. It looks like come election time this issue will be more important than ever.
For discussion about this and Alberto Gonzales' testimony (in regards to attorney-gate) today, we're joined by Jeffrey Toobin. Anderson asks how big the Supreme Court decision was and Toobin says huge. He notes that the previous court said the ban was unconstitutional and now it seems Justice Kennedy sees this as an invitation to restrict other abortions too. See that's the thing, I might be okay with this ban, but it's a slippery slope. Toobin thinks one more vote and Roe is gone. Anderson seems a little shocked about this and asks if he's sure. Toobin's pretty sure. Let's hope Toobin's wrong. Next we're played a clip of Arlen Spector getting all up in Gonzales' grill and Gonzales answers just about every question with a version of, "I don't recall." Anderson asks if Gonzales will keep his job. "I don't recall, Anderson," says Toobin. Bwah! Aw, Anderson is no fun. He doesn't even crack a smile. Of course he is in the middle of a tragedy, so yeah, there's that. I thought it was funny, Toobin. Oh, and for the record, Toobin does not think our pal Alberto will make it. Pity. Actually out of a lot of them I don't mind Gonzales so much. Except for the whole torture thing. And Lord, you know you're way through the looking glass when the torture guy is looking okay to you. After this there's more Cho stuff and repeats. Anderson says he'll be there tomorrow. Argh. Go home, Anderson!
Next up we have a Tom Foreman piece on getting the mentally ill help in college and then there's an expert on what the university can do. Okay here's my question: what if next time it's not a student? We're going to have to think broader. Moving on to an interview with "Electroboy" author Andy Behrman about his struggle to get diagnosed and treated as bipolar. It's a really interesting story, but bipolar disorder is different I think that what Cho was suffering from. After that there's even more coverage on Cho and then we have a Matthew Chance piece on the reaction in South Korea. Yes, they actually did a piece from Korea. I mean, it made news there, so I guess that makes it legitmate news here, but it still boggles the mind. The hour ends with an Anderson piece that is a tribute to the victims. Now this they did a nice job on. Respectful at least. I especially like the way they went out to commercial-no annoying graphics or sound effects.
The second hour starts with a whole bunch more Cho stuff, most of it repeat I think. Next there's an author that I mostly missed (sorry, snack time), but it sounds like he was talking about some social issues that I'm interested in, like the fact that we have more mentally ill in jails and prisons than treatment centers. After that we have a Tom Foreman repeat and then OMG other news! In a Candy Crowley piece we learn that the Supreme Court made the landmark decision today to uphold the partial birth abortion ban. The previous court went the other way, so it's safe to say that Roe is now officially threatened. So that sucks. I'm actually not as pro-choice as one might assume, but banning abortion is just something we can't let happen. I really wish both sides of the debate could come together to work on preventing unwanted pregnancies before they happen, but I guess I'm just a dreamer. Anyway, the 2008 candidates are already all over it, playing to their bases. It looks like come election time this issue will be more important than ever.
For discussion about this and Alberto Gonzales' testimony (in regards to attorney-gate) today, we're joined by Jeffrey Toobin. Anderson asks how big the Supreme Court decision was and Toobin says huge. He notes that the previous court said the ban was unconstitutional and now it seems Justice Kennedy sees this as an invitation to restrict other abortions too. See that's the thing, I might be okay with this ban, but it's a slippery slope. Toobin thinks one more vote and Roe is gone. Anderson seems a little shocked about this and asks if he's sure. Toobin's pretty sure. Let's hope Toobin's wrong. Next we're played a clip of Arlen Spector getting all up in Gonzales' grill and Gonzales answers just about every question with a version of, "I don't recall." Anderson asks if Gonzales will keep his job. "I don't recall, Anderson," says Toobin. Bwah! Aw, Anderson is no fun. He doesn't even crack a smile. Of course he is in the middle of a tragedy, so yeah, there's that. I thought it was funny, Toobin. Oh, and for the record, Toobin does not think our pal Alberto will make it. Pity. Actually out of a lot of them I don't mind Gonzales so much. Except for the whole torture thing. And Lord, you know you're way through the looking glass when the torture guy is looking okay to you. After this there's more Cho stuff and repeats. Anderson says he'll be there tomorrow. Argh. Go home, Anderson!
Labels: Alberto Gonzales, Cho Seung-Hui, electroboy, partial birth abortion, roe v. wade, shooting, Supreme Court, Virginia Tech University
posted by eliza at 1:17 AM
2 Comments:
I'm glad that CNN has decided to stop showing the videos. I think it was the right thing to do. I'm still on the fence as to whether the video should have aired so soon after the shooting.
I thought the comment from Dr. Morrison on Cho having repressed homosexual urges was strange. We can speculate all day on what caused him to do what he did but I don't think we will ever know the answer. He seemed to keep to himself so much that there's no telling what set him off to do this terrible thing.
I've heard Anderson's piece honoring the victims was touching and very well done, wish it had been on the podcast.
I'm concerned about the Supreme Court ruling. I would love 360 to explore this issue and the implications of this ruling in more depth.
Would have been great if AC's memorial had been on the podcast too - I wonder who decides what goes on the podcast because the stuff I would like to see on the podcast is never there but the stuff that I didn't like in the show is always there!
I thought Toobin's remark was funny too. Anderson has been all glum since he got back - Randi Kaye made a remark about the Maine damage looking like a hurricane like she was gently needling him on being the "disaster" guy, but he just said thanks, frowned, and went on. Sigh.....and then those phone calls. I hate the call-in part - I hope this isn't going to be a regular thing. This is suppose to be a news show for heaven's sake!
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