Republican Debate, Raw Politics, Record Company Protest, Planet In Peril, And Fit Or Fat? (Thursday's Show)

Hi guys. Sorry this is late, but I had food poisoning. Ick. So anyway, we kick it off after the Larry King special and Anderson notes that they are the only news network live at that time. While I applaud them for finally using that to stick it to MSNBC/Fox, it's technically not true. Since they're starting a few minutes early, MSNBC is still live. They jumped the gun. Oh noes! What's funny is that when Anderson did a live update during the LK special he noted that the debate had just ended, when it hadn't. I know because I was flipping back and forth all night. Perhaps CNN doesn't get MSNBC. Heh. No worries though because I'm sure I'm the only news junkie freak that even noticed. Like with the democratic debate, Candy Crowley is on the case and in a piece from her we learn that McCain was the most fiesty, everybody except Ron Paul supports the war, everybody except Giuliani were clear that they want Roe overturned, and they all wish they were Reagan. I don't usually say this (okay I never say this), but thank God for Larry King. Every time the debaters started saying things that made me want to break my tv I switched to his special, which was better than I thought it'd be. I'm a sucker for those travel through history things.

Next up we're joined by David Gergen, John King, Arianna Huffington of the "Huffington Post" and Stephen Hayes of the "Weekly Standard." Wow. Now that's a panel. Anderson asks what the headline for the night would be. Stephen says Romney was unexpectedly impressive, but Giuliani not so much. Arianna thinks the debate looked like a competition for biggest Neanderthal. Ha! Gotta love her. The Gerg notes that how you saw the debate depends on where you stand. For example, he points out that progressives probably found it excruciating. Word to that, man. Word to that. John thinks that Giuliani was the headline because he seemed to stumble on the abortion question. The Gerg agrees and was surprised he was so tentative. There's some talk about Fred Thompson and then Anderson brings up the question Tommy Thompson was asked concerning firing gay employees. Thompson seemed to be okay with it. That is so messed up. Next Anderson hits on the topic of evolution, noting that three candidates raised their hands to say they don't believe in it. Stephen tries to muddy that up by saying they were raising their hands to speak, but Arianna ain't having it. John brings up the firing gays thing again and states he thinks what Tommy Thompson said would actually be illegal. But The Gerg says the smartest thing of all, "But the other question is, you know, if you're talking about whether you're going to have somebody fire a gay employee or not or whether you believe in abortion, that has so little to do with what with the responsibilities of the next president has to deal with."

After commercial we're back with the panel, this time to talk about the democrats. Anderson asks if Obama has staying power. Arianna thinks yes, noting the celebrity-like following he has. Well, I know I waited in the cold rain for about two hours to hear him speak, so there's that. The Gerg basically says that it's all going to depend on what we learn about Obama as the campaign goes on because right now the support comes from an emotional level. Yes, we're looking for a leader to save us from this mess. No pressure there, Obama. Stephen tells us that the republicans would rather run against Clinton and are a bit concerned about Obama. I'm guessing that's because they know exactly how to get their base afraid enough to vote against Clinton. Right now they can only use the race thing with Obama (which they will totally do, Harold Ford ad, anyone?), but they can't do it overtly. The panel then touches on Iraq a bit and how little criticism there was in either debate. Eh, too early for that. The Gerg states that a problem the republicans have is that there are four democrats that could win over a republican. And this makes Eliza very happy. That's basically it then. Good panel. Hard to blog. Heh.

Moving on now to some "Raw Politics" with Tom Foreman. First we learn that Obama now has Secret Service protection. No details on why, but I'm guessing this is just the beginning of a hard campaign for him. Next Tom tells us that Florida has approved a primary for January, but both parties fear it could throw things into chaos. Chaos! Oh noes! Then we learn that Bush has changed his title again. He's gone from "the decider" to "the commander guy." Although Tom fails to note that there was also a brief flirtation with "the decision maker" too. Didn't stick. "The commander guy. New title, same war," says Tom. We also learn that Mitt Romney is obsessed with his hair and his favorite book is "Battlefield Earth" by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. Mmkay. After the piece Anderson says, "All right, he likes the book. The question is, does he like the movie? That would be a tough sell." Indeed.

Transitioning now to Anderson reading us a statement from CBS regarding the Imus flap. This then intros us into a Randi Kaye piece on Al Sharpton's protests against the record industry because of their lyrics. And yay to 360 for covering this. I totally thought they were going to flake out. Sorry for doubting. So anyway, Sharpton lead a group of protesters in front of three major labels in New York City. He wants a code of conduct for artists. Good for him. They also talk with rapper Kurtis Blow (who I've never heard of) and he says he's done 150 rap songs and never used profanity. Well yay, Kurtis. Will Smith never used profanity either and I think he's doing pretty well. After Randi's piece they rerun the interview Anderson did a week or two ago with Geoffrey Canada. Then Anderson takes a moment to correct something that John King said during the panel. It turns out there isn't any federal protection for gay employees, which is just so, so wrong. However, total gold star to 360 for doing that correction. I actually got into a big debate with someone months ago about how much news shows are responsible for what their guests say. It's one of my pet peeves and it's great to see the fact checking. Keep it up, 360! Truthiness must die!

Next up we're joined by Jane Goodall for talk of our "Planet in Peril." For those that don't know, Jane is quite famous for her work with chimpanzees and other primates. Unfortunately, over the last century the chimp population has greatly declined. Jane says this is due to many reasons, including deforestation and the bushmeat trade. Anderson points out that with so many reasons for deforestation it's hard to stop. Janes notes that this is particularly scary because the Amazon is the "lungs of the world." Well, if we don't fix this soon the world is going to be diagnosed with a respiratory disorder. Anderson asks how you would go about reversing everything. Jane then talks about her program Take Care, which works to "improve the lives of the people living around this remaining wilderness area in a very holistic way, including tree nurseries, soil erosion control, best practice farming methods, reclaiming overused farmland and very importantly, working with groups of women through Microcredit, improving their self-esteem, scholarships for girls to go through secondary school, on and on and on." Finally Anderson asks why people should find this important. Jane tells us the chimpanzees are almost just like us and by working with humans that live in their habitats they are helping to slow global warming, fight poverty, and equiping communities to deal with epidemics that might come their way.

Finally tonight we've got a random "Fit or Fat?" with Sanjay Gupta. I've grown to like these segments because Sanjay's so smiley. Just saying. Okay, so the first question is about skipping breakfast and I swear they've had this one before. Sanjay says skipping breakfast is fat, but you know what? I hardly ever eat breakfast, so I don't particularly believe that. The next question is about splurging over the weekend with some beers. Sanjay doesn't want to get preachy, but is all, "The whole weekend, Brenda? Really, the whole weekend?" Ha! Well we all can't have 5,000 careers and still have time to walk our dogs in the morning like you, Sanjay. In case you didn't guess, that was fat. Next up we learn that morning workouts are fit. The final questioner says this: "I don't work out, nor do I diet or watch my calorie or fat intake. However, I'm thin and people assume I'm in shape." That's me! Okay, not literally me, but she's describing me. So am I fit or fat? Well, apparently I need my own category (which wouldn't be the first time, let me tell ya). Sanjay deems me unfit. Oh noes! Sigh. Sanjay actually isn't telling me anything I don't already know. After the segment Anderson asks us, "Have you checked out the 360 daily podcast yet?" Okay, nobody tell Anderson, but my answer is no. Dial-up sucks. Good show tonight. B+