Obama versus Clinton, Kanye West's Mom Dies, Plastic Surgery, UFO Conference, Raw Politics, And Extraordinary Rendition (Monday's Show)
Hi guys. Happy new week. We're kicking things off tonight with Anderson Cooper informing us of some speechifying that Obama and Clinton partook in this past weekend, and apparently Obama hit it out of the park. Both presidential candidates took shots at each other (oh, can't we all just get along? No? Okay then.), but it seems that Obama has the honor of being painted with the "most awesome" brush this time. Although personally I think the press is tired of the conventional wisdom that Clinton has this thing in the bag (conventional wisdom they themselves created, I might add) and now they're switching back to the the underdog narrative.
David Gergen and Roland Martin then join us for discussion and Anderson wonders why Obama was all fiery when he gave his speech, but more muted on Meet the Press. Roland explains that they're different venues. Why are people suddenly talking about Obama's fiery speeches? I saw the guy speak about a year ago and it was also very fiery. It's kind of his thing. They are so running out of things to talk about. Anderson then asks The Gerg if Clinton is really vulnerable or if that's just the latest narrative the media is running with. See! Anyway, I miss what the Gerg said because I'm all shocked about Anderson freakily reading my mind. But I did here him say Clinton will not go quietly into that good night. And who doesn't love a good Dylan Thomas reference? Well done, Gerg. How many more months of raging against the dying of the light, again?
Transitioning now to the news that Kanye West's mom died, possibly due to complications from plastic surgery. But they don't know for sure she even had surgery or what surgery she might have had. Details, details. We've got enough info for speculation, so here we are. When I heard the 20 second report of this on Countdown I said, "oh, that's sad." And then that was it. And that's all that was needed. This is not the kind of story that needs the "360" treatment. So now instead of saying "oh, that's sad," I'm sitting here rolling my eyes. Anyway, Anderson has a piece on Kanye's mom and then we have a piece from David Mattingly on how plastic surgery is, like, actually surgery and may be like, you know, actually serious. Are people really that stupid to think it's not a big deal? It's surgery! I mean, seriously?
On now to discussion with Dr. Seth Yellin, plastic surgeon, and Huffington Post blogger, Irena Medavoy, who had complications from Botox. Anderson brings up the fact that another surgeon wanted Kanye's mom to get a medical clearance before he would perform surgery and Anderson wonders why one would need a clearance. I don't really understand the nature of this question. If he's asking it straight, the answer seems obvious: surgery is surgery and can be dangerous. But he might have been fishing for what might have been wrong with her and if that's the case, why? Do we need to know that? Just let it go. Anyway, also of note in this discussion is that Irena's dentist (I think) told her she had the first natural lips he'd touched in a month. Oh my God. And then Anderson talks about people having procedures done in the mall, leaving me to wonder what malls he's been walking around in. Not in the midwest, apparently.
From plastic surgery, we're moving on to UFO's. No, really. Anderson informs us that the majority of Americans believe the government has not been totally forthcoming when it comes to the unidentified objects in the sky. Our government lying to us? Why would we think that, I wonder? Anyway, we then have a Gary Tuchman piece on a little meeting that went on in DC amongst non crazy and possibly respectable people who happen to believe they have seen UFO's. But unfortunately for them, the FAA will not investigate. After Gary's piece we're joined by panel organizer James Fox and astronomer and skeptic, James McGaha. We start with Fox who talks about all the UFO evidence that's out there and then Anderson cuts to the chase with McGaha: "I know you're skeptical, why?" Then the two James' waste a lot of time interrupting each other and I have a weird little moment where I realize I'm actually watching two people debate about UFO's on CNN. Uh huh. Yeah.
Next up we have our nightly "Raw Politics" with Tom Foreman. First up we learn that Edwards is working to help veterans with PTSD and Romney is working the veteran education angle. Both noble efforts, but what about the fact that more than 25 percent of the homeless in this country are veterans? I'd say that's an unacceptable statistic. In other news, McCain is getting a loan and Clinton got busted planting a question. Presidential.
The final piece of the night is from Jason Carroll, who brings us the terrifying tale Maher Arar, a Canadian engineer who was born in Syria. Arar was on his way back to Canada from a vacation when he was detained at JFK airport because he was on the terrorist suspects list. From there, he was for all intents and purposes, disappeared. This is when that cuddly little phrase "extraordinary rendition" comes in (for more see this New Yorker piece). Arar was accused of being affiliated with Al Qaeda and sent to Syria where he was horrifically beaten and threatened with electric shock. After enduring this for a while, he couldn't take it anymore, and finally signed a false confession to terrorist training in Afghanistan, a country he had never been to. The Canadian government has compensated Arar for his ordeal. The US government on the other hand, has not only failed to apologize, Arar is still on the watch list. He still waits for his apology, but I wouldn't hold my breath. This is our government now. This is who we are now. Until we change it.
The Shot tonight is a kangaroo freaking out all over Melbourne. Too much sugar, perhaps? Then Erica Hill shows us a clip of a deer that jumped into a zoo pool. Of course the clip is made less fun when she informs us the deer had to be put down. Way to bum me out, Erica. Also? Someone's playing with some God-awful sound effects and apparently they're really loud in Anderson and Erica's earpieces. This of course makes sound guy turn it up even louder and well, hey, we don't need anchors that can hear, anyway. As long as they look pretty while reading a prompter, right? Kidding, anchors, kidding. But where is the dramatic prairie dog graphic? Aw, you guys haven't tired of that already, have you? This is why I call 360 my friend with ADHD. Anyhoo, the show was, um, weird. Plastic surgery and UFO's? Really? I would have much rather seen discussion about the extraordinary rendition piece and not plastic surgery. C+
David Gergen and Roland Martin then join us for discussion and Anderson wonders why Obama was all fiery when he gave his speech, but more muted on Meet the Press. Roland explains that they're different venues. Why are people suddenly talking about Obama's fiery speeches? I saw the guy speak about a year ago and it was also very fiery. It's kind of his thing. They are so running out of things to talk about. Anderson then asks The Gerg if Clinton is really vulnerable or if that's just the latest narrative the media is running with. See! Anyway, I miss what the Gerg said because I'm all shocked about Anderson freakily reading my mind. But I did here him say Clinton will not go quietly into that good night. And who doesn't love a good Dylan Thomas reference? Well done, Gerg. How many more months of raging against the dying of the light, again?
Transitioning now to the news that Kanye West's mom died, possibly due to complications from plastic surgery. But they don't know for sure she even had surgery or what surgery she might have had. Details, details. We've got enough info for speculation, so here we are. When I heard the 20 second report of this on Countdown I said, "oh, that's sad." And then that was it. And that's all that was needed. This is not the kind of story that needs the "360" treatment. So now instead of saying "oh, that's sad," I'm sitting here rolling my eyes. Anyway, Anderson has a piece on Kanye's mom and then we have a piece from David Mattingly on how plastic surgery is, like, actually surgery and may be like, you know, actually serious. Are people really that stupid to think it's not a big deal? It's surgery! I mean, seriously?
On now to discussion with Dr. Seth Yellin, plastic surgeon, and Huffington Post blogger, Irena Medavoy, who had complications from Botox. Anderson brings up the fact that another surgeon wanted Kanye's mom to get a medical clearance before he would perform surgery and Anderson wonders why one would need a clearance. I don't really understand the nature of this question. If he's asking it straight, the answer seems obvious: surgery is surgery and can be dangerous. But he might have been fishing for what might have been wrong with her and if that's the case, why? Do we need to know that? Just let it go. Anyway, also of note in this discussion is that Irena's dentist (I think) told her she had the first natural lips he'd touched in a month. Oh my God. And then Anderson talks about people having procedures done in the mall, leaving me to wonder what malls he's been walking around in. Not in the midwest, apparently.
From plastic surgery, we're moving on to UFO's. No, really. Anderson informs us that the majority of Americans believe the government has not been totally forthcoming when it comes to the unidentified objects in the sky. Our government lying to us? Why would we think that, I wonder? Anyway, we then have a Gary Tuchman piece on a little meeting that went on in DC amongst non crazy and possibly respectable people who happen to believe they have seen UFO's. But unfortunately for them, the FAA will not investigate. After Gary's piece we're joined by panel organizer James Fox and astronomer and skeptic, James McGaha. We start with Fox who talks about all the UFO evidence that's out there and then Anderson cuts to the chase with McGaha: "I know you're skeptical, why?" Then the two James' waste a lot of time interrupting each other and I have a weird little moment where I realize I'm actually watching two people debate about UFO's on CNN. Uh huh. Yeah.
Next up we have our nightly "Raw Politics" with Tom Foreman. First up we learn that Edwards is working to help veterans with PTSD and Romney is working the veteran education angle. Both noble efforts, but what about the fact that more than 25 percent of the homeless in this country are veterans? I'd say that's an unacceptable statistic. In other news, McCain is getting a loan and Clinton got busted planting a question. Presidential.
The final piece of the night is from Jason Carroll, who brings us the terrifying tale Maher Arar, a Canadian engineer who was born in Syria. Arar was on his way back to Canada from a vacation when he was detained at JFK airport because he was on the terrorist suspects list. From there, he was for all intents and purposes, disappeared. This is when that cuddly little phrase "extraordinary rendition" comes in (for more see this New Yorker piece). Arar was accused of being affiliated with Al Qaeda and sent to Syria where he was horrifically beaten and threatened with electric shock. After enduring this for a while, he couldn't take it anymore, and finally signed a false confession to terrorist training in Afghanistan, a country he had never been to. The Canadian government has compensated Arar for his ordeal. The US government on the other hand, has not only failed to apologize, Arar is still on the watch list. He still waits for his apology, but I wouldn't hold my breath. This is our government now. This is who we are now. Until we change it.
The Shot tonight is a kangaroo freaking out all over Melbourne. Too much sugar, perhaps? Then Erica Hill shows us a clip of a deer that jumped into a zoo pool. Of course the clip is made less fun when she informs us the deer had to be put down. Way to bum me out, Erica. Also? Someone's playing with some God-awful sound effects and apparently they're really loud in Anderson and Erica's earpieces. This of course makes sound guy turn it up even louder and well, hey, we don't need anchors that can hear, anyway. As long as they look pretty while reading a prompter, right? Kidding, anchors, kidding. But where is the dramatic prairie dog graphic? Aw, you guys haven't tired of that already, have you? This is why I call 360 my friend with ADHD. Anyhoo, the show was, um, weird. Plastic surgery and UFO's? Really? I would have much rather seen discussion about the extraordinary rendition piece and not plastic surgery. C+
posted by eliza at 12:55 AM
2 Comments:
I'm betting Anderson was shopping around the NYC malls for a plastic surgeon to remove his fatty deposit. On the instigation of his mother, of course.
@anonymous-Heh. I hope not. You know, I've been watching the guy since 2005 and I never would have noticed if he hadn't pointed it out.
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