Home Rescue Plan Unveiled, Eric Holder's Controversial Comments, Cartoon Draws Criticism, Animal Planet Interview, And More Octuplets
Hi everyone. We've got Anderson Cooper back anchoring for us tonight, which I was not expecting. Take a rest sometime dude, it's okay. Speaking of returns, as I predicted last night, the BREAKING NEWS is baaaack. It seems Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is in the lead when it comes to picking a health secretary. Hopefully this time will be less Daschle-like. Ed Henry joins us live to tell us no final decision has been made, but Sebelius is liked by both parties. Cool. Can I have my universal healthcare now? Pleeeeeeaase?
In a subsequent Ed piece, we learn that when it comes to housing, things are not going well. Not well at all. Lots of foreclosures, which have lead to Obama whipping out a new rescue plan. Ed tells us that between this rescue plan and the stimulus, the price tag is going to hit approximately $862 billion and the implication is we should be very, very shocked and perhaps a bit outraged over the cost. And it is astronomical.
But let's not forget that the Iraq war is estimated to cost up between one and two trillion dollars when all is said and done, money that should have never been spent. Imagine if that money had been used on our own country's problems. For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: "It might have been." That's right, yesterday I brought you Notorious B.I.G., today it's John Greenleaf Whittier. You never know what you're going to get from AC360 Review.
On now to a Candy Crowley piece that's all about Obama's housing rescue plan and how some people don't like it. There's a guy in New Jersey that's not pleased. Hey look, there are people on the 360 blog who are angered as well. And you'll never find uninformed opinions there. The big rub here is that people are upset the plan is going to help those who made bad choices. So, is that true? Damned if I know, and I don't think anyone else does exactly at this point either. Surely there are other things to fill a package with than blog comments and one New Jersian's opinion.
For discussion, David Walker (former comptroller general of the United States) returns from yesterday and we're also joined by real estate "guru" Barbara Corcoran. David seems to be less of a Mr. Crankypants about this plan than he was regarding the stimulus. As for the criticism in Candy's piece, Barbara doesn't much care about fault. She tells us the attitude about houses was different back then and we need to move forward.
Anderson hits on the fairness angle with David, who notes we don't even have all the details yet. From Barbara we learn that the bill is "so darn complicated." So...yeah. If the "experts" on the TeeVee don't even know what they're talking about, I'm certainly not going to attempt any analysis at this point. Instead, watch the TARP song and good luck getting it out of your head.
Transitioning now to a clip of Attorney General Eric Holder giving a speech about race relations, and causing a bit of controversy. Basically? He calls us a nation of cowards, noting that we work and socialize with each other irrespective of race, but come the weekend, it's like the past 50 years of progress never happened. Yikes. We need a panel for this bad boy. Contestants tonight include David Gergen, Roland Martin, and Ron Christie, former Bushie. Gee, I wonder how this debate is going to go? Pretty much likes this: "He's right!" says Roland. "He's wrong!" says Ron. Oh good lord.
You gonna clean this up for us, Gerg? "It seems to me that, if you put aside the question of whether this gave needless offense to many by calling us a nation of cowards, if you put aside the question of whether he should do this as attorney general speak out this way, I just think it's inaccurate to say that we're not talking about race," he says. Thank you. What he said.
It's true we're no where near a post-racial society yet, but it's not true that we're completely walled off from each other. Roland's off the mark there. I live in a mixed neighborhood. I went to a mixed school. I go to a mixed church with a black pastor. I work in a mixed office. I refuse to believe I'm some kind of anomaly.
This leads Ron and Roland into a loud back-and-forth that no one can understand. It's all good though, because while our anchor was away, he apparently bought himself a little can of whoop-ass, which he proceeds to open all over this joint, "Guys, guys, guys, I just want to make a point. Please do not talk over each other. Please don't yell at each other. It is so annoying for viewers. And know a lot of shows do it. It really just drives me nuts." Booyah! Somebody ate their take-no-crap Wheaties this morning. Good for him! That's right yellers, if you don't get straight, Anderson will mess you up. Or, you know, politely ask you to stop. Whichever.
I swear, people, it must be Race Day or something because now we're moving on to discussion about that cartoon that ran in the New York Post. Critics are charging it's a racist portrayal of Obama. For their part, the paper stands by the cartoon, stating it's a "clear parody of a current news event." Anderson throws it to the Gerg for reaction. "Are we having a full moon tonight?" he asks. Bwah!
David, you come from the land of Washington--isn't it always a full moon? As for his opinion, he thinks it's dripping with racism. I was actually a little on the fence with this, but if the Gerg thinks it's racist, that's how I'm going to lean. I just realized that if the Gerg asked me to jump off a bridge, I'd probably do it. Because you know he'd have, like, a totally reasonable explanation for wanting you to do so.
Ron thinks the cartoon is a-okay and as a "proud black man" he doesn't view a chimp as an African American. Also? We're totally wrong here because as Ron notes, the president didn't even write the bill. To that I say, oh COME ON! That is a straw man argument to an epic degree. Then we're back to Ron and Roland going back-and-forth again, with Roland obviously viewing the cartoon as racist. Ron even starts bringing up all the occurrences in recent history that could be construed as racist. Because that's really helpful right now.
Save us, David Gergen! Save us! For his part, the Gerg is so flummoxed he's shaking his head and totally face-palming at one point. I think it was right before Roland calls Ron "delusional." Good times. Well, at least the Gerg was able to get a little of his reason in there. These debates should come with a warning label: should not be attempted without David Gergen.
Now that we're all wound up, we're moving on to the animal attack story--Travis the chimp to be precise. The Today Show interviewed his owner, Sandra Herold, who apparently treated the animal like her own son, even keeping his drawings. This leads us into an interview with Animal Planet's Dave Salmoni to talk about having chimps as pets. I was hoping for Jeff Corwin here, but perhaps this is more of Dave's thang. Anyway, the general message is that chimps should not be pets.
Dave notes that he's a big guy, but a chimp could rip him apart if it so desired. And he's fought, "lions and tigers and bears." Raise your hand if you followed that up with, "oh my!" Anderson then brings up how the woman anthropomorphized (SAT word, kids!) Travis and they talk about laws regarding this sort of thing. These kind of attacks are so rare that I'm not sure why this couldn't all just be a headline, but at least we get to see Anderson talking to someone other than a political analyst for a change.
On now to the news that Octomom might get foreclosed on. I am...not surprised. Also? The show apparently has a strange fascination with women who spit out litters of children, because they've found another set of octuplets--this one in Texas, born in 1989. In a Randi Kaye piece we learn that sadly one died, but the other seven are thriving, along with a little sister. Any advice for the new octuplets? Don't fight, says the kids.
Anyway, they're cute, and Randi is actually very sweet with them, but really, can we put this story to rest please? After her piece, we get this from Anderson: "Don't fight. Easier said than done." Word to that. When I was ten, I was given the choice of living in our spooky (to a kid) basement or continuing to share a room with my psychotic (to me at the time) sister. I went with the basement. There might have been some weird noises, but there was a lot less drama.
That'll do it for me. The show was okay. I'm still waiting to see some economists. At least we finally got to see Roland told to shut it. I know I've blogged for him to simma down a few times before, but it seems like he keeps getting worse. And that Ron guy, like, dropped from another planet or something. Seriously, where do they find these people? Anyway...until we meet again.
In a subsequent Ed piece, we learn that when it comes to housing, things are not going well. Not well at all. Lots of foreclosures, which have lead to Obama whipping out a new rescue plan. Ed tells us that between this rescue plan and the stimulus, the price tag is going to hit approximately $862 billion and the implication is we should be very, very shocked and perhaps a bit outraged over the cost. And it is astronomical.
But let's not forget that the Iraq war is estimated to cost up between one and two trillion dollars when all is said and done, money that should have never been spent. Imagine if that money had been used on our own country's problems. For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: "It might have been." That's right, yesterday I brought you Notorious B.I.G., today it's John Greenleaf Whittier. You never know what you're going to get from AC360 Review.
On now to a Candy Crowley piece that's all about Obama's housing rescue plan and how some people don't like it. There's a guy in New Jersey that's not pleased. Hey look, there are people on the 360 blog who are angered as well. And you'll never find uninformed opinions there. The big rub here is that people are upset the plan is going to help those who made bad choices. So, is that true? Damned if I know, and I don't think anyone else does exactly at this point either. Surely there are other things to fill a package with than blog comments and one New Jersian's opinion.
For discussion, David Walker (former comptroller general of the United States) returns from yesterday and we're also joined by real estate "guru" Barbara Corcoran. David seems to be less of a Mr. Crankypants about this plan than he was regarding the stimulus. As for the criticism in Candy's piece, Barbara doesn't much care about fault. She tells us the attitude about houses was different back then and we need to move forward.
Anderson hits on the fairness angle with David, who notes we don't even have all the details yet. From Barbara we learn that the bill is "so darn complicated." So...yeah. If the "experts" on the TeeVee don't even know what they're talking about, I'm certainly not going to attempt any analysis at this point. Instead, watch the TARP song and good luck getting it out of your head.
Transitioning now to a clip of Attorney General Eric Holder giving a speech about race relations, and causing a bit of controversy. Basically? He calls us a nation of cowards, noting that we work and socialize with each other irrespective of race, but come the weekend, it's like the past 50 years of progress never happened. Yikes. We need a panel for this bad boy. Contestants tonight include David Gergen, Roland Martin, and Ron Christie, former Bushie. Gee, I wonder how this debate is going to go? Pretty much likes this: "He's right!" says Roland. "He's wrong!" says Ron. Oh good lord.
You gonna clean this up for us, Gerg? "It seems to me that, if you put aside the question of whether this gave needless offense to many by calling us a nation of cowards, if you put aside the question of whether he should do this as attorney general speak out this way, I just think it's inaccurate to say that we're not talking about race," he says. Thank you. What he said.
It's true we're no where near a post-racial society yet, but it's not true that we're completely walled off from each other. Roland's off the mark there. I live in a mixed neighborhood. I went to a mixed school. I go to a mixed church with a black pastor. I work in a mixed office. I refuse to believe I'm some kind of anomaly.
This leads Ron and Roland into a loud back-and-forth that no one can understand. It's all good though, because while our anchor was away, he apparently bought himself a little can of whoop-ass, which he proceeds to open all over this joint, "Guys, guys, guys, I just want to make a point. Please do not talk over each other. Please don't yell at each other. It is so annoying for viewers. And know a lot of shows do it. It really just drives me nuts." Booyah! Somebody ate their take-no-crap Wheaties this morning. Good for him! That's right yellers, if you don't get straight, Anderson will mess you up. Or, you know, politely ask you to stop. Whichever.
I swear, people, it must be Race Day or something because now we're moving on to discussion about that cartoon that ran in the New York Post. Critics are charging it's a racist portrayal of Obama. For their part, the paper stands by the cartoon, stating it's a "clear parody of a current news event." Anderson throws it to the Gerg for reaction. "Are we having a full moon tonight?" he asks. Bwah!
David, you come from the land of Washington--isn't it always a full moon? As for his opinion, he thinks it's dripping with racism. I was actually a little on the fence with this, but if the Gerg thinks it's racist, that's how I'm going to lean. I just realized that if the Gerg asked me to jump off a bridge, I'd probably do it. Because you know he'd have, like, a totally reasonable explanation for wanting you to do so.
Ron thinks the cartoon is a-okay and as a "proud black man" he doesn't view a chimp as an African American. Also? We're totally wrong here because as Ron notes, the president didn't even write the bill. To that I say, oh COME ON! That is a straw man argument to an epic degree. Then we're back to Ron and Roland going back-and-forth again, with Roland obviously viewing the cartoon as racist. Ron even starts bringing up all the occurrences in recent history that could be construed as racist. Because that's really helpful right now.
Save us, David Gergen! Save us! For his part, the Gerg is so flummoxed he's shaking his head and totally face-palming at one point. I think it was right before Roland calls Ron "delusional." Good times. Well, at least the Gerg was able to get a little of his reason in there. These debates should come with a warning label: should not be attempted without David Gergen.
Now that we're all wound up, we're moving on to the animal attack story--Travis the chimp to be precise. The Today Show interviewed his owner, Sandra Herold, who apparently treated the animal like her own son, even keeping his drawings. This leads us into an interview with Animal Planet's Dave Salmoni to talk about having chimps as pets. I was hoping for Jeff Corwin here, but perhaps this is more of Dave's thang. Anyway, the general message is that chimps should not be pets.
Dave notes that he's a big guy, but a chimp could rip him apart if it so desired. And he's fought, "lions and tigers and bears." Raise your hand if you followed that up with, "oh my!" Anderson then brings up how the woman anthropomorphized (SAT word, kids!) Travis and they talk about laws regarding this sort of thing. These kind of attacks are so rare that I'm not sure why this couldn't all just be a headline, but at least we get to see Anderson talking to someone other than a political analyst for a change.
On now to the news that Octomom might get foreclosed on. I am...not surprised. Also? The show apparently has a strange fascination with women who spit out litters of children, because they've found another set of octuplets--this one in Texas, born in 1989. In a Randi Kaye piece we learn that sadly one died, but the other seven are thriving, along with a little sister. Any advice for the new octuplets? Don't fight, says the kids.
Anyway, they're cute, and Randi is actually very sweet with them, but really, can we put this story to rest please? After her piece, we get this from Anderson: "Don't fight. Easier said than done." Word to that. When I was ten, I was given the choice of living in our spooky (to a kid) basement or continuing to share a room with my psychotic (to me at the time) sister. I went with the basement. There might have been some weird noises, but there was a lot less drama.
That'll do it for me. The show was okay. I'm still waiting to see some economists. At least we finally got to see Roland told to shut it. I know I've blogged for him to simma down a few times before, but it seems like he keeps getting worse. And that Ron guy, like, dropped from another planet or something. Seriously, where do they find these people? Anyway...until we meet again.
posted by eliza at 11:52 PM
3 Comments:
Hi Eliza,
Funny post. The tarp song was also funny. About race, like you I was always in mixed areas due to my father being in the military, then later at the workplace because of living in Calif. and Florida. However; I have met many people of all ages never exposed to any diversity while they were growing up, some not even as adults until they moved to Florida where I live. That was the sternest intervention I've seen from AC, it was needed. About the cartoon, when I first saw it I thought, I don't get this at all. It still doesn't make any sense to me. Unfortunately it does come across as what Gerg and Roland touched upon (they come from the era where this was common in cartoons,etc). That Ron guy is always in denial anyways about race and other matters. I agree with you about the bill, most would associate Obama as being the author of it. So again, that's why I can't figure out what a dead chimp has to with the bill. To me, Ronnie the Bushie was being delusional as Roland put it. That was hilarious about you willing to jump off a bridge for the Gerg. I'm with Barbara about moving forward in with the housing crisis. Anne D.
@Anne--Thanks. I've already watched the TARP song about three times. Heh.
I get your point on racial diversity. In some areas of where I live it can be almost 50/50 whites/blacks and that's what I've always known. A few years ago I had a family member move to Montana and she was flummoxed over the lack of black people.
Anderson really cracked the whip, didn't he? Heh. They deserved it and I like to see him get fiery.
I would totally jump off a bridge for the Gerg! :P And I bet many would follow me. Someone needs to start a Gerg cult because that's something this world is sorely lacking.
Hey Eliza,
great post. Anderson was so awesome with Ron and Roland last night! That part was my favorite, hope it ends up on youtube. I think the best was David Gergen's expression when the two were battling. Priceless.
Someone does need to start a Gerg cult!
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