Madoff Pleads Guilty, Rejecting Debbie Downerism, Teenage Hitmen Recruited By Mexican Cartels, And Oprah Is Our Overlord

Hi everyone. Sorry about the absence of Wednesday's review. I had some things to do and really wasn't in the blogging mood, so I took a complete 360 break--didn't even watch. I had every intention of giving you a review tonight, but now that I'm sitting here with my fingers on the keyboard...eh. It's like the offness of the show is catching or something. Plus, my mind is on the totally awesome ass-whupping that Jon Stewart just gave Jim Cramer and the entire CNBC network. That was a thing of beauty. Right up there with his Crossfire appearance.

If you didn't catch the interview tonight, don't worry, the whole thing will be up on their site pronto and it's going to be the talk of the Internets tomorrow. Finally, FINALLY someone calls bullshit on these clowns and what a sad commentary on the state of journalism that the someone was a comedian. Thank you Jon Stewart for being my voice. But anyway, since I went through the trouble of watching 360 and paying attention, I won't send you home empty-handed. Time for the bullet points!:

• Another night with no BREAKING NEWS of the non breaking kind. Maybe they actually are starting to fix the ridiculousness...Nah!

• I was never all that interested in the Madoff story, but I had no idea he swindled charities and universities. Seeing the clips of the individuals who lost money helped to bring it home as well. I hope he lives a long life, so that he can really "enjoy" his prison stay. None of this Ken Lay crap.

• Going back to my disinterest, Roland Martin made the good point on the webcast that while this story may have been big in New York, it really didn't play much in the rest of the country. I think that's true. I've hardly heard anyone here talking about Madoff. It is a huge story, but I think it's also a case of New York (and the rich) forgetting that they're not the center of the universe.

• I thought Randi Kaye's piece did a nice job of breaking down the lingering questions about where the money might have gone.
  

• This is the second time 360 has played that Gene Ackerman clip. You can never hear, "you couldn't find your backside with two hands if the lights were on," too many times.

• The SEC is a joke. For those interested, 60 Minutes did a good piece on Harry Markopolos, ignored Madoff whistleblower.

• Larry Levine. Dark glasses. WTF? That is all.
  

• Seriously. I laughed when he came on screen.

• I appreciate Anderson Cooper interviewing someone other than a pundit on a panel, but I didn't see the point in this.

• I don't think the optimistic polls really warranted the coverage they were given, but hey, at this point they'd probably do anything for a good news story.

• What the hell was Roland Martin talking about regarding whites realizing they're going to be in the minority soon? I mean, yes, that part is true, but I hardly doubt that's why there's a difference between blacks and whites in their feelings of moving up the income ladder. As Anderson brought up, it's much more likely that blacks are actually feeling better about their children's opportunities now that Obama is president. This is about blacks starting to believe that more of life's possibilities will actually include them; not about whites feeling pushed aside by minorities.

• Why is David Gergen so focused on the business community when they are the idiots who got us in this mess? Stop being such a Villager, Gerg!

• The Ed Lavandera piece on the American assassins was good. And scary. Forget about the huge problem of Mexican cartels, it's disturbing enough that apparently there are lots of teenagers in this country who will happily commit murder for cash. There's something wrong here.

• I liked the interview with Rusty Fleming. As I somewhat noted before, it's nice to see the bookers using more of their rolodexes. Down with the stale political panels!
  

• We interrupt this broadcast of 360 for a...shark break. Seriously, what the hell was that about?

• Did I miss the memo that says every time Oprah injects herself into a news story 360 MUST cover it? One of my friends is actually the one who deemed her our overlord (from my title). I mean, it's getting ridiculous. The funny thing is, I mostly like Oprah. And I mostly think these discussions of domestic violence are a good thing. But put them together and add 360's absolute obsession with the daytime diva and, I don't know, it gets annoying. I'll let Chez over at Deus Ex Malcontent do some of the explaining. I don't agree completely with his post, but it hits on my general feeling about the whole matter.

• That all being said, I thought tonight's discussion was pretty good and I like that they're using Lisa Bloom, who obviously has passion, as well as professional experience with the subject. I didn't see the Oprah show (duh), but it's pretty disgusting if people were trying to blame Rihanna. Also, Roland Martin made a good point that too often society ignores the other side of the issue and doesn't try to figure out why exactly the man is so mad.
  

• That about does it. The show was fairly good, but it still has that deflated feel. It's hard to explain. Anybody else think that overall things just seem off?