Anderson Cooper 360 Review: And Then We All Really Hated BP

Hi everyone. The bullet points of awesomeness are back! And they might even be more awesome this time. I report, you decide:

I love that 360 put the BP live feed in the corner of the screen for us to watch. So hilariously passive aggressive. Basically them saying to BP, "that's right, deal with that, bitches."

Okay, I've previously noted that I enjoy Douglas Brinkley's appearances on the show, and that's because he seems knowledgeable about the topic at hand. But, uh, what's the deal with James Carville?

From Anderson Cooper: " It's interesting, James, because early on, conservatives were attacking the Obama administration, trying to say, look, this is Obama's Katrina. And they fought back against that. But you do have to raise questions about this Interior Department and this EPA." Back up there, Silver Fox. Yes, the administration pushed back against that meme because it was ridiculous. And inaccurate. And hearing you bring it up makes me cringe. But absolutely, absolutely questions need to be raised. Responsibly.

There are already petitions for the removal of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, which might very well be warranted. As for the culpability of Obama himself, my interest lies in how far he has or hasn't gone to right the wrongs of the Bush Administration when it comes to the cozy relationship between government and industry. I think we all know the score at this point: the fox has been guarding the hen house for a long time in all areas of government (see the recent mining disaster for another example). Bush didn't start the trend, but he sent it into warp speed. So, has Obama been making good faith attempts to clean house (a task that may very well take years) or has he protected the status quo, thus leaving the country vulnerable to incidents just like this one?

I love Passionate Anderson, but tonight I think he needed to take it down one small notch. Simmer down, son. There was a lot more harping tonight than there was actual accountability-holding. Spade calling is great. I just get nervous when the outrage starts to hit a certain level because it can be at risk for becoming unfocused, which the viewers feed on. I'm not accusing Anderson of doing a Bill O'Reilly, or being insincere, or even having an unwarranted reaction. I'm just saying it's a fine line and I hope he treads carefully.

Can we stop being surprised that a for-profit corporation would lie their asses off and cover their mistakes to protect their bottom line? Newsflash: this is what they do. They are first and foremost beholden to their stockholders. They have the equal rights of people, which to me makes them akin to sociopaths. Yes, yes, in some ways that's hyperbolic. Many corporations do exhibit social responsibility. But in situations such as this one, I think our collective default thinking should be to assume the corporation will be up to no good. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me five billions times, well, you get the picture.

Gary Tuchman's report was just plain scary. The far right has had a lot of success in infiltrating school boards. Progressives need to get their act together on this issue.

John Legend is very smart (and let's face it, mighty fine), but, uh, why is he a guest for the kids and race series again? You're black, you're famous, you're booked!

I liked Anderson's plea for people not to cancel their trips to New Orleans. But it's not just the Big Easy. When I was driving home from work today I heard a teaser from my local news on the radio about how St. Louisans might want to avoid Destin, Florida (a popular vacation spot for our area for some reason). I was like, "dude, shut up, what are you doing?"

I was surprised to hear Anderson mention the Spotted Cat because I thought it closed, but a friend from the area informed me it reopened. So of course I had to inquire about Washboard Chaz. Apparently he's still going strong and played at Jazz Fest this year. Aw. It still cracks me up thinking of that night when Anderson rang Chaz's little bell. You could just tell he wanted to ring it so bad. I think some of my friends and I might have even been taking bets on what time in the broadcast it would happen. Good times.