Anderson Cooper 360 Review: Sorting Through The Candidacy Of Christine O'Donnell And Interview With Carl Paladino

Hello! I guess you've gathered I've hit a small blogging malaise this week. It's the punditry, people. Too much. Too much! Anyway. Tonight I also watched a ballgame, so while the bullet points will be awesome as always, they will not be all encompassing. Away we go:

Move over Sarah Palin, there's a new kinda-crazy right-wing chick in town. Yes, the country--or at least the beltway/media--have themselves Christine O'Donnell fever.

Unfortunately, she doesn't seem too keen on answering any real questions, which as Anderson Cooper notes, is not all that unique these days. In setting up this narrative, he manages to push one of my pet peeve buttons, and oh, he pushes it hard! "But now the advice to candidates is only to talk to sympathetic reporters, either on the left or the right, depending on your politics." Okay Silver Fox, follow me to the next bullet point, because obviously we need to have "the talk." Again.

Anderson Hays Cooper! (That's right, I looked it up.) What is with you and the false equivalency with no examples? Argh! Look, there are a lot of Congresscritters, and I'm not actually trying to claim that none of the lefties shun the hard questions. But show your work, yo. Jan Brewer, Sharron Angle, Sarah Palin, and now Christine O'Donnell. Good examples for the right. Where are your examples for the left? You can't just throw out balance-y statements because you want to sound middle of the road. You're a better reporter than that. Act like it.

That radio interview O'Donnell did with Dan Gaffney was kinda amazing.

Team Gary (poor Team Gary) was on the O'Donnell case for us from Delaware. It's not just giggles over masturbation beliefs, people. Oh no, this woman is going to keep the reporters busy. It seems O'Donnell might be in a little campaign finance trouble, and Gary has the checks that tell the tale. Basically, she charged a bunch of not-campaign stuff to her campaign, including, um, rent. Meanwhile, our intrepid correspondent and team (hi Ish!) have been trying to get the candidate's side of story. Gee, can you guess how that's going? Can ya? Yeah...bupkis.

Interestingly, the Delaware Republican Party is being pretty wish-washy about their O'Donnell support. Actually, they're not even commenting. Feel the love. And if this all wasn't enough for you, there's the odd tidbit that O'Donnell plays like she's George Washington (I cannot tell a lie), but apparently is very much capable of telling lies--and has. For example, being a college graduate? Yeah, not so much. So...there you go!

This bullet point goes out to my fellow progressives. Hey everybody! Look, I know this whole O'Donnell thing seems like a big frickin' shiny unicorn gift from baby Jesus himself, but um,...let's not screw this up, mmmkay? Yes, she's crazy. I know she's crazy; you know she's crazy. Thing is, the more we call her that, the more the tea party people are going to get riled up to vote for her. And if we fill Congress with right-wing fringe, I'm moving to Canada. Don't make me move to Canada, people. I don't do well with cold. (I like your health care tho!)

Panel time! Roland Martin, Ari Fleischer, David Gergen. Gary, come back! Don't leave me with these people!

Fleischer: "I think there's also a strong sense at the conservative base of the party that when these things happen to conservatives, particularly women candidates, Sarah Palin and now Christine O'Donnell, there is a piling-on factor that doesn't similarly happen when there are candidates on the other side of the aisle." Oh, I am playing my tiny violin for them. Please. At this point, I wanted our anchor to be like, "excuse me? I've been covering the hell out of Eddie Bernice Johnson, thank you very much," but alas, he said nothing.

Bring us home, Gerg! "You know, [Ari] talks about flaws. These are not flaws. These are fundamental issues. This is a candidate who has had trouble with money, trouble with jobs, trouble with the truth. And those are pretty fundamental to any candidacy."

Anderson on Ari bringing up Chris Coons' college paper: "But, Ari, is something one wrote in college -- I mean, if we're all held to that standard, I can't even remember what I wrote in college, but I certainly didn't describe myself as a Marxist or anything..." Wait, you weren't born with opinionless sleeves?

Our anchor: "It seems to me every year, or every few years, we learn this lesson in TV land, that pundits --no offense to you guys -- don't get it right." Um, duh? I for one don't need to learn the lesson over and over. I got it the first time, thanks. Why we continue to be subjected to these panels (besides them being cheap and easy time-fillers), I do not know. Anderson's always saying he doesn't think people want to hear the opinions of a blow-dried anchor. Why in the world would he think we do want to hear them from blow-dried pundits? Oh, they have expertise? Well, if someone can explain to me just what knowledge I'm supposed to be gaining from Erick Erickson, you win the prize.

Anderson had an interview with New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino who is making headlines for, among other things, sending out a campaign mailer that smells like garbage. Because if there's one thing I like more than getting crap in the mail I never wanted, it's getting crap that literally smells.

The interview itself was just...wow. Another crazy. It feels like they're breeding like gnats. Anderson did some nice pressing in regards to the offensive emails.

Anderson: "I appreciate your time. I'd like to go over a lot more issues. I hope to have you on the program again. I appreciate you coming on. Early in the program we talked about, you know, many politicians these days not wanting to come on programs where they feel they may be challenged. I appreciate you coming on and answering questions and we'd love to have you on again." Ha. He's so never coming back. Interview below:

That'll about do it for me. I'm happy to see Isha Sesay is still with us most nights. I loved her " this is what happens when I let you out of my sight," in reference to the Silver Fox becoming a human domino. You gotta keep him out of trouble for us, Isha! It's a big job.

The show was okay. Yeah, you know which part I didn't like (panel!). There's no point, and it makes the broadcast feel too overdone with politics. Let's keep it fact-y!