Political Spin, The Maine Same-Sex Marriage Decision, And New Report On Phillip Garrido

Hi everyone. Welcome to the post-election glow. Well, if there was a glow, which there is not. Pop a Dramamine kids, because this might get dizzying. On the Democratic side, Nancy Pelosi is all "yay!" about the New York win. While Republican head Michael Steele is crowing about the pickups in Virginia and New Jersey. You spin me right round, baby, right round, like a record, baby, right round, round, round.

As for our friends at CNN, well, they've got some spinning of their own to do. Despite going all out with their super-special election coverage, the network came in a devastating last place in the ratings. Embarrassing? Hells yes. But I'm not sure this is actually the death blow some are making it out to be.

We all know that CNN has a lower base viewership than the partisan networks. They get their viewers when news happens. Last night was supposed to be one of those signature viewer-getting events, but was it really? Let's face it, CNN totally forced this election coverage, hoping to recreate 2008. In reality, most of the public wasn't even paying attention. And even of those who were invested, the most energized were the conservatives and CNN will NEVER get them.

I maintain that the network has major problems and I don't believe their current model is sustainable, but it's also not all going to come crumbling down in less than a year (I'm measuring from 2008). The brand is too strong. I'd be curious to know though if the brand is viewed the same by all generations. I suspect it's not. I suspect the younger crowd is more apt to hit social networking sites for "breaking news," rather than turn on CNN. Now THAT'S worth worrying about.

Anyhoo! Tom Foreman is here to talk about the "sea change" among independents. Ooh, there were changes in the seas! Meh. You know, I blogged the whole 2008 election season (all two years of it!) and the media was so spectacularly wrong on so many occasions, I tend to only hear the Charlie Brown teacher voice when they start talking independents and what they mean. Of note though is Tom telling us poll percentages of people who are "scared" or "angry" or whatever. The numbers are high, BUT just last night, Soledad noted that the numbers from last year were actually higher. Ladies and gentleman, we're experiencing a bit of context-fail tonight--please buckle your seat belts.

Moving on now to an interview with Liz Cheney to talk politics. Oh joy. Were the Bush twins not available? What do the Gore kids have to say? Despite the last name, is there any reason we should be listening to anything this woman says? The Wikipedia says she has State Department experience (which doesn't really apply here) and worked on the campaigns of Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney. Thompson and Romney--now there's some resume boosters. Did Thompson's campaign ever even get off the ground? Dun-dun!

You've probably guessed that I have no interest in what she says, though I will note that she got in an ACORN reference right off the bat. These people are hilarious. She also talked about "nationalized" health care, which isn't even on the table. Anderson Cooper didn't follow up on that one, but he did fairly okay with the overall interview.

Next up, we have an interview with Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. Yes we can...sell a book! Aw, I kid David. Sorta. He is selling a book and that's why he's doing the show circuit. I'd wager he's also the reason we got saddled with Liz Cheney. CNN and their lovely forced "balance." This is definitely one of the network's top problems. The show wanted to have on Plouffe, but felt they couldn't without matching him with a Republican. Thing is, Obama campaign manager DOES NOT equal Fred Thompson campaign worker.

The whole left/right match up is getting very tired. Have on the news maker of whatever party and hold them accountable. Yes, if a guest is allowed to do a monologue and then there's no one from the other side, I'm going to be peeved, but otherwise? It's okay. Of course, I'm probably one of the few people left that think 360 at least strives to be an objective show, so perhaps I'm not one to go by on this issue.

As for the interview, the only thing of note to me was when Anderson was asking where all the grass roots organizing went, noting the tea party protests. "Well, the tea party protests were loud and irresponsible, so they got coverage on shows like yours," says David. Oh snap! Ouch. But not untrue.

Transitioning now to the equality defeat in Maine. Don't make me put you on my "list," Maine. Alaska is on that list. Just sayin'. Anyhoo! So we gotta debate this sucker out. Joining us to do just that are Evan Wolfson, founder of the organization Freedom to Marry, and...Tony Perkins. When Perkins was introduced, I had to crack up. I had been chatting with some long-time 360 viewers and during the run-down at the top of the show, one commented: "Dear God, if Tony Perkins shows up I'm turning the channel." Show up he did, and channel was changed by many of my chat-mates.

My point in relaying that little anecdote, is that it really shows just how stale 360 has become. We know the guests before they even announce them. We know the conversation before we even hear it. I'll admit that personally I'm into this story, so these debates usually hold my interest. But I can completely understand why others would go for the remote, even when they care about the topic.

Where's the unconventional thinking? Instead of the same old debate, why not actually send someone to Maine to speak to the voters? Why not show us a gay family and the real consequences decisions like Maine's have? I know stuff like that requires more time and effort than talking heads in a box, but people are sick of the talking heads in a box.

Moving on to Randi Kaye who has details of a damning report recently issued related to the Phillips Garrido case. I'm going to wrap this up, so I'm leaving out the numbers, but pretty much the authorities and parole agents failed in, like, every way possible. Unbelievable. Jobs should be lost over this. After Randi, we get legal analysis from Jeffrey Toobin and Lisa Bloom.

Erica Hill has the "360 Bulletin" and we learn that one-time Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean, has a sex tape. In which she's alone. Oh my. Jesus will not be pleased. The "shot" tonight is a dog massage video. Yes, it sounds weird, but I'll admit it made me giggle. The show was...uh, I'll get back to you.

Apparently America Is Not Post-Racial Quite Yet, Updates On the Garrido And Annie Le Cases, And The Physician Side Of The Medical Malpractice Issue

Hi everyone. No point in small talk. Off we go! Anderson Cooper begins by telling us that Jimmy Carter is sticking to his comments from yesterday, that race plays a factor in all these tea party protests against Obama. You know, I thought we had solved this whole racism thing a few months ago when Obama tossed one back with a cop and a professor. Who would have guessed that wouldn't do the trick?

In a Candy Crowley piece, we get a recap of how we got to here. Remember how yesterday I said that mixing a former president with accusations of racism equals one big media freak out? Welcome to the freak out, already in progress. For the record, the Obama camp won't touch this thing with a 10 foot pole. They know better than to agree with Carter, lest they hear shrieks that the prez is playing the race card. What he thinks privately, however? Well, I guess we're going to need another off-the-record leak to find out who else the commander in chief thinks is a jackass.

For our requisite panel discussion, we're joined by David Gergen, Roland Martin, conservative activist Nic Lott, and singer John Legend. The lineup sorta makes me feel like I'm playing a game of guess which one doesn't belong. I love John Legend, but I'm not exactly sure why he's on my television right now. Then again, he's intelligent, well spoken, and yes, hella hot (hello!). So I'm not exactly complaining here. I mean, we've got John Legend and no Mark Williams. This is pretty win-win for us.

Roland totally has Carter's back and talks a bit about code words that are used to imply that someone is of the "other." Nic, unsurprisingly has a different view and notes that no racial slurs came from the podium during the protests. Oh well, that's something to brag about. When you have to specify where the racial slurs did not come from, you're not doing so hot. John thinks there's truth to what Carter said, but the comment just inflamed and distracted. Pretty much what I said. Media freak out. Now no one's talking about the real issues. Then John starts saying that he doesn't want a race war, though I'm not sure anyone has actually advocated for one.

Commercial break now and when we come back we learn that Bill Cosby plays for Team Carter. Not sure I would have guessed that. Also, am I the only one that briefly saw NBC's Andrea Mitchell? That would be a weird thing to hallucinate. Anyhoo! The Gerg hits us with some polls that show Carter is not alone. But then he says he thinks that when it comes to most protesters, the racism charge is libelous. "Seven previous presidents have tried to bring health care reforms of this kind. All seven have failed. And, as I recall, all seven were white," he says. Yes, but talk to the protesters and they'll tell you this is not just about health care reform.

John says that he believes there is some racism going on, but also talks a bit about the legitimate fear of government intervention. Hey there, mister. Quit being so reasonable. This show already has a Gerg. Anderson brings up the Nazi signs that people had under Bush and tries to equate it with what's happening now. I don't think it's the same. It sounds terrible, but Hitler/Nazi accusations are like a default these days. If they were just calling Obama a Nazi (and I hate that we're at a place where I'm using the word "just" in that sentence), I wouldn't be as disturbed. This goes beyond that.

Nic claims that the majority of the protesters have legitimate concerns and the crazies are just a small fringe. This is what drives me nuts. You know what, there are legitimate concerns to be had. But we're not hearing about reasonable people working with Obama to alleviate fears over deficit spending. No. These protesters are screaming about how Obama wants to kill your grandma and turn us all socialist. They are not credible people and they are clearly not interested in doing anything that doesn't involve destroying the president's agenda. For Pete's sake, one of the tea party organizers called him a "racist in chief."

John brings up the idiocy of Rush Limbaugh and Nic counters that he's not a legislator. "Rush Limbaugh is a legitimate mainstream conservative," says John. Bingo. Nic again tries to dismiss, by saying Rush didn't march. Um, wasn't the whole 9-12 thing the brain child of Glenn Beck, a man who has said that the president has a hatred for white people? A man who is clearly batshit insane? (Seriously, I watched his show a couple weeks ago and it was one of the craziest things I'd ever seen.)

Anderson then explains the Rush incident that John brought up. Apparently there's a video of white kids beating the crap out of black kid and Rush basically chalked it up to it now being open season on white kids. You know, because Obama is president or something. For the record, it appears it was kids just generally being idiots, which I'm told happens sometimes. Nic doesn't agree with Rush's comments, but then says he might have been joking. What?! "Oh, no, he wasn't joking," says John, adding that Rush speaks for a lot of conservatives.

To wrap up, Nic, David, and John all seem to agree that we are not a racist country at heart. However, John notes that Carter was talking about a certain fringe that is racist and he shouldn't be demonized for saying so. Amen. Now can we please try to find our way to sanity? No? Well okay then.

Transitioning now to the news that bones have been found on the Garrido property, which, actually, I thought we already knew. Testing will have to be done to figure out if they're human. For discussion, we're joined by criminal pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht and former FBI agent and profiler Candice DeLong. You all know I'm not really into the speculation. Anderson seems to push the theory that the other missing girl case really matches Jaycee's, but Candice talks him down. Good for her. There just aren't enough facts yet.

We then switch to the Annie Le case and learn that the cause of death was strangulation. Pretty horrible. In a Tom Foreman piece, we get a sorta profile of Raymond Clark, a person of interest. Tom does the whole lame talk-to-the-neighbors thing. Seems pretty pointless to me. Also, at this point I hope this really is a bad guy because otherwise he's kinda having his life ruined right now.

Then we're back for more speculation with the prior guests, but I've had enough and skip out to MSNBC. Sorry guys. That's how I roll now. Anyway, when I come back, Erica Hill is wrapping up a piece about another Yale murder and how they jumped the gun with the suspect. Afterward, she gives us a little "where is he now" with info she got from his LinkedIn profile, which I find amusing. You think of journalists with their fancy sources and whatnot, but nope, sometimes they're just Googling just like you.

Our final piece of the night is from Randi Kaye and it continues this week's medical malpractice series. Tonight we meet OBGYN Dr. Wendy Fried. Her malpractice insurance clocks in at about $170,000 a year. Um, wow. Apparently her specialty is sued a lot. She had her turn in 1998 when a patient suffered a uterine rupture that required an emergency hysterectomy. Mom and baby made it, and it seemed like everyone was happy--Dr. Fried was even invited to their Christmas dinner.

But then she was slapped with a lawsuit because the patient felt the hysterectomy was unnecessary. In the end the jury found that Dr. Fried did nothing wrong. But that didn't resolve her feelings of betrayal--she had slept at the patient's bedside, and it's led to her practicing defensive medicine. So there we go. Another side to a complicated issue. This is a good series. Too bad they're dropping it at the end of the show like they don't care.

The "shot" tonight is adorable. Just watch. The show was okay. Same old, same old.