Actors in Campaign Ads, Gulf Coast Update, More On Bullying, And Interview With Tiffany Hartley

Hi everyone. I'm kinda bummed because I was going to bang out a good post for you last night, but when I sat down to do it...suddenly...sickness. I think I caught the Ebola! Or maybe not. Anyhoo, I'm all better now and am here to bring you what might be less than awesome bullet points. That's the way the blog bounces.

• Love that they continue to keep 'em honest. They might actually be doing better this campaign season than they did in 2008. I dunno. I'll have to think about that.

• Actors in campaign ads?! Say it ain't so! Oh Damian Muziani...

• ZOMG scary illegal immigrants...that are actually stock characters. C'mon guys. So generic. Put some imagination into your fear-mongering!

• Anderson Cooper: "Now, before you get too outraged at Republicans for pulling stunts like this, you should know that Democrats do it, too, using bogus real people, casting ads like Sunday matinees, all the same kind of trickery." Jebus, Mary, and Joseph. How many times? How many times, people?! *deep breath* Once again Silver Fox, I actually believe you on this...but you can't just say balance-y crap without backing it up. Great examples for the Republicans. Can we please have one--just one--for the Democrats?
  

• Our anchor later in discussion with Ed Rollins and Anita Dunn: "We should point out, I mean, Republicans do it, Democrats do it, that no one has a lock on this sort of thing. Special interest groups do it." The story is election 2010. You should be focused on the present when it comes to the ads. Otherwise, that means no party ever gets to improve.

• We were then joined by Billy Nungesser to talk about the new report that doesn't cast the Obama administration in the best light when it comes to the oil spill. I'm happy for the update, but not sure how I feel about the guest. The 360 kids have allowed Nungesser to become this trusted source--friend of the show type person. Now there's a report out that in part criticizes him, and he's allowed to bash the feds, all the while dismissing what it says about the locals. This is one of those circumstances where I don't feel like I'm getting all of my 360 degrees.

• From there we segue into a completely unrelated segment from CNN's new train wreck, Parker Spitzer. Oh, the desperation is palpable, people. Apparently they've resorted to making other shows pimp this hot mess out. Given that it literally caused me to switch channels, great programming decision!

• During my time over at MSNBC, I sadly missed all of the bullying coverage regarding Phoebe Prince. Below is the discussion with Rachel Simmons, Larry Hackett, and Sunny Hostin.

• I missed a lot of the Tiffany Hartley coverage as well (and don't see the video online yet). We had a Gary Tuchman piece (Gary on a boat!), and then Anderson had an interview with Hartley herself. I've been somewhat purposefully avoiding this story because I don't want to make any sort of judgment until more is known. If I start doubting Hartley, I'm going to feel pretty terrible if Mexican pirates really did kill her husband.

• For the "shot" tonight, Bristol Palin has a music video! Well, now my life is complete. Our anchor: "She wasn't the first in the party. We should point out a few days ago, we showed you this R&B music video co-starring her baby's daddy, Levi Johnston, canoodling with singer Brittany Senser." As my brain is having a seizure from the wrongness of what just came out of his mouth, he follows up with: "I'm using one of those Maury Povich terms, baby's daddy." Anderson Cooper, I am saddened/amused you know these references.

• That'll do it for me. The show was okay, though as noted, I missed some stuff. I guess Anderson is just destined to drive me crazy re equivalencies. Good thing he's so cute such a good reporter.
  

Interview With Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Another Gulf Rig Accident, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Probably Shouldn't Be Governor, & A Pakistan Update

Hi everyone. I literally can't think of anything else to say, so...let's begin!

• Hurricane Earl has weakened, so yay for that, but it's still coming! I hope everyone is being safe. CNN has us covered with Chad Myers, Susan Candiotti, and a red slickered-up Rob Marciano on the case. Though hurricanes decidedly belong in the "bad things" category, I still can't help but be a little nostalgic for when Anderson Cooper used to frequently run around in them. Like an idiot. (I say this with love!) I'm telling you people, there are not many things more fun to watch than a sleep-deprived wind-whipped soaking-wet anchor. You get to about hour five and essentially what you have is a person operating at the level of drunk. On live television. Am I cruel to enjoy this? Perhaps. But I am most certainly not alone.

• You remember that controversy that involved Dallas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson rewarding scholarship money to her relatives? (Nepotism-Gate?) Well, she's here! Er, on the phone anyway. But first Anderson gives us a recap of the situation. I actually like that they had him just tell us all the details rather than an explainer package.
  

• As for the interview itself, I really wish they could have gotten her on camera. I suppose some things are not meant to be. It starts off with Johnson trying to state that the rules of the scholarship were ambiguous. All well and good except, um, the 360 kids actually dug up the application and, hey, lookee there, rules being all clear and unambiguous.

• Johnson's refrain throughout the whole interview is that she didn't know she was doing anything wrong and now she's trying to correct her mistake. And as I listen, I very much want to give her the benefit of the doubt...but she is making it so hard!

• Anderson tries to bring home the point that obviously someone on her staff must have known about the rules because family members signed the forms, denying they were related.
  

• Johnson: "Anderson, I have acknowledged that I was negligent. I have acknowledged that I made a mistake. When it was called to my attention, I tried to correct it. I know you want you to make a scandal out of this, but I can't help you. All I can do is tell you the truth."

• Our anchor: "Well, I think you have done enough in terms of making it a scandal. I'm trying to figure out how it happened. And you say you take responsibility." I believe "oh, snap!" is the phrase you're looking for.

• I like how Anderson's mind is completely boggled that the congresswoman didn't know what she did was ethically wrong. You know he just wants to be all, "duh, lady!"
  

• You think things are bad now, well, then Johnson claims she doesn't know if the kids lied, because she doesn't know if they saw the forms. To which Anderson replies, um, they signed the forms.

• Johnson: "Well, you have seen more than I have, Anderson." Our anchor: "You haven't looked into this at all?" Johnson: "I don't have the forms, the records. The records are missing from my office." You have got to be kidding me. Don't worry, people. They looked for them!
  

• This woman knew she was on CNN, right? And she knew the topic she would be discussing? A member of your United States Congress, ladies and gentlemen! Weep now and get it over with.

• This interview was very well-done. Good research. Mostly nice job by Anderson, though as I said last night, he needs to be more careful not to talk over guests. Of course, I'll take Interrupty Anderson over Asleep-At-The-Wheel Anderson any day.

• I'm glad they're keeping up (sort of) with the BP oil disaster, but James Carville? Again?

• Then for a subsequent political discussion we have Carville and Erik Erikson. Oh! Do. Not. Want.
  

• So wow, Jan Brewer. Graduate of the School of Bachmann?
  

• I was glad to get another Pakistan report from Sanjay Gupta. That little girl is so cute. And the very end of the package? So much aw. Watch below:
  

• We had Isha Sesay back for the headlines and she continues to be a big hit. CNN is crazy if they don't try to incorporate her more onto the domestic side.
  

• The "shot" tonight is Double Rainbow Guy. I was a little excited to find out Anderson is a fan. They didn't play my favorite part though (or they talked over it), when the guy is like, "What does it mean?!" Yes, what does it mean?! A few years ago I saw a circular rainbow around the sun and I can't even imagine what this guy's reaction would have been. By the way, I found out about it by my mother calling me and saying,"go outside and look at the sun." Um, what?

• The show was pretty good, though too much Carville for my tastes (and any Erickson is too much Erickson). But hey, what are you going to do?
  

Heckuva Job Brownie Returns, All About Faisal Shahzad, & Nashville Is Underwater But Apparently We're Not Talking About That

Hi everyone. My blogging malaise continues, so as do my bullet points. Away we go:

• Holy Scary Lighting Batman! Tonight Anderson Cooper was coming at us live from Chicago, where it seems the studio needs some practice. I'm not a big noticer of things. Tie color on a given night? Couldn't tell you. But when I flipped over to 360 I found myself immediately asking Screen Anderson why he looked so different. Makes you appreciate the New York studio.
  

• Today Michael Brown was brought back into our lives because someone on the TeeVee inexplicably thought he was the right guy to ask about emergency management. (Can you guess which network sought his advice? Can you?!) Aside from heading Arabian Horse Associations, Brownie is apparently also skilled at reading minds, because he knows the Obama administration had their little hearts set on this oil spill disaster so that they could use it to shut down drilling. He's really used these past five years to work on his character, hasn't he? You stay classy, Brownie!

• Anderson pretty much squashed Brown like a bug, though I don't think it was that hard. Basically the whole interview was Anderson asking Brown to back up his statements and Brown, of course, being unable to do so.
  

• Anderson: "As a former government official, I would think you would choose your words carefully." Um, has our anchor met government officials?

• You gotta love the irony of a former Bush administration official accusing someone else of using a disaster for political gain.

• A nice touch from Brown at the end when he makes sure to shirk all blame off himself and onto Bush.

• Anderson's face when they cut back to him live after the taped interview was pretty funny. It's like he couldn't quite believe that conversation actually happened.
  

• Anderson told us they would put more of the interview on the website. So I went to the website and...nope. In fact, what was there was even less of the interview. What the hell, 360? It's the little things that add up and hurt credibility. (Update: It looks like they put it up Wednesday morning. I still think it should have been up Tuesday night if the anchor is directing people to the site.)

• Don't forget to set your DVR! (I still do not understand these promos.)

• I'm embarrassed to say I'd never even heard of Chandeleur Island, Louisiana. Gary Tuchman said it was the most remote live remote he's ever done. And he's done a lot of live remotes, so that's saying something.
  

• It's so sad to think about what the oil is going to do--is doing--to the wildlife.

• Less than 24 hours after Faisal Shahzad's arrest and we know a crazy amount of info on him. Yes, I am skeptical. Almost seems too easy. But maybe these guys really are just that sloppy, which, if that's the case, yay for us! I'm guessing this story will change at least somewhat with the passage of time.

• There should be no "partisan debate" about Miranda rights. Shahzad is a U.S. citizen. U.S. citizens have rights. Period. We are a country of laws. Even Glenn Beck admits this fact. It's going to be okay, conservatives. Unclench.
  

• The anti-gay white supremacist may have been secretly gay? I'm shocked. Shocked I tell you!
  

• So I guess Nashville drew the short straw when it comes to national coverage. Media missed the boat big time. No pun intended.

• The "shot" was clearly chosen just so Anderson would have an excuse to again watch Rick Sanchez getting tasered. Oh, I'm on to you, Silver Fox! I've always considered our anchor a bit of a masochist, but now it's dawning on me that he's also kinda a sadist. The man definitely enjoys watching a good tasering.
  

• That's it from me. This bullet point may or may not contain a unicorn.

And Then We All Hated BP

Hi everybody. I know I've been scarce around these parts lately. I just haven't been in the blogging mood, and to be honest, I'm still not. So, I figured I'd split the difference: bullet points!

• The show kicked off with the attempted bombing in Times Square, but since that time we've had some actual breaking news. Authorities have arrested Shahzad Faisal, a Pakistani-born naturalized U.S. citizen. Avoiding cable news tomorrow might be a good recommendation. It's not that this story isn't uber-important, but theses things tend to make the news peeps go, well, stupid. And you know how much I love speculation.

• That's not to say 360's coverage of the story was particularly terrible. There was speculation, yes, but they kept it fairly reasonable, and perhaps more important, short. Would this have been the case with the absence of the other big stories? I have my doubts.

• Randomness: Does this mean that Times-Square-Shirt-Changing-Guy was not an evil terrorist, but just a dude who decided he needed to immediately be wearing another shirt?
  

• Did you guys catch that new promo where they pimp out the "Big 360" interview and instruct us to set our DVRs? Gotta say, I don't think most people's hearts would be breaking over missing a Dr. Phil appearance. Or Shakira. Or basically anyone in the commercial.

• Continuing with the promo, once again, I completely do not understand CNN. Ask them about their ratings compared to their competitors and they're all like, "we do the REAL news!" But you turn on the TV and their promos are telling you, "hey, we have Dr. Phil! We have Shakira!"
  

• Nice job on the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 and the reporting from Gary Tuchman on the waivers that volunteers were initially forced to sign.
  

• Randomness: Anderson Cooper's use of the phrase "rogue attorneys" amused me. I'm not quite sure why.

• Good segment with Douglas Brinkley and Riki Ott. I always appreciate BS (in this case from Rush Limbaugh and Congressman Gene Taylor) being knocked down. I'm telling you, 360, create a nightly segment called "This is BS" and you might make a little ratings headway. Okay, we can talk about the name.

• I also liked that Anderson brought up the unbelievably stupid Obama's Katrina meme. I suppose some might argue that it shouldn't even be mentioned, but he knew full well that Douglas was going to squash it down like a bug. I see what you did there, Silver Fox. You know, I try to be a nice person, fair, try not to insult. But then you hear someone say this is Obama's Katrina and you think, "my God, why are you so stupid?" Of course, in reality, most of them aren't stupid, but just that cynical. I'll let you decide what's worse. Also? Jason Linkins for the win.

• While I enjoyed watching our friends at 360 hold BP accountable, I'm afraid at this point I have basically zero hope of the company actually being held accountable. It's like that concept doesn't exist in this world anymore. Oh sure, maybe they'll even get hauled up to Capitol Hill. And maybe our Congresscritters will put on their VERY ANGRY faces and make them answer hostile questions. But in the end? Nothing will happen. The people will pay the bill and scrub off the animals while BP continues making their billions. It's depressing, but true. I'd love for someone to prove me wrong.

• How come Tom Foreman can operate the Magic Wall live, but Anderson Cooper can't? (Sanjay Gupta didn't either, for those playing at home.)
  

• Tennessee just gets a headline? Sucks to be them.

• Gary's priest story was so infuriating. Speaking of the world's lack of accountability, huh?

• I like how Anderson discovered on live TV that the "shot" was nothing but a fake video. You'd think that someone would maybe, like, check that.
  

• Sanjay Gupta did a good job when he subbed. I feel a little guilty about not blogging any of it. I still love you, Sanjay!

• I was going to blog about Michael Ware leaving, but now he's not...I think. The whole situation is pretty bizarre. I wish him well.

• That's it for me. Put this bullet point in your pocket and save it for later.