Interview With Superintendent Gus Sayer, RNC Gets Even More Hilarious, Investigating Scientology Part IV, & April Fool's 360-Style

Hi everyone. I hope you all made it through April Fool's Day without too much annoyance. I'm not really a fan of April overall, so there's that. We're kicking things off tonight, as usual, with Anderson Cooper giving us a preview of the forthcoming Scientology piece. Then we're on to our real top story: bullies and the heartbreaking suicide of Phoebe Prince.

Strangely, Anderson begins by somewhat defending their coverage of the story: "Now, I know some people say look there's always been bullying and kids just have to suck it up." Who's saying suck it up? Please tell me people aren't emailing that. He goes on to say that the advent of the Internet age has made bullying all that more intense, which is a good point, and one I didn't think of in my muddled headache-y state last night when I blogged some ponderings.

Also, remember last night how I said I wasn't sure I could think of anything worse than for a parent to find their child hanging? Says our anchor: "Phoebe hung herself in the stairwell of her family's apartment building. Her younger sister found her, if you can imagine the horror of that." I stand corrected. God almighty.

Like clockwork, we're taken to the Magic Wall where we find a timeline of the events surrounding the bullying that Phoebe endured. I have to say, it's a little creepy. I can also tell you that I know I am not the only person who had that initial reaction. This is one of those times where I think our CNN friends got too caught up in the mechanics of their job and didn't really stop to think about what they were doing. It was very off-putting.

Moving on to a live interview with Gus Sayer, superintendent of South Hadley Public Schools, which is where Phoebe Prince attended. This is one of those 'what did they know and when did they know it' kind of situations. Anderson presses pretty damn hard, but this guy is all over the place. I'm not even going to bother picking out all the contradictory statements, but at one point he denies seeing the district attorney's report (an investigation of the incident was performed) and then goes on to talk about what the report contains.

Maybe the guy is just a really poor interview and doesn't explain himself well. I don't know. I found it pretty distasteful to speculate that Phoebe didn't kill herself due to bullying. I'm not going to completely deny the possibility, but you can't tell me he didn't throw that out there just to save his own ass. Skeezy. Also of note is Anderson pointing out that the school's investigation was done by the principal...who would be the guy who would be directly at fault. That's a page from the Bush Administration playbook there.

For his part, the superintendent is not happy with this line of questioning. He accuses Anderson both of not letting him finish and of being unfair to the principal. For a second I thought our anchor was going to apologize, but when the defensive rant from Sayer ends, he just wraps up the interview. Good for him. He did a really good job here. After this interview there's discussion with Lisa Bloom and anti-bullying consultant Barbara Coloroso.

Transitioning now to a huge bizarre graphic accompanied by a voice booming: "Dispatches From Planet Washington." Oh, WTF? Are they kidding me here? So anyway, what comes next is some hilariousness courtesy of Congressman Hank Johnson, who is apparently very concerned about Guam becoming so overpopulated that it will tip over and capsize. Now, normally I would never believe that someone could say something quite so stupid, but this a member of Congress, so no, I am not shocked.

For his part, Johnson claims he meant he was concerned that adding marines to the island could result in a tipping point for its infrastructure. Right. Yeah, that is totally what you meant. By the way, when they were playing that clip, they had it split screened and Anderson was for some reason scribbling random numbers on the Magic Wall. Don't go Glenn Beck on us, Silver Fox. After this train wreck, we get that loud big-ass graphic again. Seriously, that was an April Fool's joke, right?

Keeping on our Washington theme, we move on to the news that the RNC is getting more and more hilarious by the day. Remember how I was a bit underwhelmed by their bondage-themed strip club scandal and was hoping for a little something more to up the amusement? Well, ask and ye shall receive! Now one of their fund-raising mailings directs people to a sex line. Awesomeness. Although to be fair, sex line mishaps can be bipartisan. Hillary Clinton knows what I'm talking about.

Even worse for the RNC and head Michael Steele, their troubles don't begin and end with the subject of sex. They've got bigger fish to fry, like being shunned by Sarah Palin and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. Not the Family Research Council!! For discussion of all this, we're joined by James Carville and Michael Gerson. Nothing hugely of note here, though James does accuse Tony Perkins of being a hypocrite because he endorsed David Vitter and now he's clutching his pearls over the bondage club.

Vitter, you might remember, had a bit of an infidelity problem. Less widely reported is the rumor that he likes to wear diapers in front of his prostitutes. Oh yes. I actually checked out the sourcing of this rumor back in the day and found it to be a bit sketchy, so I've always been hesitant to do any repeating. Carville is not so hesitant and totally throws Vitter under the bus. Dayum. Also, Anderson starts to ask a question that he says he's asked of "a lot of people," but then Carville interrupts and suddenly the segment is over. Well, great. Thanks, James. Now we will never know what he was going to ask!

Scientology time! See my prior posts for all the background. Tonight's segment mostly focuses on what happens when one leaves the church. Anderson speaks with Jeff Hawkins, who claims he was abused by leader David Miscavige and subsequently left in 2005. I've been trying not to be ultra judgy up to this point, but what he's describing sounds soo much like a cult. When he left Scientology he had no job, friends,...he even divorced his wife.

Plus he was given the label of "suppressive person," which is how church members describe Scientology enemies. According to Hawkins, the church has a policy of "disconnection," meaning to basically break ties with anyone deemed to be suppressed. His ex-wife calls this an "absolute, utter, total lie." She should really try not to be so subtle. The church calls it a lie too, but adds that a Scientologist wouldn't want to be around anyone who disparages their religion anyway. Another former member, Chrisy Collbran describes it more as a manipulation than any official policy. Like I said, culty.

Finally tonight, Anderson throws it to Tom Foreman to give us some headlines before the "shot, but who does he find instead? Rick Sanchez! "Oh, my good lord. Rick Sanchez," exclaims our anchor. Bwah! Exactly. That is how everyone should react to unexpected Sanchez. I actually had a slight inkling that something like this was coming since a little birdie made a tweet, though no details were given. Anyway, Mr. Twitter King is here because he has a beef with the Silver Fox--that beef being the absolute glee our anchor gets playing the taser video over and over. Also? Rick Sanchez is very bad at acting mad. Yeah, you know what's coming: April Fool's! (Update: video!)

I enjoyed the little trip down memory lane that Sanchez gave us: "You sent me on all these wild and crazy stories. I went out in the middle of the ocean. I went in a boat. I got sunk in a canal. I did the tase thing. And now you make fun of me." Don't forget about the time you were in the fire! For those unaware, Rick actually used to regularly contribute reports to 360 and they made him do some massively messed up things, leading to this bit of awesomeness from Jon Stewart back in 2006.

I cannot tell you how much time other long-time viewers and I spent mocking him in those days. Our theory was that CNN was secretly--or not so secretly--trying to kill him. But if it wasn't for Rick I wouldn't know that a single candle can heat a freezing car to 50 degrees. So there's that I guess. Anyway! Back to the Silver Fox, his trauma of the night is more than just having to endure Rick's presence. It's time for clips of Anderson looking stupid! The whole time this is going on, Sanchez is bizarrely trash talking him in this over-the-top accent, causing a puzzled look on our anchor's face that is pretty clearly saying, "WTF is going on right now?"

The clips start with Anderson's big Indiana fail, where he can't identify the state on a map. "Duh," says Rick. Dude, you thought the Galapagos Islands was Hawaii. I wouldn't be getting on that Geography high horse. Our anchor once again claims he was tired. At least he's sticking to his story. The next clip is the Silver Fox's momma stopping by to embarrass him on his birthday. I like her ability to make him go from 40 to 12 in under 30 seconds. Finally, there is Anderson's recent Jeopardy disaster. "Cheech, Cheech. I hear that in my sleep," says our anchor. Yeah, I'm not touching that one.

So...that was fun and hopefully not too traumatic for the Silver Fox. For those who actually wanted to see the "shot" that was previewed and subsequently never shown, you can check it out here. Single Ladies devastation! Aww! I love the look on the middle girl's face. It totally says, "oh way to go, dad." But he was very sweet about his blunder and not "horrible" at all.

I found the show pretty engaging tonight throughout, which these days can sometimes be a rarity. It really does make a difference when the anchor is actually invested in what he's reporting. There are still clear problems with the show overall (as with the network), but it'd be a lie to say they're not making any changes. There is a noticeable difference from where 360 was last year at this time when it resided in Suck Town.

Regarding the network overall, they haven't had a good week press-wise. Everyone and their mother is writing about their ratings problems and how to fix them. Many of these links you can find on my Twitter page if you're interested. Tonight The Daily Show did another rather brutal take-down, giving CNN a new slogan: "CNN: We have no idea what the fuck we are doing." Ouch. I'll try to remember to tweet the link tomorrow. That'll do it.

Christian Militia Group Plot, The RNC's Bondage Club Bill (Oh My!), And Investigating Scientology Abuse Allegations

Hi everyone. Happy New Week! As for my absence half of last week, well, everything was going fine. Then on Thursday I got a call that led to me spending six hours in the emergency room with my sister. We're still not really sure what's wrong, but thankfully the really scary things were ruled out. So! By the time Friday rolled around I was pretty much in a "screw it" state of mind when it comes to blogging...and here we are.

The hour kicks off with a big-ass preview of the Scientology report that will be airing later in the broadcast. I'm not really sure why we needed that long of clip, but whatev. I gotta admit, when I first heard they were doing this series, my reaction was a big resounding meh. The 360 kids have actually covered Scientology quite a bit over the years, and I wasn't sure why they were diving back in yet again.

But then the Internets starting a-buzzing and Anderson Cooper himself even blogged about the controversy surrounding the report--all before it even aired. It turns out this isn't a fly-by-night sort of package. They've been working on this for quite a while...and clearing pissing people off. Though I don't particularly care about the subject matter all that much, I'm a big sucker for journalism that makes the powerful uncomfortable.

Plus when the Silver Fox's own Alma mater is putting up amusingly ominously titled posts like this one, it does tend to pique one's interest. (By the way, I watched our anchor dodge rockets for a month in 2006 during the Hezbollah/Israel war. The Scientologists may be brutal, but I think the dude's going to be okay.)

Anyway! The real top story of our broadcast is that authorities have arrested members of a Michigan-based militia group for conspiring to kill police officers. The group is called Hutaree and they're Christian end timers. Apparently they've been training to wage war. Awesome. Anderson is at the Magic Wall and he's showing us all sorts of frickin' stuff. Technology overload! The best part is that he's narrating what he's doing the whole time, which might be more for his benefit than ours.

But the important part here, as Anderson reminds us, the Department of Homeland Security foresaw this rise in extremist activity we've been having lately. They even put out a report about it last year...and were promptly met with shrieks from the right wing. As an example, we're shown a quote from blogger Michelle Malkin. I wouldn't have expected them to call her out, so good for that. Such a pretty person on the outside, but so so ugly on the inside.

Eventually, all the pressure caused Secretary Janet Napolitano to back off and the report was pulled. Well, 360 frames it as a question, as is their wont. It doesn't take a genius to know that's what happened. Pretty frustrating. I remember the report clearly, as well as the backlash. My blog readers know I've been especially interested in this subject. None of this is shocking to me.

Next up, Drew Griffin has the requisite go-talk-to-the-neighbors piece because, well, what else is there to do. Surprisingly, the neighbors did not notice the major training for Armageddon that was going on down the street. The cynical part of me wants to make a comment about how they would have noticed if they all had beards, but I shall refrain from that rather harsh accusation.

For discussion of all this, we're joined by Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center and John Avlon. The gist is that the DHS report was spot on and Napolitano was a coward for backing off. Also? Avlon uses the phrase "hatriot movement" again. Doesn't this guy have friends to tell him to stop? All three men end by lamenting the partisanship of discourse now. Now? Are they new here?

Transitioning now to your regular dose of weird Republican scandal. RNC head Michael Steele is in trouble with a capital "T" and that rhymes with "B"...for bondage-themed nightclub. Oh yes. Tom Foreman tells us that the RNC payed a whole mess of cash for donor Erik Brown to, among other things, visit a sex club. Now they're saying they shouldn't have paid and blah blah blah. It's sad how underwhelmed I am by all this. I mean, a sex club? That's all you got? I miss the days of bathroom stall toe-tapping and possible naked hiking. They just don't do scandals like they used to.

Now onto the big Scientology investigation--at least part one. It's good to see Anderson doing reporting for CNN without having to leave the country. His piece isn't about the religion itself (yes, I debated on using quotes around that word), but rather the accusations that the church's current leader, David Miscavige, has engaged in physical abuse against members. Marty Rathbun is the highest ranking member of Scientology to speak out against Miscavige. He tells Anderson of witnessing the abuse, particularly that of Mike Rinder, former chief spokesman for the church.

Rinder would not go on camera (he has since left the church), but he did confirm Rathbun's story. Current chief spokesman, Tommy Davis, calls it all lies. One wonders if Tommy is getting the crap beat out of him too. The Scientologists have provided CNN with a bunch of documentation that defends Miscavige and smears Rathbun. Church members say Rathbun was actually the violent one and for his part, he does not deny occasionally becoming abusive--though claims he was pressured. Miscavige will not speak for himself.

It's also noted that it wasn't until now that the Scientologists would sit down with CNN without pre-conditions. Good for CNN for telling us that and for holding out in the first place. After Anderson's piece, we get a long preview of the next report in which one of the member's wives accuses our anchor of being rude. Did the Silver Fox respond with an outraged "oh no you din't!" complete with finger snap? Tune it tomorrow to find out!

The "shot" tonight is a loris being tickled. Anderson is very excited about this, deeming it "possibly the cutest video ever." He does voices too. Yeah, if we didn't already love him it would be kinda weird. Our anchor is so adorkable. But! The cutest video ever? I don't know, Silver Fox. This kitten gives that loris a run for its money.

So, I thought tonight was a pretty solid show. Bravo. Everybody gets a cookie. Well, except for the Scientologists--they apparently first need to learn that hitting is wrong. My only real quibble is that I don't understand why they have to spend so much of the hour previewing. I get that they're trying to entice people to watch, but long clips at both the top and bottom of the show? Sean Penn was supposed to be on to talk about Haiti and he got bumped. Could they have fit him without the previews? By the way, I actually tweeted his appearance. You made me lie to my tweeps, 360. That'll teach me to retweet. Anyhoo, I hope the ratings fairy is kind. That'll do it.