Adopted Russian Child Sent Back, Calling Out Conservatives On Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty Ridiculousness, & Re-Debating The Civil War

Hi everyone. My regular readers have probably noticed I've recently been doing a lot of slacking on Fridays. There was a period of time where I didn't blog Fridays at all and barring anything special, I think I'm going to go back to that. I don't like having a post hanging over my head when the weekend rolls around, especially if the show wasn't that interesting to me, which unfortunately it hasn't been lately.

We begin with the story of the Tennessee family who sent their newly-adopted seven-year-old back to Russia. By himself. Because they didn't want him anymore. Classy. I'm actually going to skip all of this because I haven't been keeping up with the story. Sounds pretty messed up though. For those keeping score at home, the segment included discussion with Dr. Jane Aronson (otherwise known as the lady with the blue glasses) and Lisa Bloom.

This moves us into an update of Gary Tuchman's prior run piece about the Ranch for Kids. Or actually, maybe it's just re-cut? I don't remember the part about the family visit, but it seems to be hardcore winter, so I dunno. Anyway! Young Alec gets a visit from his family and everything looks good on camera. Unfortunately, we learn Alec is still threatening violence to people and therefore is not ready to return home. I hope he gets there soon.

Next up, Anderson Cooper logs his (apparently) required time at the Magic Wall. The subject? Nuclear arms. See, Obama just signed a treaty with Russia to reduce the weapons, which you would think would be a welcome announcement. Commence Republican freak out. Says nuclear expert Sarah Palin: "No administration in America's history, I think, would ever have considered such a step." Orly? Well, Sarah, thinking it doesn't make it so.

We're then played a clip of Ronald Reagan--conservative idol--calling for a reduction of nuclear arms. That's an "oh snap" from beyond the grave! Very nice, 360! Of course, a guy with a comedy show beat you to it, but still, yay for calling out the BS.

For discussion of this, we've got James Carville and Ed Rollins. Meh. A bit of amusement, as you may know (or, um, not), John McCain has himself a primary fight with crazy dude J.D. Hayworth for his senate seat in Arizona. Well, everyone's favorite presidential loser has put out quite the interesting web video: A Special Message From J.D. Hayworth. Oh McCain, if only you weren't willing to turn your back on everything you believe in at the drop of a hat, you might actually be likeable.

The ad contains tried and true conservative issues, like Obama's Kenyaness and man on horse relationships. Says our anchor: "On the one hand, he seems to be tacking right, and then, in this, he is making fun of J.D. Hayworth on issues which some on the right take very seriously." Yes, Anderson, man on horse marriage is very serious! Is anyone else suddenly wondering what Rick Santorum is up to these days?

Anyhoo! So hey, you know that whole Civil War thing we fought some years back? Well, I guess we're not done. When last we met our controversy, Virginia governor Bob McDonnell had declared April "Confederate History Month," but neglected to mention that slavery thing. He's since done some backtracking. Problem solved? Not so! Enter Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour telling Candy Crowley that the slavery omission wasn't a mistake. Oy.

Remember that really awful debate we had between Brag Bowling and Roland Martin about this whole topic? We get to hear it again! Um, kinda confirming my original ratings pimping charge there guys. Also? If you want to hear something crazy, I woke up the morning after that debate to find that my post had been excerpted on the National Review Online of all places. I have infiltrated them with my commie liberalness!

All this is followed by discussion with historian Douglas Brinkley and Joe Johns. Douglas endears himself to me right off the bat by calling this "idiocy" and noting it's really about a southern strategy for Republicans. Well, duh. The rest of the conversation goes on as so. Not bad.

Randi Kaye had a crime piece at the end of the broadcast, but I'm skipping.

The "shot" tonight was some awesomeness courtesy of Tina Fey and Saturday Night Live. Sarah Palin is a wealth of comic material, I'll give her that.

The broadcast was pretty meh, in my opinion. Nights like these, I'm not sure this is the news show for me anymore. That's not to say it's bad exactly--just more controversy-driven for my tastes. I dunno. They're all over the place right now, so I'm not going anywhere. Two weeks from now we'll probably be getting something different. I'm very much getting a "let's throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks" kinda vibe from CNN these days. I'll guess we'll just have to see.

To my regulars, there probably won't be a review tomorrow night. The TV Gods have decided to run the premiere of Glee at the same time as the broadcast. Anderson's cute and all, but unless he's planning on singing and dancing tomorrow, he's going to lose the battle for my own personal ratings. Them's the breaks, Silver Fox. That'll do it.

Everybody Hates Congress, Interview With Ron & Rand Paul, Bill Maher Riffs, Hamas Leader Slaying, And A Visit To The Ranch For Kids

Hi everyone. We begin tonight with the news that Congress is a sad, sad little body of government. Why? Because its members are leaving. Aw, cheer up Congress. You're good enough, you're smart enough, and gosh darn it...actually, strike that, everyone hates you. Yes, dear readers, it is about that time again for a rallying cry of "throw the bums out!" Interestingly, this seems to occur...oh, about every two years. Who would've thunk it?

We're then segued into a Tom Foreman piece that is all about that icky partisanship plaguing the beltway. Hm, can you tell the 2010 election season is now full steam ahead? Tom tells us both parties claim to want cooperation, yet neither seems to be delivering. Props to him for noting that Republicans have hit crazy epic levels of filibustering, but a major demerit for painting both parties with the same balanced brush.

Take health care reform for example. You want compromise? The White House did it right off the bat by not even attempting to put single payer on the table. Democrats then added amendment after amendment in an attempt to appease the obstructionists across the aisle. After all that compromising, what was the Republican response? Nooo! Not a one of them would vote for the bills put forth. For the love of God, please stop with the fake balance. Seriously, this is why people hate CNN.

Moving on now to an interview with Congressman Ron Paul and his son Rand Paul, who I was unaware existed. Anderson Cooper brings up the partisanship thing, but Ron actually thinks the problem is people compromise too much, thus throwing away their principles. Right on! Of course, Ron is arguing this from the opposite side I am, so there's that. Rand shares a similar sentiment. I think the problem here is that no one has defined compromise. From my vantage point throughout recent history, Democrats seem to think it means roll over completely, and Republicans think it means they should get everything they want.

It's about this time that I start wondering why this father son duo is getting this unopposed publicity, which is followed by the announcement that Sarah Palin has endorsed Rand for senate in Kentucky. Oh. That would be why. Oh media, you're so predictable. Anderson asks Rand if she would be a good president, and the candidate amusingly bobs and weaves. Our anchor ain't having that: "The question, though, is, do you think she would make a good president?" Good job there. Rand admits he thinks she would. Oookay, well, have fun with that Kentucky.

On now to some talk with Bill Maher. He was on Larry King Live too, so I guess, I dunno, they're getting their mileage out of him. No complaints here. I'm a pretty big Maher fan, though I'll concede he can be a bit of a dick sometimes. Speaking of that, I really wish this segment was live because Maher said some things to Larry about Haiti coverage (it's too much, it's disaster porn at this point) that I think Anderson would have liked to address. Anyway!

The Maher segment was actually fairly cathartic for me since it was like he was reading my mind. He starts off by trashing the beltway notion that people like Evan Bayh are who Washington needs right now, noting he's nothing more than a corporatist. Then there's ragging on Obama, including his compromises to nowhere, and the Democrats are rightfully trashed for being sad little cowards who couldn't even sell legislation that would give everyone a free pony. Plus? Tea party mocking. Yes, this was quite enjoyable. (Update: video!)

Transitioning now to a Paula Hancock piece about a hit that occurred in Dubai on a top Hamas official. There is an arrest warrant for 11 suspects, all of whom were caught on tape--some in disguises. Intrigue! This is pretty much a visual piece, so there's not much more for me to say. You can watch it here. Afterward, Anderson talks with former CIA officer Gary Berntsen and they speculate who conducted the slaying. My guess? Mossad.

Next up, we have a piece from Gary Tuchman on a ranch in Montana that takes adopted kids who have become too violent to live with their parents. Some of you might remember this piece was set to run the day of the Haiti quake. I guess we've come full circle now. But anyway, Gary sits down with 11-year-old Alec, who was adopted as a toddler and freely admits he threatened to kill his adoptive parents. We see video of him completely out of control, but sitting with Gary he seems very calm and even sweet. In fact, when questioned about how his actions make him feel, he starts to cry. So sad. Also? Gary's pretty amazing with him. I can't imagine anyone doing better.

We meet Alec's parents as well, who clearly love their son very much, but could no longer have him in the house, especially since they have another child. Children at the Ranch for Kids receive education and therapy, with the goal of reuniting them with their parents. Due to their adoptions, the children often have attachment issues to work through, as well as might suffer from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Unfortunately, not all of the children improve, and even sadder, sometimes parents don't want them back.

One wonders what happens if they don't reach Alec and children like him soon. Right now he is an 11-year-old child, but in a few years he'll be a much harder to control teenager, and then...a legal adult. Will Alec be in prison before he reaches the age of 20? It's a scary thought. For more, you can read Gary's blog of the story and there is video at the link.

Following Gary's piece, we're joined by Dr. Jane Aronson for discussion. Okay, yes, this is admittedly shallow, but I cannot get past her blue glasses. I don't remember her having those the last time. As if the cable news screen isn't distracting enough. Anyway! She talks about the organic and physical damage that can occur to a child's brain during infancy due to a myriad of factors, such as exposure to alcohol, malnourishment, smoking, drugs, environmental toxins and infections. This can lead to reactive attachment disorder, which as we witnessed with Alec, can have devastating effects on a family. Very sad.

The "shot" tonight is AC360's Best in Show. Okay, see, it's Westminster Dog Show time, but the 360 kids can't actually show us any of that because they'd prefer not to get sued (Anderson's had enough of that lately). So! They put their own pooches on the interwebs and had we the viewers vote. Behold the cuteness! And the winners are...(drum roll please): Second runner up goes to Buddy, who is owned by associate producer Devna. First runner up honor is held by Sugar, pooch of executive administrative assistant Joey. And finally, the prize goes to Tom Foreman's dog Nola. Congrats to all!

The show was pretty good, with Paula and Gary's pieces standing out. It'd be nice if the media could take Maher's views on corporatists to heart, but I won't hold my breath. I can feel the dreaded campaign coverage beginning to creep in. Do. Not. Want. You think it'd be too much to ask that the media focus on facts and policy this time and not the horse race? Yeah, that's what I thought. That'll do it.