Kentucky's Turn To Bring The Crazy, Sharron Angle Sees Asians, And More On Eddie Bernice Johnson

Hello people. Here we are in a new week, once again knee deep in the crazy. The truly sad part? It will never end. Yes, the 2010 election will actually occur. But the very next morning? Commence the 2012 campaigning! Le sigh. To the bullet points!

• We're kicking things off with the Kentucky senate race, which just got a wee bit snippy. You see, Democrat Jack Conway has put out an ad against Rand Paul that accuses the republican of being, well, kinda freaky. Many of you are probably well aware of the accusation that while in college, Paul kidnapped a fellow female student, forced her to do bong hits and then bow down to Aqua Buddha. That's right, Aqua Buddha. If next week's news contains the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I think we should all be unsurprised.

• Anyway! That weird tidbit came out back in August, but now the ad has placed it front and center, especially since Paul's boxers are in a total twist over the matter. Plus the candidates just had a debate where Conway would not let Aqua Buddha go, leading Paul to demand he "be a man." The whole thing ended with hands unshook. Oh no they din't.
  

• The 360 kids are on the Aqua Buddha case for us. The verdict? Probably not as sinister as Conway would like everyone to believe. It seems the alleged kidnappee later claimed no one forced her to smoke pot and it all felt akin to being hazed. But it's also important to point out that she was disturbed enough by the incident that she broke off her friendship with Paul. While I don't support Conway on this, I'm still a bit uncomfortable with the total dismissiveness regarding the woman being taken.
  

• Also, argh, Conway WTF?! I'm not even in politics and I know that these kind of attacks always backfire. If there was a video of Paul praying to Aqua Buddha, yeah, then you could just sit back, shut up, and let the young him hang the current candidate. Even with video you have to be careful (yeah, I'm looking at you Alan Grayson). But the thing that's really killing me here is that Paul's policies are completely ridiculous. You already had a goldmine to exploit and you throw it away for Aqua Buddha?! Argh.

• For discussion, we had Paul Begala and Alex Castellanos. Paul defends, Alex dismisses. We are all very shocked by this. Anderson Cooper also falls in the dismissive camp. You know what I love? When we were talking about Chris Coons' college paper the republicans were very concerned. Now? Aw, those wacky college kids! Reverse it and you have the democrats. Pretty much the only consistent non-hypocrite here is our anchor. Gotta love the Silver Fox.

• Moving on to the treasure trove of crazy that is Sharron Angle. Remember when she ran that ad with fake scary illegal immigrants? Well, now there's a video of her talking to Hispanic students in which she says the following: "And, you know, I don't know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me." Wait, it gets better: "I have been called the first Asian legislator in our Nevada State Assembly." Bwah! I can't even. At this point she should just pull a Colbert and claim she doesn't see color.

• Anderson: "But it's interesting in this race. I mean, maybe it's just like a liberal media outside of the state which is focusing on a lot of her statements that she's made, because it doesn't seem to have any impact certainly within the state." Huh? Perhaps I'm reading this wrong, but focusing on a candidate's statements makes the media liberal? No wonder conservatives think everyone is so biased.

• Things just keep getting worse for Eddie Bernice Johnson. Now we learn that she gave a scholarship to a student named Danielle O'Bannon, whose father oversees minority contracting at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. Guess who owns a stake in some airport newsstands? Ruh-roh.

• We're joined by corruption slayer Melanie Sloan, and Todd Gillman of "The Dallas Morning News." Though it looks pretty bad, Todd says they haven't been able to establish a quid pro quo. Melanie tells us that Danielle's mother claims her daughter got the scholarship because she knows Charlie Rangel's wife. Because that's much better! Oy.
  

• More on the Tiffany Hartley case:
  

• That's going to do it for me. The show wasn't bad, but I wasn't hugely interested most of the hour.
  

Interview With Terry Jones, Pastor Of The Church Planning To Burn Korans On September 11th

Hi everyone. Well, so much crazy, so little time, huh? I guess we better get started:

• Dear "Pastor" Terry Jones, I know you have your heart set on this whole Koran-burning thing, but could you maybe, like, you know, not be a douche? Just a suggestion for you to try out.

• For the record, I am very anti-book burning, no matter what the book. Sarah Palin's latest? No. No burning. Setting books aflame is usually a mere step on a ladder of wrongness. You never hear about the town that burned books and then lived happily ever after. And holy books? This guy wants to burn a holy book?! I can't even. I can't even.

• Now he is on my TV screen, courtesy of the 360 kids. Says Anderson Cooper: "I want you to know we debated about whether or not to even put this pastor on TV. He is extremist and he wants to spread his message as far and wide as he can. But we noticed a number of things that he said in other TV interviews simply didn't jibe with what he actually preaches. And we wanted to confront him about that." When I heard that Jones' church only consisted of a couple dozen people, I wasn't thrilled he was getting the airtime, but this is actually a pretty good argument in favor of having him on, and I appreciate the transparency.

• General David Petraeus called Jones out, stating that his planned stunt could put troops in danger, and Anderson aggressively went at the pastor with a related line of questioning. I have mixed feelings about this argument. The Bush administration used to constantly attempt to shut people down by claiming their actions might hurt the troops. I'm not saying it's not a legitimate argument in this case, but it gives me a visceral reaction of uneasiness. It was also a little strange to see our anchor take on Jones so aggressively on this subject, when 360's coverage of the South Park Muhammad controversy was pretty clearly slanted against the censorship. This isn't exactly the same (plus there was no military statement that I remember)--it's just something to think about. In any regards, Terry Jones? Still a douche.

• The gall of Jones to claim that he's putting his life on the line. Good on Anderson for rightly shutting down that BS immediately.

• I liked our anchor bringing up the names of the Muslim victims who died on 9-11. I think people need to be reminded of that over and over.

• Jones: "Listen to this. We got an e-mail today from a soldier. He was in Vietnam for 11 years. He says that he believes that most of the military soldiers stand with us on this matter. " ZOMG, I just got email from TWO soldiers, and they say you're an idiot. I guess I win. The Silver Fox's reaction? Pretty much perfect: "Well, sir, you're just ridiculous, if you're believing some anonymous e-mail from somebody."

• Major props for pointing out all the hate on this guy's website. I am sick of the Mark Williams and the Pam Gellers of the world being allowed to go on TV and present themselves as reasonable, then rush back to their blogs and spew crazy venom. What happens then is that the general public develops a false belief that they're not as bad as their critics make them out to be. Dangerous. Again, good on 360.

• Why do Islamophobes always bring up Saudi Arabia when they try to defend their beliefs? They say we shouldn't allow mosques here until they allow churches there. Um, since when are we modeling the U.S. after Saudi Arabia? I mean, seriously, do these people not understand, like, the entire concept of this country?

• Anderson asked Jones if he is a bigot. Predictably, Jones said he is not.
  

• Our anchor: "But I asked about the bigotry, because the definition of a bigot that I just got off Dictionary.com is a person who is intolerant of any ideas other than his or her own, especially on religion, politics or race. You do appear to be remarkably intolerant on any ideas other than your own regarding religion." Basically, the Silver Fox is like, "oh REALLY? Because Dictionary.com sez you are!" Lollers. Why do you hate Merriam-Webster.com, Anderson!
  

• Funny thing is, Jones doesn't deny. He's like, oh intolerant? Yeah, I'm totally intolerant.
  

• Then we find out that the pastor has not even read the Koran. Yes, we are all very shocked by this. He counters by trying to give Anderson a Sunday School lesson, and our anchor is oh so thrilled with that.
  

• That pretty much wraps it up. We were given the disclaimer that there were lighting issues in the second half, which there were, but nothing too bad. I bring it up because the light amusingly faded out again right at the end. No more light for you, bigot pastor!
  

• So! That was depressing. Anderson did a good job though, and I especially like that we're not pretending this isn't totally batshit insane and offensive. No balance here, my friends. In fact, our anchor even told Jones he hoped he would pray and come to another conclusion. The whole thing is below:

• Keeping on all things Islam, we're paneling it up to talk about Cordoba House. Our contestants include David Gergen, Bruce Feiler, and Andy Sullivan. Bruce here, author of "Walking the Bible," is the one that makes all the sense. He supports Feisal Abdul Rauf.

• Andy does not: "I feel like this is 9/11, the second wave." Oh, WTF? Then he starts going off about how the Imam is not a moderate (despite Anderson reminding him he's State Department-approved), and how he's running a slumlord out in Jersey City or something. It's about this time that I ask my television, who the hell is this guy? The answer from the chyron? A New York City construction worker. Oh, WTF? To be fair, he's also apparently the creator of something called the Blue Collar Corner Blog. Also, I'm a big believer in the idea that the average person's voice isn't any less important than the professional talking heads, but one gets the feeling that he's just spouting BS. A quick Google tells me the slumlord meme is the talk of the right-wing blogs. Facts would be nice.

• Then there's David Gergen. Oh, David Gergen. Always hand-wringing; always bringing us that overly optimistic naivety. The Gerg thinks this would all turn out a-okay if only the project builders would make their interfaithness a little more interfaith-y. He is, of course, completely overlooking the Crazy Factor. You and I both know that there is absolutely nothing this Imam can do that will satisfy the Fox News crowd, short of taking his plans and disappearing off the face of the earth.

• Isha Sesay is back! Don't forget to sign the petition to keep her forever!
  

• There was an update on the Eddie Bernice Johnson story, with discussion with Melanie Sloan and Todd Gillman. That's pretty much all I have to say...because I'm tired. It happens.
  

• The show was pretty good. The panel, as always, was the weakest link. Slumlord stuff, we're going to check that, yes? For what it's worth, it does seem like there's been a quality improvement over the past month-plus. Stay fact-y, 360!
  

• Bonus bullet point! Check out this great behind-the-scenes video of Sanjay Gupta and his producer Danielle Dellorto talking about their time in Pakistan. We learn that Danielle had a scary experience, and the good doctor is kind of a mooch when it comes to hair care products.
  

Jan Brewer Is So Done With That Debating Thing, More On The Eddie Bernice Johnson Nepotism Scandal, And An Interview With Andre Agassi

Hi everyone. I'm not a big fan of blogging on Fridays, but I figured what the hell. I can squeeze out a few bullet points for you. Enjoy!

• After Governor Jan Brewer's Opening Statement Of Epic Awkwardness, she has decided that debates are totally dead to her. When it comes to her and debates, the relationship is ovah! As it turns out, the only reason she even did that debate was for money. Sadly, I am not joking.

• In Brewer's defense, the hilarity of having to thank, "Larry, Barry and Terry," might have tripped up anyone. (I laugh every time!)

• Unfortunately for the governor, her fail did not end with the debate. ZOMG, reporters! Doing their jobs!

• Nice clip action from the 360 kids regarding Brewer's past statements on the headless bodies. Clearly, despite her current clarification, she was initially implying they were found in Arizona.
  

• Anderson Cooper: "All right. She didn't actually say the word Arizona, but she didn't say the anchor was wrong when he said Arizona. And she was talking about American law enforcement finding beheaded people in the desert. Sounds like she was talking about Arizona." Perfection. Props for calling a spade a spade.

• The interview with Steve Kornacki of Salon.com was a nice change of pace from CNN's roster of political pundits (and yay for Salon.com!). But I found it kind of strange that when discussing the tendency of politicians to employ anti-media strategies, neither man mentioned Sharron Angle, or the biggie: Sarah Palin.
  

• In fact, it's kind of weird that 360 is now all over Brewer, yet hasn't touched on Angle at all--at least that I've seen. There's a small part of me that's wondering if they decided to do this Brewer coverage because of their reporting on Eddie Bernice Johnson (balance, baby!). Then again, that was a pretty choice Brewer clip, and you know cable news is incapable of passing up good video. I think it might actually be the law.

• To be clear, all these stories are legitimate. But the show can't cover everything, so sometimes one ponders the choices.

• Speaking of Eddie Bernice Johnson, last night they talked to the congresswoman herself, tonight they talked with Todd Gillman of "The Dallas Morning News," scandal breaker. The interview is below. I loved his story about how he called out Johnson for taking questions from her own staff.

• Your humble blogger's baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals, were playing at the same time of the broadcast, but I thought to myself, "I'm a mad multi-tasker, I got this." And then the universe was like, "Ha ha ha. Eliza you're being adorable." Because at about this time in the show, I happened to turn my head...and came face to face with a HUGE ASS SPIDER that was dropping from the ceiling. After the subsequent hysterical episode involving a half a can of bug spray and psychotic shoe-pounding, I realized I had missed not only the baseball win, but a good chunk of the next segment. Luckily, God invented the interwebs. You never know when there's going to be a spider attack.
  

• BIG. 360. INTERVIEW! Anderson talked with tennis star Andre Agassi, who as it turns out, initially hated tennis with a fiery passion, thanks to a father who intensely imposed the lifestyle on him. My only knowledge of Agassi before this broadcast (besides the tennis) was that he was at one time married to Brooke Shields. I really hate it when parents do this to their kids. Tonight's interview made me think of this piece I read a few months ago, which mentions Agassi, but mostly focuses on Tiger Woods.
  

• Aw to Anderson mentioning his mother reading his book and only saying nice things. Actually, aw to supportive mothers everywhere. The first time I was ever published, I think my mom gave a copy to half the people she knows, and made the other half read her copy--ahem, one of her copies.
  

• Another great piece from Sanjay Gupta. Props to 360 for keeping up with the Pakistan coverage.

• Aw, I guess Isha Sesay has left us. Sad face. Er, uh, no offense to Tom Foreman.

• The show was good. This kind of political coverage is SO MUCH BETTER than just throwing out the issues of the day and having whatever pundits are available fill up a panel with speculative discussion. Yay facts! As for Agassi, probably not my first choice, but it was plenty engaging. Anyhoo, I know I have previously promised you two special posts, and I will try to get at least one of them up this weekend. That'll do it.
  

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?
  

Nepotism In Congress, Glenn Beck Decides To Do His Weeping Outside For A Change, And An Update From Pakistan

Hi everyone. Since I neglected to blog Friday's show, I have deprived you of my overall thoughts on the 360 kids New Orleans coverage (you poor, poor things!). Obviously this cannot stand! Don't worry, the matter will be rectified, well, now. Honestly, I'm a little torn. As a hard news junkie, my first instinct is to deem it shallow. Soledad O'Brien had a good look at the trailer situation, but there really wasn't that much honesty-keeping going on.

As I stated before, the lack of focus on the levees was rather ridiculous. Harry Shearer implies (in the comments) that further coverage on this issue was bumped. If true, that's a pretty big shame. It means they shirked their journalistic integrity for good video.

Bumpings like that wouldn't bother me much if I had confidence they would address the subject later. I do not. One thing that's always driven me crazy about this show is that they seem incapable of covering stories like Katrina's aftermath unless they are physically broadcasting from the region. Highlighting charity work or the city's restaurant situation is absolutely warranted and it is news. In fact, it seems like the most appropriate coverage to air while actually in the region. I just wish it didn't feel like a competition for airtime: accountability versus human interest.

Speaking of human interest, if they were going that route, where were the follow-ups with the people they met five years ago? Herbert Gettridge? Ms. Connie? The Kearneys? I think Dr. Henderson might have been the only one we got. For what it's worth, Tom Foreman caught up with the Kearneys, though I'm not sure when exactly this aired. In this podcast, Anderson Cooper says he keeps in contact with them by texting. Even if 360 couldn't fit them in the show, it seems like the perfect subject to blog/tweet about, don't you think? C'mon Silver Fox, you can't possibly be too busy to type a 140 character update.

Anyway. Like I said, I'm torn. It was good coverage--much of it enjoyable to watch. But as always, I would have liked to see more investigation. So, those are my thoughts. Your mileage may vary. Now let's zip back to the present day and churn out a few bullet point, mmkay?

• Why won't Anderson operate the Magic Wall live? This dude will dodge bullets and swim with sharks, but he cowers in the face of multi-touch technology? Yeah, that sounds about right.

• Admittedly, I was a little suspicious as to the origin of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation story. Right wing meme? Doesn't sound like it. That wouldn't necessary make it a non story anyway--it would just make me wonder the context. It looks like Representative Eddie Johnson has committed some stone-cold nepotism--a very big no-no. Our anchor's interview with Muriel Cooper, the senior media manager for the CBC Foundation is below.
  

• Anderson: "If multiple kids who are relatives of members of the CBC are signing off on this, I mean, it's pretty gutsy for a kid to lie like that. I would assume that they must have asked their family member who is in the CBC or who works for the congresswoman, you know, what should I do here? I'm assuming somebody told them, yes, just go ahead and say you're not a family member." Though he's probably right, you know what they say about people who assume. Let's just stick with the facts.

• Overall I thought our anchor did a nice job with that interview.

• This is possibly neither here nor there, but the presence of Melanie Sloan instantly upped this story's newsy cred.
  

• While I am pondering as to why this nepotism thing was the lede, I'm glad it's getting the coverage--even if some think it's not a big deal. This kind of crap is the root of the beltway rot. Keep it in context and I'll be a happy camper.
  

• Anderson: "Two men on a United Airlines flight from Chicago taken into custody after landing in Amsterdam. Who they are, what they tried to get on board and what authorities say they believe they were up to is raising some pretty chilling questions." Gotta say, I am decidedly unchilled. Look, we know terrorists want to commit terror. If we've gotten to the point where we catch them during a dry run and not when they're lighting their crotches on fire, I say go us! We don't even know what happened yet (and NBC News actually implied this is probably nothing). I'm going to wait a couple days to pay this story mind--if it's even still a story.

• Did you hear? This weekend former shock jock Glenn Beck decided to get all Jesus-y up in D.C. and restore America's virginity. Or something like that. What is there to say about Beck, really? He's either a man who legitimately needs psychological help...or he's a soulless cynic who is a master at exploiting the fears of a group of people who rightly or wrongly feel disenfranchised. Pick your poison!
  

• I don't even understand this rally. Restoring America's honor? Where did it go? Who took it? (I have a guess!) Beck seems to think his little gathering is going to change history. You know, just like all those protesters totally stopped the Iraq war from happening. Oh, wait.
  

• Though I like Matt Taibbi, the debate between him and Dana Loesch was fairly irrelevant. If you like Beck, you will think Dana destroyed Matt. If you don't, flip it around. You get the picture. FYI, Loesch is from St. Louis. So proud!

• I can't believe that they spent the whole first part of that segment arguing about whether or not the rally was political and no one mentioned that the whole thing was organized through a charity and therefore they had to be mindful of their tax exempt status. Also, as Matt said, of course it was political.

• Taibbi: "This is like one of those things when you see your crazy uncle taking his pants off at Thanksgiving. You don't know whether to laugh or cry. It's so incredibly offensive, this whole business." Ha! This is pretty much where I am right now with politics. It's like, oh look, more people being crazy.
  

• Anderson: "Dana, I should just point out, just for accuracy's sake, Dr. Alveda King, she's not an actual doctor. It's an honorary degree." It's kind of funny that after all that, this is what he decides to call out. But ok, I'll take it. Annnnnd cue the tea party hysterics. Segment below:

• Claustrophobics leave the room. Gary Tuchman's piece is scary. Those poor Chilean miners. I cannot imagine being down there for months. They're basically entombed in rock.

• As for the reenactment, with these kind of things I'm always conscious of the fact that it's TV. The leader guy's all, "I'll be the last one," and I'm like, um, yeah, there's a camera person behind you. Poor camera person--never counted. Heh.
  

• Sanjay Gupta continues to bring us great reporting from Pakistan. Horrible situation. His piece is below:

• That'll do it. Show wasn't bad.