School Board Member Attacks MLK, Sarah Palin Always The Victim, And Baby Doc Returns to Haiti

Hi everyone. I think I'm going to give myself some space to spread out and mostly forgo the bullet points tonight. They will no doubt be back shortly. Raise your hand if you're shocked that the broadcast didn't contain an Oprah/Piers Morgan segment. I know, right? Aw, is Anderson Cooper not an Oprah fanboy anymore? As for how the Piers dude did, I watched, and I will give him a resounding 'meh.' Trust me, this is way better than my reaction to Parker/Spitzer, which was to gawk in horror at my television before turning it off five minutes later, never to watch again.

But this here blog post is about the 360 kids. Tonight, in keeping with the holiday, they kicked us off with some Martin Luther King related news. Colorado school board member Brett Reese has been broadcasting attacks on King (via a small radio station) for the past two weeks. Some of what he says is true, but most? Not so much, and the information in fact comes from a white supremacist's website. Because those guys are always so accurate when it comes to information on African Americans.

After more explanation, Anderson tells us they had booked Reese on the show, but then decided they didn't want to give his nonsense the exposure. I'm torn on this whole segment. It sounds like they saw something controversial, immediately jumped into coverage mode, had second thoughts, and finally just split the difference between being sensational and responsible. So...yay? Good on them for re-evaluating, but should this have been covered at all? They said it was a small radio station and these smears are not new. I don't know. Anyway, below is the segment, which is followed by discussion with Bryan Wright, the principal of the Greeley West High School, and Professor Eddie Glaude Jr., chair of African-American studies at Princeton University.





Anderson also interviewed Stevie Wonder about King:



After six people lost their lives in Arizona, you know who the biggest victim was? Sarah Palin that's who! At least, that's the impression she's been giving lately. Anderson began the segment by reminding us that accusations of blame began to fly as soon as the shooting occurred. He played us examples of those on the left engaging in such behavior, which is a perfectly legitimate thing for him to do (and actually encouraged over vague statements). I would like to point out that according to this, Palin apparently immediately went into defense mode before all the fingers started pointing. Strange that a person would think to do that.

Honestly, I think there is a lot being missed here by conservatives, the media, and even liberals. Personally I feel there has been way too much focus on that map. If it were just the crosshairs, I would feel sorry for Palin. Even coupled with the tweet, it would be irresponsible, but not worthy of all this blame. Thing is, it's not just the crosshairs and the tweet (those are just symptoms); it's her entire political philosophy. Sarah Palin and her cohorts in the media don't just disagree with this president and this government, they consistently attempt to delegitimize them.

They want to take back America. Talk of tyranny runs rampant, gun culture is practically fetishized. When it comes to policy, there is no rational debate offered. Instead there are death panels, and proclamations of a government takeover. Lurking around every corner is the implication that something sinister is a-foot. Glenn Beck gets out his chalkboard and points the Tea Partiers to the latest conspiracy. He's not directly accusing, mind you, but he's just saying...with a wink and a nod.

Did Sarah Palin's crosshairs cause this shooting? No. There is absolutely no evidence of that. But this shit doesn't happen in a vacuum. She's mainstreamed a culture that breeds anti-government resentment. You don't even need to be a Palin follower or Fox News watcher to be affected by what's happening--we've all become immersed. And not only the stable are listening. Did Loughner get caught up in this monster Palin and her cohorts have brought to the forefront? I don't know. But it's absolutely despicable that she won't even consider changing her rhetoric.

The discussion with Cornell Belcher and Dana Loesch was ridiculous. Mostly they focused on Palin's use of 'blood libel,' which I don't even care that much about. Actually, I think it just shows how unoriginal she is, since it looks like she had to go running to the Wall Street Journal's opinion page to get her response.

Loesch did not disappoint, in that she proved herself a total hypocrite in less than five seconds. Ever since the shooting, she's been mocking the calls for a more toned-down rhetoric, yet the first thing she mentions is a death threat that occurred, according to her, "because of all of the things that are being said about conservatives and being said about Tea Partiers and Sarah Palin." And you know what? She's probably right. Yes, Dana, as some of us have been saying, words matter.

Pretty sad that Cornell had to actually ask Anderson to keep her honest. I guess when it comes to these segments, the rest of us have to do his job for him. At least he noted that Palin never ever backs off. I had to laugh at Dana's claim that upwards of a million private citizens were "absolutely persecuted without any evidence because of this tragedy." Persecuted? Really? And she says it on MLK day no less. Good lord. Oh, and here's that Media Curves study she mentioned. She is, of course, spinning like a top.



Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned to Haiti. John Zarrella reports:



Also, I wanted to share this great Haiti piece from 360 kids Vladimir Duthiers and Hannah Yi. They visited a camp for the deaf, reporting on the struggles of people who rarely if ever get coverage. It's a sad, yet fascinating watch.



Isha Sesay is now an official 360 kid! Remember when we had that petition to get her on the show? I'm totally taking partial credit. And that's not deluded thinking at all! No sir. Below is Anderson's SNL digital short cameo, which was tonight's "shot." Oh, that Pee Wee Herman...



Starbucks is on the RidicuList tonight due to the trenta, their new 31 ounce size. That's a lot of caffeine. I actually don't drink coffee, so my main takeaway from this is I really need to see the movie "Role Models," because Paul Rudd is adorable and that scene was hilarious. "Congratulations, you're stupid in three languages." Ha!



That's going to do it for me. The show was okay. They're killing me with these Loesch bookings.

Terror Trial Verdict, AC360's Palin Obsession Worsens, Another Victim of James O'Keefe's Smears, And Anderson Cooper Meets Some Bonobos

Hi guys. A lot packed into the broadcast tonight. A little something for everyone--even furries! To the bullet points we go:

• We finally have the verdict of the first Guantanamo detainee to be tried by a civilian court: guilty of only one of 285 counts. Admittedly I haven't been following this case very closely (haven't even done by Glenn Greenwald reading yet), but I don't think this should put the kibosh on trying these people in civilian courts. It's not like guy is going to walk free.
  

• Ah yes, a statement from Peter King. Color me shocked.

• Dear Bush administration, thank you so much for breaking the law and tainting our country's moral standing by torturing people. Now we get to deal with the consequences of your actions even as we try to revert back to the rule of law. Awesome. Well done.
  

• The discussion with Kirk Lippold, Jeffrey Toobin, and Peter Bergen wasn't bad. As I said, I haven't really seen what other info is out there on this subject, so it's hard to judge the segment, but nothing stood out to me as being ridiculous. Video below.
  

• Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, this show is OBSESSED with Sarah Palin. Oh, oh, she might run for president in two years. Everyone stop everything! Yeesh. Talk about wasted airtime.
  

• Anderson Cooper referring to Palin: " I mean, I'm fascinated by her." No, really? I hadn't noticed!

• Our anchor: "Have you ever seen a candidate or a potential candidate who makes their critics' heads explode in the way that Sarah Palin does?" He then continues to show me he is completely clueless on this subject. Yeah, Anderson, watching a serial liar who traffics in falsehoods become the object of the media's obsession makes my head a little explode-y. As a journalist, one would think that you would understand this feeling. Perhaps not.

• Erick Erickson--yes, sigh, he's there--brings up Bristol and "Dancing With the Stars," which leads Anderson to say: "Just in our defense, we have not discussed that on this show, though, tomorrow..." Um, yeah, you have no leg to stand on here.

• Moving on to the Bulletin, oh look, someone literally shot their TV over Bristol Palin's performance. Yeah...

• Also, the "shot"--again weirdly in the middle of the broadcast--made me die inside a little. Bristol Palin and The Situation in a badly acted PSA about teen pregnancy? No world. No.
  

• My regular readers (and Twitter followers) probably know I was particularly interested in the teachers union story. Actually, when Anderson teased it I got all nervous and had myself a little "don't f*ck this up, 360" prayer.
  

• James O'Keefe, the disgusting serial smear merchant, is at it again. This time one of his minions infiltrated a New Jersey Education Association conference, buddied up to a teacher, and got her to talk about the union, all the while taping what she said. The teacher, Alissa Ploshnick, was suspended and denied a raise. Oh, did I mention that she once saved her students' lives by literally throwing herself in front of a van? Yeah. I first read the story here and then took a day or so to look into it before tweeting out my feelings.
  

• After watching the segment twice, and after talking with the author of that blog post, I think the 360 kids did a fair job. Obviously I wish they would have been more like, "O'Keefe is teh evil!" but, uh, that was probably never going to happen. Anyway. This video by O'Keefe is being promoted by 360 guest Dana Loesch. I cannot believe they continue to have her on the show. This isn't about differing viewpoints. This is about lending credibility to someone who traffics in smears, falsehoods, and severely questionable ethics. For a show that has been deservedly earning praise lately, her bookings are completely beneath them, and quite frankly, embarrassing.
  

• The bunny suit is back! Anderson's piece about the bonobos at the Great Ape Trust in Iowa was just...wow. I mean, it's fascinating and the baby was adorable, but...I can not get past that suit! He hopped, people. He hopped. Bwah! This was way more humiliating than I even imagined.

• The carrots from Kevin (at least I hope I'm remembering his name right) was a nice touch. And please guys, never stopped the mocking.
  

• On tonight's RidicuList, Alvin Greene thinks he's going to be president because he's "the man." Oh, Alvin Greene, you're adorable. No, wait, I believe 'crazy' is the word I was looking for. Says Anderson: "We don't contest that Greene may, in fact, be the man. But president?" Ha! All in the delivery, people. All in the delivery.
  

• The show wasn't bad. If we get an intervention going for the Palin problem, it might soon even be great!
  

Sarah Palin Again Hits The 'Lamestream Media' And Republican Congressman Darrell Issa Wants To Investigate The White House (Or Does He?!)

Hi everyone. Well, I'm afraid tonight went a bit off the rails. Disappointing. Oh well. I guess the best place to begin is the beginning. To the bullet points!

• Did you hear? Sarah Palin made up crap, got called on it, and then played the victim of the 'lamestream media." Must be a day that ends in 'Y'! Seriously, this is in no way new.
  

• Back story: Palin went off on the Federal Reserve, claiming 'pump priming' will push rising grocery prices even higher. A "Wall Street Journal" reporter called her out, noting prices haven't actually risen. She then did what she always does: spin and attack. (I haven't looked into this at all, and I'm loathe to even hint at agreeing with Palin, but it does kinda seem like prices have risen.)

• So anyway, apparently this deserves a whole segment. I mean, don't get me wrong. Yay for calling out and all, but uh, she does this all the time. It's kind of her thing. Why does this one merit a segment? At this point can't we just fact-check and move on? She's not even an elected official.
  

• Anderson Cooper was being kinda weird throughout. He had that whole wide-eye "can you believe this?" tone going on (yes, yes we believe it!), and then sorta gave us a little lecture about words mattering. Erm, we know.

• Our anchor: "Now, supporters of Sarah Palin will say this story is nitpicking, much ado about nothing, a gotcha attack by both "The Wall Street Journal" and I guess now by me." Well, I am as far from a supporter as you can get, and while I don't think it's a gotcha attack, I do think having an entire lead segment about something that she does every damn day is a little much, especially given that she holds no office. Hold her accountable, yes. Don't go overboard.

• Speaking of overboard, we have to talk about this, yo! We're joined by David Gergen and Dana Loesch. I have to say, I'm seriously disappointed that 360 continues to have Loesch on the show, and quite frankly I find it a little insulting to the viewers. We're told that she's the editor of BigJournalism.com, but we're not told that the blog is part of Andrew Breitbart's franchise. Remember him? The smear merchant with no credibility? Yeah, well, Loesch is one of his people, which apparently 360 thinks is good enough for their viewers.
  

• This is a woman who once implied that Anderson got where he is by "riding the Vanderbilt coattails." She cleans herself up real nice for primetime, but on the Internet she's a different story. I get why they book her. I really do. She's pretty, articulate (not to be confused with having good arguments), and doesn't bring the crazy. I'm just so sick of these tea party-type pundits getting away with being one person online and another person on the teevee. You don't see that with David Gergen. If he puts out a blog post, it will contain the same tone and ideas of what you'd hear him discuss anywhere. Dana's continued presence on the show tells me they either haven't done their research, or they simply don't have respect for the viewers. Surely there are more credible conservatives.

• The Gerg pushing back on Anderson was a bit interesting.

• Anderson: "I do find it interesting, though, that she, like a lot of politicians -- and it's not just her, and it's Republicans and Democrats -- people don't admit when they make a mistake. And I don't get -- I think, frankly, people, the voting public, would like it if somebody just said, well, look, yes, look, OK, I made an error, we all make errors, rather than attacking the messenger." He's such a Pollyanna sometimes. Sure I'd love to live in that world, but I don't think it ever existed in the first place. He's acting like this behavior is new or something.

• Moving on, we learn that Congressman Darrell Issa is probably going to be running the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (subpoena power, baby!). Through some montage action we're shown that Campaign Issa was going to investigate the pants off Obama. Newly Elected Issa? Not so much. Walk back time! Or is it? The Congressman still has plans to hold a boat-load of hearings.

• For discussion, we have Jeffrey Toobin, Cornell Belcher, and Erick Erickson. Oh yay, we're two for two with the right-wingers I loathe. Where's Ed Rollins these days? Or what about Frum? Frum has no friends now, right? He'd probably love to come on!
  

• Jeffrey and Cornell get much love from me for this segment. Anderson? He can go sit in the corner. The dude will just not stop pushing the balance meme. Do we need an intervention here or what? He brought up the hearings that Henry Waxman held, which is a perfectly legitimate thing to do, but then he gives examples (are superweeds an outgrowth of USDA biotech policy?) and acts like we're supposed to think they're as crazy as going after the New Black Panther Party. Thank God for Toobin doing some smacking down.

• Cornell: "Anderson,, I have got to push back on you here, because you're trying to make it seem like it's equal. He's talking about doing 280 investigations in one year, more than what Waxman did in two years, so it's a little different." Called him flat out on fake balance. I think I love this guy.
  

• Erickson: "Ninety percent of the American public has never even heard of Darrell Issa. And they certainly don't know what he said on the campaign trail." I basically disagree with everything Erick has said, but I'd bet money he's right on this one.
  

• Oh look, more pimping of Parker Spitzer. Seriously guys, give it up.

• So, they waste our time with all this pontification, and stick actual news about the BP oil spill in the 360 Bulletin. Yeah, that makes sense.
  

• Part of the news mentioned was that there's worry the oil has made it into the food chain. Anderson: "It's interesting, the story about the oil entering the food chain. It's important to point out, you know, that they do test the stuff very carefully, and there have been no reports of problems. I was in New Orleans this weekend, went to a lot of restaurants, ate seafood just about every night, had oysters, and the food is as great as ever. So I hope the people don't read that and cancel trips." Then adding: "Because the food is safe and it tastes better than ever." I actually found this a little irresponsible. Mention that rigorous testing is done, sure, but I think our anchor is letting his love for New Orleans cloud his judgment. He's a journalist; not a member of the tourism board. And while he can say that he himself feels the food is safe enough to eat, he shouldn't be using his position to make such a declarative statement. Can anyone at this point really know that the food is safe?
  

• I think that's all for me. Clearly I've done enough damage already. The show could have been better.
  

A $200 Million Falsehood And The Media's Obsession With Sarah Palin Ratchets Up A Notch

Hi everyone. So, the election. That happened, huh? Oh, it burns, people. It burns. I watched, I cursed, I got depressed. I threw mental darts at pundits. But it's over and now time to move forward (if I blogged an MSNBC show, I suppose we would be 'leaning').

Anyway. Buck up, kids. If the beginning of tonight's 360 was any indication, the road we're on might not be all bad. Ok, yes, we are in for a bucket-load of stupidity from the Republicans, but if someone is actually going to be out there holding them (and everyone else) accountable, maybe we'll get by. Not that the Democrats don't also imbody much suckage. They just don't seem to be as much--what's the word? Oh yes, crazy. I mean, seriously Kentucky?

Time to warm up those bullet points! We're going to start strong and then kind of peter out. You have been warned.

• Have you heard? Apparently POTUS is going on the most expensive trip to Asia evah! He's bringing everyone who voted for a Democrat and all their sheets will be made of gold! You know how the right-wing latches onto unverified information, and then they all repeat each other, and then suddenly it's Out There? Well, here we are. Suddenly, Obama's trip is going to cost $200 million a day--a number which appears to be pulled entirely out of thin air.
  

• This in of itself is not at all surprising. What's mildly surprising is that the perpetuaters of the falsehood are getting called out. The 360 kids are like, "oh hells no!" Not only do they bring us the facts of the situation, thus showing the $200 million number to be ridiculous, they also show us who's been pushing the meme (Beck, Limbaugh, Bachmann, etc.). They are now montaging fools! For the win, baby.

• Anderson Cooper on Michele Bachmann: "Now, you would think if a member of Congress was going to use this figure as a fact, she would want to be pretty darn sure it was accurate, right?" Oh Silver Fox, you're adorable. First segment is below:
  

• Question: Was Andy Card always such a douche? I guess anyone looks reasonable when they're standing next to Cheney. I had him pegged as a better guy than what we saw tonight. No, he wasn't a Powell in that administration, but I did think he was Powell-ish. Guess not.

• First Card complains that our anchor is making too big of deal out of the situation (though apparently had no problem putting his face on TV to give his opinion). Then when Anderson tries to explain that he's bringing it up because "Michele Bachmann used up our airtime last night, rather than answering questions about Medicare, to talk about this," Card replies with: "It's not your airtime, Anderson. It's not your airtime." Um, excuse me, your initials may also be 'AC,' but I assure you, this show belongs to the Silver Fox.

• And then he calls Anderson irresponsible. Because being chief of staff in an administration that lied us into war is the height of responsibility.

• Our anchor then throws down some more clippage action, which includes a sound bite from Mitch McConnell. Says Card: "Well, first of all, the quote from Mitch McConnell was a little bit old, wasn't really contemporaneous to what happened on Tuesday." Then there's some discussion. Once things wind down, totally off-handedly, Anderson's all, "By the way the sound bite from McConnell was from this morning at the Heritage Foundation." Burn! It's all in the delivery, people. Card just got shanked and Anderson pulled the knife out before he even realized what hit him.
  

• All this starts at about the six minute mark in the video below:

6 minutes

• More montage action! This time we get to watch all those many Republicans talk about how they're going to get in there and cut spending. Oh, but they're not going to tell us what specific spending they would cut. That would be hard work! I love talking points, don't you? Taxes bad! American flag good!
  

• I also like how Anderson is calling Carville 'James', but Mr. Jerkypants is 'Mr. Card.' They are not friends, people.

• Card: "I think it's much too early to be talking about specific program cuts that are only designed to inflame the debate, rather than be constructive and really bringing discipline to the government." Well, that makes a lot of sense that doesn't.
  

• Once called on this, Card tries to deflect onto the Democrats, wondering what their specific cuts would be. Anderson's face pretty much says, WTF?

• Card: "Tell me what cuts you are recommending, Anderson, and I will give you a reaction to it." Yes, tell us, Anderson, why have you not reduced the deficit yet?!

• Our anchor can't even deal with that stupidity, so he just laughs it off and turns to Carville, but Card would apparently very much like to know how the Silver Fox is going to get us out of the hole. Next he is going to find out how Blitzer would fix immigration reform!

• Anderson: "Well, actually, I'm just a reporter. I'm supposed to ask questions. I'm not like a pundit who takes positions and tries to shove them down viewers' throats. James?" Oh, snap! The best part is the end when he just totally turns from Card to go to Carville. DISmissed! The Silver Fox is so done with your fuckery. Segment below:

• Okay, this is the part where we come close to shark jumpage. Buckle up for the summary. See, Marc Lamont Hill took a picture of a sign in front of this church run by James David Manning. The sign was very anti-Obama and all kinds of offensive. He then sends the picture to Ann Coulter because apparently they have some sort of jokey relationship when it comes to this wackjob pastor (I don't even want to know, people). Coulter, jokester that she is, retweets the tweet, adding, "that's my church!" And finally, Sarah Palin favorites the whole thing. According to our anchor, a stir was caused! Now the former half-term governor's 'favorites' are wiped clean. Conspiracy! Or not. I love me the Twitter, but even I think this is a little much.
  

• Thing is, we don't know if she's supporting the pastor, thought the joke was funny, or simply hit the wrong button on her blackberry (Twitter can be tricky, yo!). So basically, what we have is a segment with Marc speculating his ass off, while Anderson keeps painfully reining him in. (For the record, Palin says she didn't favorite the tweet.)

• As they ponder what was going on in the mind of the favoriter, I wonder what was going on in the mind of whoever decided to spend this long on this story. They even brought in a dude from Politico. Oy.
  

• We also have John King give us a hypothetical match-up of Palin versus Obama. Because that's not a complete waste of time! Good lord.

• I think this is where I get off the bus. The show wasn't bad. Started out really strong, then fell into some ridiculousness. Maybe the Palin Twitter thing will grow more legs, but right now there's not much there. Anderson did a pretty solid job throughout when it comes to calling out. That'll do it.

I Guess Delaware Is The Only State Holding An Election In November

Hi everybody. Do you find my headline cutting? It's not that focusing on Christine O'Donnell is bad, but the media is doing that whole swarm/tunnel-vision thing. Again. Perspective, people. As for the show, I kinda feel like I watched it already--last night. Also? Anderson Cooper somewhat annoyed me. I guess consider yourself warned. On to the bullet points!

• We begin with the quest to try to keep Christine O'Donnell honest, which is a bit thwarted by the fact that she won't talk to anyone--well, anyone besides Fox News (shocking!).

• Anderson: "Now, there are plenty of liberal media outlets out there that probably want Christine O'Donnell to fail, but I just want to make it very clear, I'm not one of them. We're not trying to beat up on Christine O'Donnell." Sweetie? Nobody cares. I don't understand why he keeps making these defensive statements. People who think he's biased are not going to be swayed by...him saying he's not biased. (I'm not even going to touch on his huge-ass assumption, because quite frankly I'm just too tired of this.)

• Our anchor: "I'm not making a big deal out of 11-year-old witchcraft comments or the stuff she said about touching yourself years ago." This literally made me do a spit-take. Unbelievable absurdity delivered with such serious earnestness. Only in America.

• Gary Tuchman is clearly not having fun anymore, thank you very much. In fact, I think he would very much like to stop chasing after candidates who refuse to talk to him. About that Sean Hannity interview that O'Donnell did? Says Gary, "Well, it is a delicious irony that she went on the national media to say she didn't want to talk to the national media." Oh, snap. Sing it!

• Our intrepid correspondent then takes the Hannity appearance and lays down a fact-check. Booyah.

• Oh, is it panel time already? Tonight's pontificators include Erick Erickson, John Avlon, and John Ridley. Joy.

• Anderson: "I think bias is something that certainly I'm obsessed with and try to eradicate it, to the extent that it's possible." Um, being 'obsessed' with bias makes you a ping pong ball--paddled back and forth by whoever is screaming loudest at the moment (hint: usually conservatives). Silver Fox, if you keep bending backwards you're going to slip a disc. I've said on this blog on more than one occasion that I don't think this show has a partisan bias, but do I think they sometimes overreact to criticism and swing towards the conservative viewpoint? Absolutely. Absolutely. (I touched on this significantly during the Sherrod debacle.) Call it liberal guilt. I'm not even presuming that they are liberals, but they know damn well that's how they're perceived by conservatives. Sometimes I wish they'd stop navel-gazing, tell all their accusers to go screw themselves, and just do their jobs to the best of their ability.

• Erickson: "But the humor here and the irony is that the media now and even Republicans are so focused on Christine O'Donnell, they're not focusing anymore on Sharron Angle or Ken Buck or Rand Paul or Linda McMahon or any of these other candidates, all of whom are breathing a sigh of relief." I'm not sure there's humor or irony, but Erick's point ties in with the title of this blog post. Agreeing with Erickson? Now I feel scared inside and want to go home.

• Melanie Sloan, the corruption-slaying ninja, returned because the O'Donnell camp is accusing her of libel. Also, CREW is apparently a liberal group (pay no mind to the Republicans they go after!) and funded by the devil himself, George Soros. Not George Soros! Boogity boogity boo! They might take away my commie pinko card for this, but I don't really know anything about Soros, other than the fact that conservatives are seemingly petrified of him.

• Okay, having Melanie respond to the libel charge seems legitimate. I don't, however, understand why our anchor continuously night after night makes her justify her group's nonpartisan credentials. It's getting annoying. We're past devil's advocacy at this point. Anderson, if you don't believe her, do your own investigation (and stop letting yourself be pushed around by conservatives). Just remember you're pretty much in the same boat.
  

• As for why CREW is going after O'Donnell now, um, the same reason all the news orgs are investigating her now. She won the nomination and could become senator. It's not like CREW has unlimited resources to throw at every nobody who isn't going anywhere. Just like the news, they go after the big fish.

• Good fact-check from Tom Foreman on Chris Coons (unfortunately name, no?).

• MORE panel? Good lord.
  

• Anderson on Sarah Palin: "You've got to give her props, whether you like her or not, and you know, the country is clearly divided on her. But she really took a gamble on the people that she backed. It wasn't like she was kind of waiting to see which way the wind blew. She reached out, picked up some people and really elevated them." Um, no, we do not have to "give her props." Exactly how is she taking a gamble? She's not running for anything right now. She doesn't hold an office anymore. If people in punditry-land actually got fired for being wrong, none of them would have jobs.

• Tonight was part two of Sanjay Gupta's medical mystery series. Interesting stuff, and very sad.

• The "shot" tonight was fun with mascots, but I think I'm going to skip that and instead present you OK Go's latest bit of awesomeness. Just watch:

• The show was okay. Too much panel! And Anderson's being weird with the bias stuff. And they need to spread out from just O'Donnell. But other than THAT...heh. It's strange, they finally do seem to be moving towards more fact-checking and less "balance," but now they're in this weird phase where they're always trying to justify their jobs. It's gonna be okay, guys. Do your jobs well; do your jobs objectively--screw everyone else. Yes, that includes me.
  

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.

Republican Incitement Results In Threats Against Democrats, Continuation Of Kids In Peril Series On Obesity, And Juarez Mayor Targeted

Hi everyone. We're kicking things off with the news that things are getting ugly out there over the passage of health care reform. The "breaking news" graphic has returned to assault our senses, even though I'm pretty sure the majority of the information we're being told is at least hours old. *Sigh*

From Dana Bash we learn that Democratic lawmakers have been meeting over safety concerns due to a series of threats. Examples: vile phone messages left for Bart Stupak, a brick through the window of Louise Slaughter's office, and various other scary incidents. Why is this happening? Well, as I've said before, look to the leaders.

Dana notes that right now Sarah Palin has a map on her Facebook page that identifies top political targets with rifle crosshairs. In her piece, she also mentions blogger Mike Vanderboegh, who is encouraging readers to break windows. Not to mention Steve King, a congressman who was caught on video egging on protesters by slapping a picture of Pelosi. When Dana tried to ask him about it, he brushed it off as an exaggeration.

Minority leader Boehner wouldn't talk to Dana, but he did put out a statement that very weakly called the threats unacceptable. Not good enough. He needs to get his own people under control (King, Bachman, etc., I'm looking at you). This is not a game.

After Dana's piece, she sticks around and we're also joined by centrist guy John Avlon. Anderson Cooper points out that Steve King was simply factually incorrect when he stated that it was an exaggeration he was inciting protesters, given that he's on tape slapping the picture. Exactly. They talk about Palin, Mike Vanderboegh, and militia movements. To John's credit, he characterizes this as clear incitement.

For the Republican's part, Dana tells us that GOPers are crying foul because House majority whip Jim Clyburn said Republicans who don't condemn these threats are aiding and abetting terrorism. Personally, I wouldn't have called it that for this very reason--Republicans always project onto the Democrats. But if families of representatives are scared to answer their phones or let their kids walk outside their house, what exactly do you call that?

Watching these first couple segments, I was ready and waiting with my can of whoop-ass, but luckily it remained unopened. The 360 kids didn't do a bad job with this like I feared they would, though admittedly Rachel Maddow's segments were better. As I've previously stated, this isn't new. We shouldn't be shocked this is happening. There has been a history of incitement by Republicans that has been clearly evident since the 2008 campaign. Surely we haven't forgotten already.

At the time, I was very frustrated with the coverage on the show, and particularly with Anderson himself. I know at this point I must sound like a broken record when it comes to my fake balance pet peeve, but to use it with regards to violence is particularly egregious. Thankfully we didn't get too much of that tonight. To try to equate the two parties on this subject would be ridiculous. And dangerous.

There will always be crazies, but the majority of the current problem can attributed to Republican/conservative leadership, both in Congress and in the media. These people need to be called out. Unfortunately for us, instead of holding the inciters accountable, CNN has decided to hire them. Your media at work.

Transitioning now to Anderson at the Magic Wall to break down polling. It seems that all demographics except for seniors overwhelming think the passage of health care reform was a good thing. Hm. Our anchor implies it's because of Medicare (probably mostly because he has a related piece to segue into). Call me ageist, but has anyone considered it's because seniors are often more easily manipulable? I know your grandma sends you all those false email forwards. I mean, the former VP candidate did kind of imply the bill would kill them.

I'm running out of time, so I'm going to kick it into high gear now. Next up, we have a Tom Foreman piece on a badly needed Medicare fix that was not included in the bill, though it has been promised. Then we have a Sanjay Gupta piece on the lack of primary doctors in this country. We've actually already seen this (cheaters!), but it is updated to include info from the legislation.

Then we continue with the Kids in Peril series on obesity. In another Sanjay piece, the good doctor goes to the home of Tiger Green, a 12-year-old who weighs 250 pounds. He used to eat a steak and drink five Sprites for lunch. Yes, his parents are obese as well. Now Tiger is on a diet and has already lost 30 pounds, which is good. Most notable about this piece is they take the kid to a hospital and do all these scans, and then proceed to surely scare the crap out of him by showing him all the stuff that's wrong. I could see doing that with an adult, but a 12-year-old?

Finally, Gary Tuchman is still reporting from Juarez, and his piece tonight focuses on Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz, law and order badass. See, the mayor has made it his mission to go after the drug cartels, and they in turn, well, are not pleased. He's been threatened with assassination, emphasized with a bloody animal head. Yeesh. But the mayor is not backing down. He has, however, hired mad security, yo. I hope they're able to protect him. I'm pretty sure we've seen this guy profiled before--either by Michael Ware or Anderson. By the way, where is Michael Ware?

The "shot" tonight is a Japanese reporter willingly allowing herself to be tasered. This is so obviously just an excuse to yet again play that video of Rick Sanchez. And I fully support that. Because it's never not funny. Speaking of funny, you know how anchors--specifically our anchor--will often making generic comments just to end a conversation/segment. How many times have we heard Anderson call something "fascinating"? He cannot always be that fascinated!

Well! After playing the clip where Rick says, "It hurts. It's painful. But no one's dead," Anderson quips: "But no one's dead. There you go. Something to think about as you go to bed tonight." Um, what? The truly hilarious part is directly after, when he repeats what he's just said, obviously realizing how bad it sounds, all the while knowing the broadcast is over and this awkward moment of hilarity is what he is leaving the viewers. His banter partner for the night, Christine Romans, was left laughing hysterically, as was I. The perils of going off prompter. Good times.

The show was okay. Nothing horrible; nothing extremely impressive. That'll do it.

Anderson Cooper 360 Returns To Haiti, Update On The American Missionaries, Sarah Palin Keynotes Tea Party Convention, & Who Dat?!

Hi everyone. Sorry about the lack of Friday review. Sometimes you feel like blogging; other times you feel like vegging. But it's a new week, and we find ourselves back in Haiti. I'm not sure if technically one is allowed to be proud of people they've never met, but if it is, I am totally proud of Team 360 right now. I knew they would return to the country. There was never any doubt in my mind (and it should be noted that CNN as an organization never left). But it's still nice to witness the dedication.

Anderson Cooper begins by addressing the question of why he returned, a question he also explored in a blog post. He explains that the people on the ground aren't asking him why he returned, but rather why he ever left. I'm guessing he probably feels guilty about that. He shouldn't. I don't see any other major anchor in the country. Last week, Brian Williams was on The Daily Show talking about the three days he spent in Haiti. Now, I love me some BriWi, but three days? That's your classic parachute in, do the disaster tour, sayonara.

As for the week break, quite frankly CNN would be stupid to let any of their people stay in those conditions for an extended period of time. They are there to perform a job. Getting worn down to the point that you become an infection magnet isn't exactly helpful. But anyway, the video below is Anderson talking about why he returned and some of things he's seen upon his re-arrival:



There was amazing news today. Maybe. Anderson and Sanjay Gupta talk about a 28-year-old man who was allegedly pulled from the rubble alive nearly a month after the quake. I have to say, I'm pretty skeptical about this one. So much so that I didn't feel comfortable tweeting the news. Obviously, if true, the man must have had access to water. Otherwise there's no way in hell he would have survived and even then...it seems a little fishy. We may never know for sure.

From that potential miracle, we move into an Anderson piece that just kind of summarizes what the situation continues to be like on the ground. People are living in the street. Bodies are still being found, and subsequently buried in old graves (if they're lucky). There's heavy equipment being used to clean up, but destruction remains all around. People find new ways to make money, such as a man they come across selling electricity. All in all, improvement has been made, but Haiti remains plunged in misery.

Karl Penhaul then joins us live to talk about the case of the American missionaries charged with kidnapping. Earlier, Anderson noted how much coverage this controversy has been getting and reiterated there is much more to the story of Haiti. I'm glad he said that. Last week I noticed that their post-quake coverage had suddenly become strangely focused, but I didn't want to complain just yet. That's not to say, of course, that they shouldn't cover the missionaries. Karl tells us that the Laura Silsby-led group actually tried to take a whole other group of children before the current group and were stopped. So, yes, they are in big trouble.

Then we bounce back to Idaho to get the angle that Dan Simon has been covering. We learned the other day that the men and women have been separated. Dan was actually able to sit down with Renee Thompson, wife of Paul Thompson, one of the men arrested. We learn that Thompson received an email from Silsby (who he did not know), basically recruiting him for this trip. He went on to recruit four other men himself. Paul's wife claims he was not in the loop on the details, but rather thought he was going to do good with his handyman skills. This is both sad and totally messed up.

Next, we're joined by Frances Robles of the Miami Herald live on-the-ground with Anderson and Sanjay to talk about the fallout from this missionary mess. Apparently, sick kids are now being denied their promised flights out of the country because pilots are freaking out over all the questions they're being asked. I guess suddenly everyone is extra suspicious of those transporting children and no one wants to be arrested for trying to do a good deed. The result? Sick kids become dead kids. There has to be a better way.

The subject of keeping this story in the news also comes up, an issue I depressingly blogged about over a week ago. It's apparent that Anderson is worried about it, and hey, he's seen it before--there's no reason he shouldn't be worried. Frances, on the other hand, is more worried about the staying power of the aid agencies currently lending a hand in Haiti. I guess that will partly be the media's responsibility as well. If the help leaves and no one reports it, well, I don't even want to think out that.

On a silly note, you know that whole "Text 360" thing that I think is pretty stupid? Well, my feelings haven't changed on that, but tonight my girl Vanessa got her text read. So...shout out! That's pretty much all I have to say on that. Below is video of discussion between Anderson, Frances, and Sanjay:



Transitioning now to politics. Can I get a woo hoo? No? Okay. So, as you might have heard, the big Tea Party Convention has taken the country by storm. By storm, people! All 600 of them. I am completely flummoxed by the media's complete newsgasm over a stupid convention that only drew 600 people. Hell, I went to a media reform convention back in 2005 that had well over a thousand attendees. I'm pretty sure CNN didn't even know it existed, even with the attendance of Bill Moyers, Al Franken, and various members of Congress. My point here is WTF is up with the drooling over this convention?

Oh wait, I know what's up. And her name is Sarah Palin: Media Magnet. Ms. Maverick-y gave the keynote, and while she made sure to rag on Obama's use of the teleprompter, she failed to see the irony in using her hand as a crib sheet to remind herself to "lift American spirits." No, I'm not kidding. I wish I were kidding. So, to recap, the favored leader of the conservative movement likes to use her hand as a cheat sheet for hard words like "tax," and predominantly uses Facebook to communicate. Good lord, they're trying to elect a 14-year-old. It's like America is trapped in a scene from a really warped version of Freaky Friday.

That train wreck all came to us via a Randi Kaye piece, by the way. After covering the convention, I figure she deserves the credit. For discussion, we're next joined by Mary Matalin. Um, yeah, I don't think so. Even Anderson looks downright thrilled to be having this conversation. Yes, yes, I'm sure it'd be the same with a Democrat, but whatev.

Finally tonight,...who dat???!!! Yes, the New Orleans Saints won the Superbowl, which just so happens to have been the most-watched television program evah! In full disclosure, I should note that I neither like nor understand the game of football. But! My heart was totally rooting for New Orleans. I just, you know, didn't actually watch any of it. Hey man, ABC had Modern Family on. Don't judge me. Anyway! James Carville and Mary Matalin then join us to gloat. They're decked out in their Saints gear too. They're being, dare I say, almost enjoyable? Now see, why can't they be like this all the time? I mean, c'mon, is that whole politics thing really that necessary?

The "shot" tonight is a weatherman freaking the eff out over snowmageddon. SnOMG! Good times.

The show was pretty good. Obviously, they just got there and haven't had much time to really zero in on specific stories (besides the missionaries). As Anderson noted earlier, it's going to get harder to keep the reports fresh and find new angles. I tend to hang onto stories forever. (Wanna do a follow up on Katrina? I'll watch.) But most viewers aren't like me. Again, I really admire that Team 360 is back.

Senate Screws Us On Cheaper Drugs, Palin vs. Terminator, Parental Abduction, And More Tiger Woods (Plus Dickens Reading and Anderson's Momma On R&K!)

Hi everyone. We begin with the news that the Senate has just voted down two proposals that would have allowed us to buy cheaper drugs from other countries. Thanks Senate! Because our friends at 360 are always "keeping 'em honest," we get played a clip of Campaign!Obama pledging to bring on the cheap drugs. Now, I love me the Daily Show-like accountability we got going on here, but one wonders, dudes, where were you four months ago?!

See, this drug deal is not new. It was first reported in August, and it would have been nice if it would have gotten some traction. I guess the news cycle was otherwise occupied. Probably trying to suck the last ratings morsel off Michael Jackson's death. I just love the media sometimes, don't you?

Anyway! Better later than never. Anderson Cooper once again takes us to the Big Wall. Is it just me, or does it feel like a "Use the Big Wall more!" memo went out to our 360 peeps? They are getting their frickin money's worth, people. Our anchor demonstrates what most of us already know: drugs are a lot more expensive here in the U.S.

Joe Johns joins us to talk about how this is essentially a trade-off; the administration gives Big Pharma what they want, Big Pharma doesn't kill the bill. Awesome for them, huh? Safety issues are brought up, which is an excuse used not to import. I'll take my chances. Finally, David Gergen shares his insider-y insider-ness. He thinks the drug companies got a "sweetheart deal," so he's got his clear glasses on there. But he's still implying reform opposition is strictly a center/right thing. I'm surprised there's been no talk of the growing progressive split.

If everything you just read wasn't reminder enough that our Congresscritters are idiots, 360 would like to demonstrate this fact to you by using a member of their Floor Crew. We'll call him Jerry, because, well, that's his name. Jerry will be spending the hour reading from Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities." No, this is not a segment about torture. See, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced an amendment to the health care reform bill that would have established a single-payer system. Though an exciting prospect, um, it obviously wasn't going to go anywhere.

Unless a senator objects, amendments are not usually read out loud. Well, guess what. Apparently a little of Lieberman's dickishness has rubbed off on Senator Tom Coburn, because he demanded the 787 page amendment be read. With the President-imposed end-of-the year deadline for getting this bill wrapped up, time in the Senate is very tight--hence people being none too thrilled with this stunt. This brings us back to poor Jerry. I guess 360 said to themselves, hey, let's make someone read something and see how far they get. And there you go. Personally, I might have rather just read the bill.

Transitioning now to an epic fight to the death battle: Sarah Palin vs. The Terminator!!! Dun Dun Dun! Alright, fine. It's actually way less exciting than it sounds. A Candy Crowley piece breaks it down. Arnold Schwarzenegger, as you know, is a green governor. While former governor Sarah Palin, likes to shoot wolves from helicopters, and isn't too keen on combating that whole global warming thing. Apparently, the two have had words. Or at least gotten snarky via Facebook. It never ends.

Moving on to an unbelievable child abduction piece from David Mattingly. We're shown video of a terrified Jean Paul Lacombe Diaz as he is taken from his school bus by Texas authorities in order to be turned over to his father, Jean Philippe Lacombe. Lacombe had presented misleading Mexican documents to a San Antonio judge, which wrongly showed he had custody of the boy. On the tape, Jean Paul calls out for help, stating that his father will hit him. Essentially, the state just assisted an alleged child abuser kidnap his son. Like I said, unbelievable.

Now no one knows the location of either Lacombe or Jean Paul. We're joined by the mother, Berenice Diaz, and Lisa Bloom. As you might imagine, Berenice is pretty beside herself given that she hasn't seen her son in two months. Surprisingly, Lisa found that the judge actually followed the law. She notes that they're presented with documents everyday and assume them to be true. Well, that's scary. Still though, you'd think the bus scene would have warranted a call to DFS.

On now, strangely, to another abduction case. We're played an interview Anderson had with David Goldman, which was taped literally as he was on a plane to Brazil that was about to take off (we can hear the announcements). He's taking the trip to finally (hopefully) get his son. The back story: In 2004, David's wife Bruna Bianchi took their son to her native Brazil for a two-week vacation. But that vacation turned out to be indefinite. They never came home. Bruna divorced David and remarried in Brazil. She then later died and her new husband took custody of David's son. It's been a battle ever since. Let's hope the battle is truly over.

Time for your Tiger Woods news! We're given some Magic Wall action, and since the subject falls in the medical realm, we also get some Sanjay Gupta action. But I'm skipping ahead because...meh. We're not off the Tiger train yet though. Now we're going to do some sister network promotion, by showing a clip of Robin Meade talking Tiger with Spike Lee and Charles Barkley. They're worried because they can't get in touch with him. Well, I hope the guy's okay. This too will pass. Can we be done with this story now?

No, apparently we cannot. Because now Anderson's going to talk with Robin about the talk she had with Spike and Charles. My head is spinning. The fact that Tiger changed his number is brought up, but then the train just completely derails because the next thing I know, we're talking about the Real Housewives. No, really! Why do all conversations with our anchor end with the Real Housewives?

To make this even more bizarre, the Silver Fox tells us a story about his encounter with Charles Barkley at a Turner company party in New Orleans. From the delivery here, I'm assuming Mr. Barkley was a little sloshed, but don't quote me on that. It seems he yelled our anchor's name, tried to kill him with a bear hug, and then said something along the lines of: "You try to keep them mother******* honest. But you can't keep them honest. They ain't honest!" Well said. Someone should sew that on a pillow. And you know Anderson just kinda stood there and nodded until he felt comfortable enough to pretend he had a phone call.

Speaking of Mr. Cooper, he finished up a co-hosting stint on Regis and Kelly this morning, and who was in the audience. His momma! You and I know her as Gloria Vanderbilt, American royalty. I'm not all that familiar with her, to tell the truth. I know she made jeans and isn't shy about writing books about the sex (no, I have not read them). Ahem. Anyway, she tells a story about a young Silver Fox. Take a gander at the vid. Oh, and bonus inbox!

We wrap up the night by checking back in with Jerry. Only made it to page 41. He does not like this book, people. He does not like this book at all. Poor Jerry. Eh, it can't always be about dancing to "Single Ladies."

The show was okay. It felt like there wasn't a lot of there there. I really wish they'd go more in-depth on the health care stuff, but I've learned not to hold my breath. I hope they stay on the Jean Paul case. This isn't true crime sensationalism. There's a real chance media exposure will help find that kid. That'll do it.

Senate Announces Health Care Bill, Palin Continues To Haunt My News Viewing, And Killings At The Canal: The Army Tapes Part Two

Hi everyone. We're kicking things off tonight with big BREAKING NEWS: the Senate has a health care bill! And no member of Congress was harmed in its creation. Yet. The Democrats claim the plan will cover 94 percent of Americans AND cut the federal deficit by $127 billion over 10 years. Impressive. Republicans, you might guess, are already essentially going all Joe Wilson on Democrats, declaring there is no way the $849 billion price tag (over 10 years) won't put us further in the hole. Even Conservadems aren't so sure. CNN just received the 2,000 page bill, so I shall refrain from my bitching about fact-checking. Don't ever say I can't be fair.

But Dana Bash HAS been able to get a little more scoop. She joins us live with the news that the bill will cover pre-existing conditions, contains mandates, and does have a public option of which states can opt-out. I say it sounds pretty good; Dana says the public option part is basically dead on arrival. Bah. Such a Debbie Downer. Ooh! A Dana Downer. As for how they're going to pay for this thing, there'll be a 40 percent tax on high cost insurance plans, a slight Medicare payroll tax increase for families making over $250,000, and a five percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery.

Dana tells us that last item has already been nicknamed "Botax." Punny! "A lot of people are going to be surprised about that, but you won't be able to tell, because, you know, they won't show expressions," says Anderson Cooper. Bwah! He'll be here all night people. Try the veal. Anyhoo! Dana continues to bum me out with regards to abortion funding. Then Candy Crowley comes in and tells us that basically the Democrats are just trying to keep this bad boy moving forward. They're like the little engine that could. They think they can, they think they can.

Next up, 360 continues to force us to watch Sarah Palin's every move. Her latest book-pimping visit was to Fox News' Hannity. Oh, do not want! After that clip, we cut to a pre-recorded discussion with James Carville and Ralph Reed, apparently, already in progress. It seems we missed something quiet HILarious, because the guys are cracking the hell up. I guess it will remain a mystery. Also? Why is Ralph so orange? I swear, I can't ever look at that guy without thinking of Jon Stewart pondering if he sleeps in a vegetable crisper. Oh, and then there's that whole Abramoff thing. Seriously, why again is this guy still allowed to be on the TeeVee?

So anyway, James gives Palin all these compliments, which leads Anderson to ask the following: "Are you intentionally saying good things about her, so that the Republicans will keep her around as much as possible? Is there some sort of secret strategy on your part?" ZOMG, the super-secret code has been breached! Anderson is on to the Democrat's diabolical plan. All joking aside, I know many a liberal who would love for her to be the Republican nominee for 2012. Ralph notes that Palin energizes the grass roots and gets out the vote, so we shouldn't be laughing too much. Point taken.

Transitioning now to part two of the special series"Killings at the Canal: The Army Tapes" with correspondent Abbie Boudreau. This segment mostly focuses on the interrogation and confession of Sergeant Michael Leahy, which we see on the tapes. For background, check out my previous post. It's really fascinating to see the actual interrogation. Sergeant Leahy initially claims to have shot one Iraqi, but even though he admits to firing two shots, it takes quite a bit of coaxing for him to explain why the second shot occurred.

Apparently, he shot a second Iraqi as well, but this man did not immediately die, and instead fell to the ground gurgling. Sergeant John Hatley then delivered the fatal bullet. Leahy was hesitating and being vague because he did not want to point fingers at another soldier. In another segment of tape, an interrogator talks about the potential public relations mess. Kinda makes you wonder how often the Army abandons their own people in order to avoid controversy. I'm not saying that's what I believe happened here, but it's something to think about.

In this segment we also meet Leahy's wife, Jamie. The couple were married in a civil ceremony, but they had planned to have a wedding with the works later. That never happened because Leahy is now serving a 20 year sentence at Fort Leavenworth. Following her piece, Abbie joins us to talk about the wives of the men now serving time. Kim Hatley is remaining strong for her son who is now fighting in Afghanistan. But Johanna Mayo is legally blind with three young children. She depended on her husband for everything. So sad for all involved. According to Abbie, no one ever reported the four Iraqis missing. You can watch more here.

Abbie then sticks around for more discussion and were joined by former Army Staff Sergeant David Bellavia and former military psychologist Larry James. There's a lot of talk about interrogation methods. Then David makes the point that as a soldier, you're forced to live in the moment. Basically he's saying they don't have the luxury of extensively weighing consequences. Larry agrees with David, concluding that the men were caught up in the "fog of war." But he also notes that there are thousands of soldiers out there right now dealing with the same tough circumstances as the men in the piece, and they're doing so without breaking the law. Good discussion.

Moving on now to Gary Tuchman live to preview his reporting that is, unfortunately, coming up in the next hour. Bummer. Because I won't be watching. Gary Tuchman should never be relegated to hour two. Just sayin'. Anyway, of note in the "360 Bulletin" is the news that a federal judge has ruled that "gross negligence" of the Army Corps of Engineers led to the flooding of New Orleans. Pretty big. Is it weird that the first thing (person, actually) I thought of was Harry Shearer? The show should have him and Ivor Van Heerden on to talk about the story. Look at me, I could be a booker. Yeah, I know, not that easy.

Pretty much the rest of the hour is Obama's press conference live from South Korea. The show was fairly good, though I still do not understand the Palin obsession. I hope Abbie's special gets a lot of viewers when it's aired over the weekend. It deserves them and let's face it, CNN's shows aren't doing too hot in that area right now. Tonight I was surprised to learn that two of my long-time 360-watching friends have pretty much tuned out. And no Jon Klein, the fact that you don't do opinion has nothing to do with it.

Discussion of New Mammogram Recommendations, Killings At The Canal: The Army Tapes, Palin Book Tour Continues, And Hasan Update

Hi everyone. We begin tonight with more focus on those confusing new mammogram guidelines, the general question being: What is up with that? For discussion, we're joined by Dr. Kimberly Gregory, who was a member of the task force that issued the guidelines, and Dr. Daniel Kopans, one of the world's leading experts on mammography screening. Honestly? We don't really get much further than where we were yesterday. Dr. Gregory urges women to talk to their doctors about their own personal risks, while Dr. Kopans states there is no science to support that screening high risk women will save lives. According to him, 75 to 90 percent of women who develop breast cancer are not at increased risk, which makes the guidelines pretty ridiculous.

Dr. Gregory also does some talking about the "net benefit" of screenings and that just makes me think this is about rationing and money. Exactly how many lives need to be saved before a "benefit" is determined? If it's somebody you love, that number is one. The question of whether or not this will affect insurance coverage of screenings is brought up, and Dr. Gregory isn't going to touch that responsibility ball. "We don't make recommendations for insurance coverage," she says. "That's just ignoring what the fallout is going to be," says Dr. Kopans. Exactly. I'm still suspicious as to how this all came about. If there's a story to be uncovered, as they say, follow the money.

Transitioning now to the first segment of Abbie Boudreau's investigative series, "Killings at the Canal: The Army Tapes." CNN was able to obtain 23 1/2 hours of interrogation tapes of three Army sergeants. First Sergeant John Hatley, Sergeant 1st Class Joseph Mayo, and Sergeant Michael Leahy have all been convicted of the execution-style murders of four Iraqis in a canal in Baghdad in March 2007. This story was brought to CNN's attention by Private 1st Class Joshua Hartson, who was there, but not charged with any crime. He believes the convicted men are heroes.

This all came about on a routine mission that was halted when shots were fired. The men subsequently found the four Iraqis--the shooters--along with a haul of weapons. Initially there was nothing out of the ordinary. The Iraqis were blindfolded, zip-tied, and loaded into the vehicle to be dropped off at a detainee housing area. But one of them spoke English, and when Hartson asked him if he had killed Americans, the detainee laughed, which Hartson took as an affirmative. Believing these Iraqis would just be immediately freed to kill again, the men decided to take matters into their own hands. The detainees were then lined up and shot execution style, their bodies left in the canal.

The secret was kept for nine months. I'm guessing its revealing will be covered in forthcoming segments. I'm also imagining that we'll be seeing more of the actual interrogation tapes in the coming days, as this segment pretty much just set the scene. Taking on investigations like this one really is CNN at its best. For some background, you can watch Abbie answer a few questions. I think I'll wait until I've seen the entire series before I fully weigh in, but tonight I'll leave you with something Michael Ware once said. From a profile of him in Men's Journal (emphasis mine):

Of the many stories that haunt Ware when he closes his eyes but can’t sleep, this one singes a little more because he caught it on film and CNN refused to air it: It was spring 2007. He was in Diyala province, in a village north of Baghdad, embedded with a U.S. infantry platoon conducting a sweep for insurgents. By the time they arrived at daybreak, the insurgents had fled. The whole thing looked like a bust, but then there was a shot. An American sniper had seen an armed man running toward the platoon and put a bullet in the back of his skull. The soldiers went to look for him. Was he dead? Was he still a threat? When they found him, alive, they dragged him to a secure area.

“Then, for the next 20 minutes,” Ware remembers, “all of us just stood around and watched this guy’s life slowly ebb away in painful, heaving sobs for air, rendering him absolutely no assistance or aid. If that had been an American soldier, he would have been medevacked out and in 20 minutes would’ve landed on an operating table. Once an enemy combatant comes into your custody, you’re obliged by the Geneva Conventions to render that wounded prisoner all aid. Even I — with my rudimentary medical training, I don’t think his life could’ve been saved — but even I could’ve eased his passing.

“Instead a towel was laid over his face, making his breathing much more labored and painful, the taunts continued, and we just sat around and watched him die.

“And for some bizarre reason, it was just me and this platoon of soldiers, and I was able to see the dispassion of these kids in the way they just watched his life slip away. I was filming and worrying about the best composition of the shot, and I realized that I too was watching just as dispassionately. There’s no blame to be laid here. That guy was a legitimate target who was rightfully shot in the head. But it made me realize, just once more, that this kind of dehumanization is what happens when we send our children to war.”

Following Abbie's piece, we're joined by former Air Force attorney Scott Silliman and former Army Staff Sergeant David Bellavia, who fought in the Battle of Fallujah. While Scott notes that what the soldiers did violates the law and Geneva Conventions, much of the discussion is focused on what David describes as a "catch-and-release program for terrorists." Abbie explains how incredibly hard it was to obtain enough evidence to hold detainees, which confuses me a little, since I've read so much about Iraqis being scooped up just willy nilly. But it's implied that the policy changed following Abu Ghraib, so maybe that's the discrepancy. Wouldn't it be nice if these kind of intricacies got the same level of coverage as, say, balloon boy? Anyway, good discussion.

Transitioning now to the continuing Sarah Palin press tour. Next stop: Barbara WaWa! Oh 360, why you gotta do me like this? Going so strong and then...Palin. Le sigh. So anyway, for those keeping score at home, the former Veep candidate is asked about Obama and the word "dithering" comes up. Twice! Anderson Cooper explains that the interview was because Palin has a new book out, "In case you haven't heard about it..." Yes, I've heard about it. Because you won't let me not hear about it! Damn you, Silver Fox! Damn your piercing blue eyes and...wait, what was I saying?

So anyhoo! Tom Foreman is back to do some more fact-checking, but I don't really even care. Palin has even sucked away my enthusiasm for facts! One thing that's kinda funny though, is that she's been caught in a contradiction (two dueling soundbites) about the occurrence of a "family vote" regarding deciding to run for Veep. She's now lying about things that no one cares about, and which could never have been disputed in the first place. Good lord. Also? Tom sorta throws Katie Couric under the bus when he states that Palin is right when she claims Couric went easier on Biden. The evidence? Gaffe-tastic Joe claimed Roosevelt went on TV when TV didn't exist. That doesn't necessary mean she went easier, but it is a MAJOR case of follow-up fail.

For discussion of Palin (oh yes), we're joined by Bill Bennett and Donna Brazile. Says Anderson Cooper: "Sarah Palin has obviously gotten a huge amount of attention. The A.P. devoted a lot of time to fact checking it. We've done fact checks, as well. Is that fair?" WTF kind of question is that? Yeah media, cut it out with your unfair fact-checking and information gathering! C'mon, is there not some kid in a flying object you could be telling me about right now? To be fair to our anchor, I think (hope) he was talking more about the amount of attention Palin is getting. But um, she's courting it. She has a book to sell. So...yeah. Good rule of thumb? Fact-checking is always good. Erm, unless you're talking about a comedy skit. But what kind of network would do something idiotic like that? Oh, wait...

Moving on (yeah, I'm done with Palin) to an update on the case of the Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Hasan. Apparently, he was trying to get some of the soldiers he counseled investigated for war crimes. To talk about this, we're joined by Eugene Fidel, a military law attorney and president of the National Institute of Military Justice. Anderson is really focused on doctor-patient confidentiality, but Eugene believes there's a plausible argument Hasan was "under obligation to report" possible crimes. A war crime is a very, very serious thing. Though many soldiers kill and witness killing; that's not the same thing as being involved in a war crime. A war crime is wrong and punishable--hence the crime part. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

First it was snakes on a plane. Now the "shot" tonight? Goats on a bus. Then they whip out the infamous "bear on a trampoline" video. Just cuz. "Don't you love having bears on the trampoline video, just standing by? Do we have the "who the hell is Wolf" standing by?" asks Anderson. Hey, where's the love for Seaman Ship these days? Also? Earlier in the show, there was a story related to Facebook that allowed Anderson to display his technological cluelessness. He goes back to the subject now: "And by the way, I do know that I have many friends on Facebook. I just don't have friends in real life." Awww. I will be your friend, Anderson! We can play Scrabble. Good times will be had.

The show wasn't too bad. Much of the awesomeness obviously coming from Abbie's excellent report. I'm wondering how much more Palin we've got in store for us. The media's obsession with her is crazeh! By the time 2012 rolls around her career could be completely dead. I mean, remember Fred Thompson? I wish they'd take a pill. I'll give Palin the Newsweek cover though. That was pretty uncool. Anyway, until tomorrow.

Sarah Palin Again Makes Headlines, Congressional Crooks, New Mammogram Recommendations, And Stupak Amendment Discussion

Hi everyone. Happy New Week! And oh what a new week it is. Hide your wolves, people. Because the Quitta from Wasilla? She's baaaaacck! Back in the headlines, anyway. It seems Sarah Palin wrote a book. And I use the word "wrote" in the loosest way possible. But anyway, mediagasm! The former governor's first stop at pimping out that fine piece of literature? None other than Oprah Winfrey herself. Let's see, one of 360's obsessions being interviewed by another of 360's obsessions. You think we'll have discussion of this? You betcha!

We begin with a piece from Candy Crowley that lays down the background. We know the basic rub here, right? Though adored by conservatives, the majority of Americans are just not that into the former Veep candidate when it comes to actually leading. Gee, I wonder why.

Next up, we're joined by Tom Foreman, the poor sap who had to spend all day reading the book. Though CNN claims to be an objective network, this incident proves they are clearly pro-torture. I think Tom probably needs a hug right about now. Anyhoo! His suffering was not for naught: fact-checking was performed. Apparently, Palin is trying to play off the whole disastrous Katie Couric interview as something that was pushed by adviser Nicolle Wallace to give Couric a self esteem boost (wha?). Wallace claims the convo never happened. Given that I witnessed Wallace spin her way throughout the campaign, this is a bit of a tough-y regarding picking who's probably telling the truth.

We learn from Tom that Palin also got her facts wrong about the recession under Reagan and issues related to her ethics. In fact, the Associated Press is doing a big fact-check on the book, something Palin calls "opposition research." Supposedly there are 11 reporters dedicated to checking the book out. All well and good, but as Markos at Dailykos noted, gee, wouldn't it have been nice if they would have had 11 reporters investigate Bush's WMD claims? Priorities I guess.

Also mentioned by Tom, is that Palin brings up John Kerry's botched joke from three years ago, and calls him a "loon" for saying kids who don't do their homework will end up in Iraq. From Tom: "Kerry a long time ago explained that he was not disparaging our troops in those comments, but was making a joke about President Bush suggesting that he was not too bright for getting us into that war, Anderson." Irony alert! We're getting the no BS line tonight, but that is SO not how 360 played it back then. That's right, I remember. I often rail against CNN's stupid fake "balance," but that was one of the most egregious instances I had ever seen, and one of the few times I have ever questioned this show's objectivity.

Panel time (with bonus Oprah clips)! Keeping the seats warm are Republican Dede Scozzafava of New York 23 fame, Mary Matalin, and David Gergen. They talk about Palin making money and her political future and...man, I so don't care. Of note is Anderson Cooper's observation that Palin is like a Rorschach test. I just found that kind of funny because I often view CNN the same way. I also loved Anderson basically saying that facts don't matter to Palin's supporters. It's true! This segment is followed by an oddly placed "Beat 360," because apparently they want to confuse me.

On now to the news that William Jefferson will be going away for 13 years. You might remember him as the Congressional dude who thought he could put $90,000 in his freezer. Them's some cojones. This segues us into a Joe Johns piece on how all these Congressional crooks still get to keep their pensions. Outrage! Except, um, I don't understand the point here. See, two years ago Congress passed the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act to prevent the collection of pensions of criminals.

The problem is people like Jefferson committed their crimes before the law was passed. Joe tells us that the constitution says you can't apply these things retroactively, so again, what's the what? Why is 360 telling me things that piss me off when there's nothing that can be done about it? Actually, they're not telling me at all--they're reminding me. With the exception of the new Jefferson info, this whole piece was pretty much a retread of the extensive reporting they did on this issue two years ago. At that time I repeatedly praised their commitment (check my archives). I guess now I don't understand how they're "keeping them honest." Is there actually something that could be done about the retroactive rule?

Transitioning now to the rather shocking news that the U.S. Preventative Services task force is now recommending that women wait until they're 50 to begin routine mammograms, rather than the previously advised 40. To complicate matters, a whole bunch of cancer experts are disagreeing. You know who's coming, doncha? Yep, Sanjay Gupta--the doc with the 1000 watt smile--is here to explain. Bottom line? These task force people aren't oncologists and you should listen to your own doctor (who will most likely say 40 to avoid being sued--just sayin').

Normally I think the whole "Text 360" thing is idiotic on several different levels, but tonight we got a great question: "Will insurance companies be able to claim that they will not pay for routine mammograms for women under 50 because it is no longer recommended?" Obviously they picked it because that's the angle they were going for, but duuuuuude. I didn't even think of that. That is totally what's going to happen. Now I have lots of questions. Who are these task force people? Can they be lobbied? Is this really about rationing? Go 360! There is honesty-keeping to do!

Next we have a preview for the Army tapes investigation, which is finally scheduled to start airing tomorrow. It looks really good.

Moving on now to discussion with Jeffrey Toobin about the Stupak abortion amendment, which was added to the House health care reform bill. Jeff has penned an interesting piece for the New Yorker that posits abortion is being marginalized. Which, it is. Says Jeff, "abortion is not treated like any other medical service." He then goes on to explain that though the Hyde amendment already prohibits public funds being used for abortions, Stupak is different in that individuals will be using their own money to buy their insurance policies. But because a percentage will be subsidized, their abortion rights will be off the table. Jeff estimates this will affect 20 million women.

The segment wraps up with this great quote, again from our senior legal analyst: "And one of the interesting things, as you study this around the world, is that abortion rates really don't change much if abortion is illegal. Brazil, abortions are illegal totally. But there are more abortions per capita than there are in the United States because women have abortions. They get them one way or another, either legally or illegally." So why not make them safe, legal, and rare?

For the "shot" tonight we get a clip of a dog welcoming home his soldier master. The Silver Fox makes the appropriate "aw" noises. I'm just going to go ahead and lay the whole mother lode down on you. If you can get through all those videos and not shed a tear, well, you don't have a soul.

The show was alright. I mean, you know, Palin. But I suppose we knew that was coming. Good info from Sanjay and Jeffrey. The show is at its best when they're investigating or being informative. The pundit chatter and political musings about non issues worked for them during the campaign, but that time is long over.