Harry Reid's Controversial Remarks About Obama, Other 2008 Campaign Scoop, And More News From Yemen

Hi everyone. Happy New Week! This is going to be another one of those short posts. It may be 2010, but we're going to spend the majority of this broadcast in the warm afterglow of the 2008 campaign season. Political junkies' hearts are currently a-flutter over a new book called "Game Change," which has the chattering class, well, chattering over all kinds of juicy little nuggets involving our favorite and not-so-favorite political figures.

Will I be buying this book? In a word? No. Don't get me wrong, I AM one of those political junkies, and anyone who watched Anderson Cooper's 60 Minutes piece knows there's some serious Sarah Palin schadenfreude thrown in there, but as a rule I tend to avoid these kind of beltway reads.

Though they surely contain truths, the truth is a different animal. Let's cut the crap here; this is a book of political gossip, anonymously sourced from people that have agendas, as well as written by people that have agendas. I think Glenn Greenwald breaks the situation down quite nicely. When it comes down to it, I simply don't believe that Mark Halperin and John Heilemann have produced something that deserves my money.

We're kicking things off with the revelation that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid thought Obama would succeed as president due to his "light-skinned appearance" and "no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." Ruh roh. Yeah, cracking open a couple of brews at the White House isn't going to solve this one. Republican hypocritical outrage is 3...2...1...

We're first joined by Bill Bennett and James Carville, who each play their partisan roles as one might expect. James calls the comment "inelegant," while Bill gets all puffed up about the situation, demanding to know "Who the heck talks like this anymore?" Um, lots of people in your party?

Then we're on to Roland Martin, Soledad O'Brien, and Peter Beinart, who provide us a much better discussion. The whole double standard issue is brought up and you know what? The Republicans are absolutely right. If a Republican said what Reid said, everyone defending him now would be screaming for a resignation. But before you think I'm backing the Party of No, the opposite is true as well. They'd suddenly find their defense on. That's politics in 2010.

Funny thing is--or sad thing, actually--is that Reid is right. I definitely don't endorse the way he said it, but as the panel notes, we all know there's some truth there. I also think it should be pointed out that Reid wasn't making a personal comment. He was commenting on Obama's electability. So, should Reid resign over this? Um, no. Should he lose his re-election? That's up to the voters in Nevada. Anyway, good discussion. I like how they incorporated footage from the documentary "A Girl Like Me."

On now to Anderson interviewing "Game Change" authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. There's some interesting stuff about the Clintons here. It seems some people who were publicly endorsing Hillary were privately pulling for Obama because they thought she would be too polarizing. That's actually why I voted for Obama as well. That and the Bill factor, which apparently the Clinton people very much worried about too. Perhaps the biggest revelation is that Hillary wasn't going to accept the Secretary of State position. I'm glad she did.

Transitioning now to a Paula Newton piece on Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Muslim cleric hiding out in Yemen. Paula is able to talk to Anwar's father, who claims his son wrongly accused and an "all American boy." Mmhm. Not sure how well that's going to fly.

We're then joined by Peter Bergen for discussion. He gives us good info, as always, but I'm going to go slacker and just give you the funny. Says Peter: "Richard Reid, the so-called shoe bomber, it's sort of forgotten that he had a colleague called Sajib Badat who also was going to do a shoe bomb attack on an American airline, got a case, as it were, of cold feet." Ah, I see what you did there, Mr. Bergen. "Was that a pun? asks our anchor. "It was a bad one." says Peter. See, this is what happens when you let the analysts participate in the "shot." They get all cocky. By the way, Peter trying to be funny in of itself is kinda hilarious.

In other news, screw you Mark McGwire. Thanks for ruining a lot of memories. Also, Sarah Palin joins Fox News. Because nobody saw that coming a mile away.

I think I'm just going to wrap it up here. The show was really panel heavy. Really book heavy, actually. And it's not like they had an exclusive. It's everywhere. That's some mad marketing going on, huh? This is one of those times when I'm completely confused about 360's identity. If this show is geared toward political junkies, then they did an excellent job. Otherwise I think the focus was way too much. I mean, in essence this is all old news. It's not like campaign coverage where people need to be informed about the political goings-on. I'll be interested to see the ratings. That'll do it.

Underpants Bomber Indicted, Investigating The TSA, C-SPAN Broken Promise, Yemen 101, Whale Wars, and Isaac Mizrahi

Hi everyone. We're still on the terrorism beat. The Underpants Bomber has been indicted and this, apparently, is an excellent opportunity to head to the Magic Wall. Anderson Cooper breaks down the charges. Then it's on to discussion with Jeffrey Toobin, David Gergen, and Fran Townsend. Not much to write home about here.

Of note, is the Gerg seeming to equate Nidal Hasan and Underpants guy. Maybe I missed it, but I wasn't aware they ever found a firm connection between Hasan and a terrorist organization. Anyway, we also got this surprising info from Toobin: "There hasn't been a successful military tribunal for terrorism since World War II." Hear that, conservatives? Finally, it's the general consensus that no one in the Obama Administration is getting fired over the debacle. Oh, Anderson will not be pleased.

On now to a Randi Kaye piece that tries to determine at just what level of incompetence the TSA is currently operating. Forgive me for slightly mixing my government bureaucracies, but we're at Code Orange here, people. All that money. All that training. What do we have? A system that routinely notifies airport police of illegal activity way after-the-fact and cameras that don't tape. Those puffer machines? Don't work. Pat downs? Nope. Bomb sniffing dogs? No so much--at least not all the time.

Perhaps if they actually had a TSA head, they could get a handle on this stuff. But the Party of No, otherwise known as Republicans, are blocking the current nominee. Eh, well, it's just a national security position. What could go wrong? After Randi's piece, she and Anderson are sure to reiterate that not all TSA people are bad. Yeah, some of their closest friends are TSA people! Kidding aside, yes, there's no reason to go all uber-reactionary on the TSA. Keep 'em honest for sure--they clearly need it, but everyone should remember their job is hella hard. They have to be successful all the time; the people they're trying to stop only have to be successful once.

Next up, a broken promise on health care transparency. Recently, the good geeks over at C-SPAN requested access to the inner workings of the health care reform reconciliation process. They want to show us the sausage being made, people. The White House response? Erm, they'll get back to us. Thing is though, deliberations on C-SPAN was a specific campaign promise made by Obama. The 360 kids give us a little reminder of this Daily Show-style, with a series of clips of the then-candidate basically saying, "We'll do it live! (On C-SPAN.)"

Joe Johns then joins us with more. Perhaps my partisanship is showing, but this whole thing irks me. Don't get me wrong, this is clearly a campaign promise (at this point) broken, and 360 is absolutely in the right to call a spade a spade. In fact, I think the White House is wrong here. Yet, this is such a small issue, and when I think of all the huge issues the media snoozed through during the last administration, well, my head explodes. But until they build time machines, eh, what are you gonna do? I do, however, wish some context was added by pointing out that though this promise was broken, the Obama administration is still leaps and bounds ahead of the last guys when it comes to transparency.

The Gerg then pops back in to in so many words tell us, "yeah, the public doesn't care about C-SPAN." (But I do!) He then goes back to his recently-set default of concern trolling. Topic? Health care reform polls, and how they're not so hot for the Obama camp. Asks our anchor, "What did they do wrong?" Oh, Anderson. Sure, they did lots of things wrong, but what I think people are forgetting--what I myself keep forgetting--is that no matter what, this was going to be UNBELIEVABLY hard. Yeah, we've all been through the ringer. A lot of people are now ticked for a myriad of reasons. It's not surprising, actually. Hell, even I flirted with the "kill the bill" side. That they've gotten this far at all is amazing.

Hey, remember when a week or so ago I said that Yemen was going to be the new "it" country? Well, buckle up for Yemen Terror 101. Your instructor is Anderson Cooper (oooh!) and your blackboard is the Magic Wall. The Bin Laden family's home town. The USS Cole. You get the drift.

From there we go to a piece from Paula Newton, actually set in Yemen. It's good to see 360 using these pieces. CNN has phenomenal international resources, yet the domestic channel seems to rarely use them except during breaking news. In her piece, Paula travels to an institute that Underpants Bomber guy attended and talks with the director. She also talks with an American studying in the country who says she could get explosives no problem. Oh, yay. Makes you feel all warm inside. But for some funny, Paula notes that prior to all this, when you mentioned Yemen to Americans, they'd think of this episode of "Friends." It's true! Yemen used to be the place you escaped to in order to hide from your girlfriend with the unbelievably annoying voice! Byyyyyy Yemen!

Next up, Anderson talks with Captain Paul Watson by phone about an incident that occurred in the Arctic Ocean between his boat and a Japanese whaling ship. Basically, the whaling ship rammed Captain Watson's boat (full of anti-whaling activists), cutting it in half and causing it to sink. One person was injured. The Japanese say unavoidable accident; the activists say deliberate attack. All this is documented by that show "Whale Wars" on Animal Planet. According to Watson, they're just trying to stop illegal whaling in an established sanctuary. The video is pretty crazy. I watched that show once. It was an episode where a whale was brutally killed, and they couldn't stop it, and a lot of them were just crying watching and, yeah, I haven't watched since. Important work though.

Moving on to the next segment of the "What's Next" series. Tonight's interview: Isaac Mizrahi. Yep, fashion. It was a fun little interview, but it didn't leave me with anything particularly insightful to say. I like how Anderson's mind is so blown over the concept that clothes look stupid to us with the passage of time. It's true though. Somewhere there exists a picture of a tweenage me in neon spandex shorts. Yes, I know. Also? Anderson is still "obsessed" with the Olsen twins? C'mon now.

In the "360 Bulletin" we got a clip of Richard Heene on Larry King Live. As much as I loath any mention of the Balloon Boy story, I have to admit, I cracked up over his overly dramatic crocodile tears. "Come on. What?" says our anchor. Exactly. We then get a little "Who the hell is Wolf?" because at this point, it's mandatory.

The "shot" tonight is kinda horrible video of a girl doing a back flip into a TV. That sooo could have easily ended in a serious injury or even death. Anderson, who claims this is the first time he is seeing the video, is horrified. Horrified! But then wants to see it again. Did I mention he's laughing? Our anchor is a terrible person. Good thing he's so hot. (Kidding, people. Kidding!)

The show was pretty good. Some reporting, honesty-keeping, and outside-the-box programming. Bravo. That'll do it.

Analyzing Intelligence Failures, The Yemen Factor, Sanjay Gupta's Year In Review, And Charlie Sheen Arrested

Hi everyone. Your blogger is feeling a little under the weather, so this will be another one of those less than thorough posts. But my snark can easily withstand the sniffles. Don't be going anywhere. Tonight Erica Hill continues her reign in the anchor chair. Anderson Cooper better watch it; she's getting pretty good at his gig.

We kick things off with the news that the father of attempted-bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab not only reported his son's radicalization to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, some of those communications involved CIA officials. From Jeanne Meserve we learn that there was even a report sent to the agency's headquarters in Langley, but it was never received by the wider intelligence community. Ohhhh bureaucracy, you're going to be the literal death of us, aren't you? I'm so glad we spent all those kazillions of dollars to take care of this stuff. Man, I need one of those stress balls.

Next up, we're joined by Barbara Starr, who has more on what is sure to be the first "it" country of 2010. Move over Iraq. Step out of the spotlight Afghanistan. As is the American custom of learning our geography through conflict, Yemen seems to be the next candidate the masses will soon be able to locate on a map. Barbara tells us that the U.S. is looking to hit back at the country, which appears to be where this latest attack attempt originated. Now, were we still under the last administration, this news would have me thinking "Oh God, now we're going to invade Yemen." What a difference a little over a year makes.

Peter Bergen then talks more about the strikes against Yemen targets, which we've actually already been conducting on the relative down low. This leads us into discussion with Frances Townsend, and Jeffrey Goldberg, author of that amazing piece on the TSA that I linked to yesterday. Frances has absolutely no credibility with me. Plus her status as a CNN contributor, coupled with her direct involvement in this story, makes this all very weird, if not outright conflict of interest-y. She should be held to account, yet she has this relationship with CNN. I guess everything is incestuous like that these days.

As for Jeffrey, he makes the excellent point that if a terrorist makes it to the airport, it's probably too late to stop him. In other words, our focus needs to be on things that occur way before we're taking off our shoes in the security line. The panel also talks about ramping things up in Yemen.

Moving on to a Randi Kaye piece on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's online activity. Apparently, he was lonely. I'd recommend Cymbalta over blowing up a plane full of people, but hey, that's just me. From here we talk with Peter Bergen and Kirk Lippold, former commander of the USS Cole. They discuss Al Qaeda recruitment and it's noted that the reason Umar joined up probably can't be pinpointed. Kirk is adamantly against returning Gitmo detainees to Yemen right now, which I suppose sounds reasonable.

Transitioning to Sanjay Gupta's Year in Review! How'd Sanjay get to be so special? Will we have a Gary Tuchman year in review? Randi Kaye? Anyway, Octomom. Natasha Richardson. Swine Flu. Mammograms. Oh my! Save the untimely death of Natasha, Sanjay has seen his share of freak out stories. Remember the very initial swine flu reporting when the media was like, "Zoh my God, swine flu!!" Dun dun dun!! Good times.

Next up, we have an Erica Hill piece on Charlie Sheen, who apparently got himself arrested for assaulting his wife. And I guess we're all supposed to care or something. I mean, don't get me wrong, domestic violence=very bad, but I'm not sure why I need to know about this specific couple. I do, however, appreciate the "History of Violence" graphic. Clever. In the piece, we learn that years ago Sheen shot then girlfriend Kelly Preston in the arm. This is relevant to me because a couple of months ago I went to a trivia night and it was one of my questions. Yeah, I got it wrong. Too late!

The "shot" tonight is a mashup of Billboard's top 25 hits, which Jack Gray has been rather enthusiastically pimping out on Twitter. It's pretty cool. Though I have to say, when it comes to videos that make me smile, this one-shot done to the Black Eye Pea's "I've Gotta Feeling" (Billboard's #4) totally takes the cake. No, it's not perfect, but it's a lot of fun.

The show was okay. Kinda veered off in the second half there with the Sanjay and Charlie Sheen stuff. But eh, holiday week. Guess we can't expect much different. That'll do it.