United Nations Compound Attack, Combating H1N1 Vaccine Fear -Mongering, Job News, Palin Talk (For Some Reason), & Wanda Sykes Interview

Hi everyone. We continue our week of Anderson Cooper-lessness while John King steers the ship. Our sub anchor, however, does not have the "Big 360 Interview." No, that super-sized honor actually goes to Michael Ware (ooh, unconventional!), and it's where we begin tonight. On Wednesday morning, the Taliban launched an attack on a United Nations Compound in Kabul that left eight dead. It was brutal and brazen, and actually could have been a lot worse if not for American contractor Chris Turner.

He tells Michael that when he heard the small-arms fire, he knew they were close, and immediately grabbed his rifle. Everyone attempted to evacuate and he was the last out. About 24 people hid in a washroom while Chris stood guard, keeping them safe. He downplays his actions, noting that they were in the back of the compound and most of the action went down in the front. Still a compelling story nonetheless, and a smart move to have Michael do the interview.

Transitioning now to the subject of the H1N1 virus and--I kid you not--the Magic Map is deployed. Oh John, is there any subject you can discuss without waving your hand in front of a board? Anyway, he shows us a map of the US and all the swine flu states are red. If this were election night, that map would be giving me a heart attack right about now.

Randi Kaye then joins us to talk about some of the public resistance to the vaccine that's happening on the Internets. The 360 kids are a bit behind on this angle. Bill Maher's tweet is mentioned ("If you get a swine flu shot, you're an idiot.") and I'm pretty sure it's at least a couple weeks old because I remember seeing it in real time. There's YouTube and blog fear-mongering as well. Not to mention email forwards (which Randi doesn't mention). I had to do a big debunk for a family member a couple weeks ago due to one of those.

As I've stated before, I'm in the middle on this issue. Do I think the vaccine is perfectly safe? Of course not. Nothing is fool proof and medical mistakes are not uncommon. But do I think the government is out to get us? Um, no. They don't have their act together enough to orchestrate a full blown biomedical conspiracy. There's always a risk with any medical procedure or medication; vaccines are no different. I sort of wish Randi would have done more of an in-depth fact check. This segment kinda plays like, "weird crap we found on the Internets."

Then we're joined by Sanjay Gupta, who gives us some more info on the flu, as well as a bit of an explainer on where all these crazy theories are coming from. Guillain-Barre syndrome is mentioned, though Sanjay points out there's no proof people really developed the syndrome due to receiving the 1976 swine flu vaccine. Also, I don't really endorse the reporting of Inside Edition, but I am curious about this video and would like to see it examined by a more reputable news agency.

Moving on now to an interview John has with Christina Romer, chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisors. Funny story: A few years ago, the Bush administration was trumpeting the economy because Wall Street was humming along and GDP numbers were good. But they just couldn't understand why the poll numbers on the subject were in the tank. Well, now we are through the looking glass, people. GDP numbers are up and guess who's screaming about the lack of jobs. That's right, the Republicans. Now suddenly they're all about the average American. Funny how that happens.

As for the interview, nothing hugely of note. Though the Obama administration's job expectations aren't being met in a timely fashion, there's still no gotcha because the time period given has yet to end. It's definitely a subject they should keep up on though.

Next up, we learn that Sarah Palin is sticking her nose in a New York congressional race, and apparently now we have to talk about it. Oy. I don't get this. She's not a governor anymore. She's not any kind of official. She's not seen as a credible candidate by the majority of the country. She's nothing! Why must we continue to talk about every little thing she does. Seriously media, it's time to let go. Anyway, there's talk with Paul Begala and David Frum, but yeah, totally don't care.

Moving on to an interview with comedian Wanda Sykes. Wha? When they do stuff like this, I'm left scratching my head. I'm not complaining exactly; I just don't understand why she's on the show. I can't even explain this with synergy. All CNN has been doing this week is defending their ratings by noting how newsy they are, and then they have on a comedian (and Campbell Brown had on Tracy Morgan a week or so ago).

Personally, I think they should just have some sort of (short) pop culture segment every night. When they're able to book someone, they can have an interview. When they can't get anybody, Anderson can talk movies or TV (or Levi Johnston stripping for Playgirl--*shudder*) and you know it will be entertaining. The segment would help shake up what most now agree to be a totally stale format AND it would take away the WTFery of these kind of seemingly odd and out-of-place interviews. A little fun on the news is fine, as long as it has its place.

Anyway, the interview with Wanda is a little odd in that John focuses a bit on the White House Correspondents Dinner, where yes, she performed, but it was also forever ago. That dinner was not without controversy. Rush Limbaugh had recently remarked that he hoped Obama would fail. In response, Wanda cracked that she hoped Rush's kidneys would fail, a remark that sent a gasp through the crowd. "Washington wasn't quite ready for that one," says John.

Hey, remember the 2004 dinner when Bush pulled that great bit about how he couldn't find WMDs? You know, those same WMDs that never existed, which were used as a justification for a war that resulted in the deaths of thousands of people? Remember that? Wasn't that just Hee-fucking-larious? Listen to the press laugh. Good one, Bush! Too funny! But yeah, a crack about Rush's kidneys failing? Washington wasn't quite ready for that one.

Also? Apparently Wanda Sykes is gay. I'm not sure if I already knew this. I think I probably did, but it's not exactly something that concerns me all that much. I bring it up, because John does this really abrupt transition and starts asking her about the human rights campaign, which threw me for a second. I guess this is how they classify the interview as news.

That about does it for me. The show was okay. I think they beat the Olbermann repeat in the demo ratings last night, so...yay? It's kinda sad how bad they're getting pounded lately. A part of me thinks they should just bulldoze the format, do some outside-the-box thinking, and rebuild the show from there. But I don't see that happening. Anyway, until we meet again.

Senator Ensign's Ethics Trouble, Economic Regrouping, Lt. Dan Choi Debates Elaine Donnelly Re: DADT, And A Young Boy Caught in Chicago's Violence

Hi everybody. Hey, you know what we haven't had in a little while? Political scandal! Once upon a time, there was a socially conservative Republican who cheated on his wife. I'm probably going to have to get a lot more specific, huh? Back in June, Nevada Senator John Ensign admitted to an affair with a woman on his staff. This news--for the most part--was met with a collective yawn (especially since he was soon totally one-upped by Mark Sanford), but now we're learning, oh, there's more.

According to "The New York Times," Ensign helped his mistress's husband get a lobbying job and clients. And then that dude turned around and lobbied the senator on behalf of said clients. Um, that's a no no under Congressional ethics rules, specifically because you're supposed to wait a year to do any lobbying after leaving a Congressional staff position. Not to mention the fact that Ensign's parents gave the couple almost $100,000. Okay, that's weird. Why are mommy and daddy getting involved like this in a senator's life?

For the proverbial discussion, we're joined by Dana Bash, Joe Johns, and Melanie Sloan of Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). I've always been a fan of Melanie, probably because I'm a fan of responsibility and ethics. She points out this is pretty much the same kind of deal that took down Bob Ney. But the limelight here goes to Dana who tracked down Ensign and peppered him with questions, which we see. He tries to do the whole "nothing to see here" routine, but she doesn't let up. Girl's got moxie! Should be interesting to see where this goes. All I know is, Ensign is in trouuuuble.

Transitioning now to Ed Henry live, talking about the new economic package being bandied about in the White House. Basically, it's a second stimulus, but they're not going to call it a "stimulus" because they know Republicans will win the message war. Ooh! Call it Freedom Dollars! Gotta love politics.

Oh noes. Ali Velshi is back at his Wall of Doom. I'm having flashbacks. Or actually, I'm zoning out. I don't know if he talks too fast, or if it's the subject, or both, but these segments never hold my attention.

For the partisan pundification of our evening, we're joined by James Carville and Ari Fleischer. A sum up: Ari thinks Obama's economic policy has ruined us, James thinks we're doing pretty good given the mess Bush left, and Anderson Cooper is really hung up on the fact that they won't call it a second stimulus. Bottom line? A good percentage of economists noted at the time that the first stimulus was too small, so many of us knew this was coming. This DOES NOT mean the stimulus failed. It HAS worked, just not enough. I will concede to Ari that Obama was much too optimistic with initial recovery figure predictions.

Of note is Ari referring to the first stimulus as the "let's go broke and get there quickly act." Sorry, that name was already given to the Bush tax cuts by the majority of Americans. Next! Also, in addition to Ari stating that the stimulus package put us in hole, he believes that it will be the random business cycle that gets us out. "So, wait. So, Ari, you're blaming (Obama) for a loss of jobs, but any recovery, you won't give him credit for?" asks Anderson with a slight smirk. Good catch by him. I totally missed that because I was busy being all ticked off.

Transitioning now to our rock 'em sock 'em segment of the night. An article in the Pentagon Journal "Joint Force Quarterly," has found that, hey, it turns out that whole being openly gay thing doesn't mess with unit cohesion after all. Who'd a thunk it? Well, I'll tell you who still doesn't think it; Elaine Donnelly, that's who. She is the president of the Center for Military Readiness, which despite its official sounding name, has no affiliation with the military. They're against gays serving openly. Arab linguist First Lieutenant Dan Choi would like to do just that. Both individuals are here to debate (go here for video). Let the games begin.

Anderson asks Elaine why Dan shouldn't be able to serve, and she goes off on a tangent about the law. Well, laws are sometimes meant to be changed. Besides, that's not really what Anderson meant, so he clarifies and asks what Dan is hurting. Again, Elaine dodges, so much so that Anderson literally tells her she's not answering his question. She then tries to compare gays in the military with men and women serving together. Dan notes that sexual orientation and gender are not the same thing. He then goes on to tell us about the real harm that happens when you kick these men and women out. Like, in case people haven't noticed, we can kinda use all the translators we can get.

Dan's answer brings this from Elaine: "Dan, I see little concern for the people who would be forced out of the military if this law passed." Um, what? Anderson is apparently equally comfuzzled, and wonders who these people are who would be forced out. But Elaine, like, literally won't stop talking, resulting in exasperated face from Anderson. "Elaine, please let me ask you a question. Elaine," he says. Finally he gets to ask again. "Zero tolerance of anyone who disagrees is a corollary policy that comes if you treat an issue as a civil rights issue," answers Elaine. Wow. So basically, we need to protect the homophobes, is that it?

Anderson points out that people can disagree with policy, but as long as they serve with respect and don't act on that disagreement, there is no problem. But Elaine's not buying it. Then she and Dan are talking all over each other and Anderson snatches back control. "Guys, wait a minute. Time out. Time out. It really does nobody any good to talk over each other. It's really actually rather irritating. And the audience just turns you off." Booyah! But actually, I'm very much into this, so...carry on.

Dan notes that he's a linguist, which is very important to his unit. He tells Elaine he has a question for her, and then begins speaking in Arabic. "See, if you can't answer that, that's not a problem. If soldiers can't answer that, it's very devastating," he says. Oh, snap. That was pretty cool. And a point well taken. Well, it would have been if Elaine was listening to anything he said. Anderson points out that basically Elaine is insulting service members because she's assuming them to be too "narrow-minded" to serve with openly gay individuals.

"Would you expect women to live with men in conditions of little or no privacy?" asks Elaine. They do, replies Anderson. He notes that he was just there. Then he goes on to ask Elaine if she's ever even been to Afghanistan...or served in the military...or maybe even been on a military base? Bueller? Seriously. Who is this woman? Can I found a professional sounding organization and spout-off on news shows too? This woman doesn't seem to have any credibility whatsoever, though I suppose she makes up for it with pretty apparent homophobia.

Anyway, Anderson brings up the journal article, to which Elaine replies, "There is no other military in the world that is implementing the extreme plan that you are advocating, Dan Choi." Extreme? Disclosing your sexual orientation is extreme? Good lord lady, he's not asking to have sex in public with his boyfriend, he just wants to live his life honestly. And newsflash, he's still gay no matter what, and that is so obviously your real problem. Ironically, as Dan points out, it's people like him that fight for Elaine's right to say these ridiculous things.

Well, that segment was lively, wasn't it? You almost have to feel bad for the people against gay rights (almost), because they've already lost. DADT will be repealed. Gay marriage will happen in this country. Unless they can figure out how to cease the progression of time, there's nothing they can do to stop it. So to the Elaines of the world, I have only this to say: tick, tock.

Moving on to a Gary Tuchman piece on little Martrell Stevens, a six-year-old who became a victim of Chicago's wave of violence when he was shot while sleeping in the back of his mother's car. The bullet that was meant for someone else left Martrell partially paralyzed. His mother is positive people know who the shooter is, but no one has come forward. In fact, she herself sees him everyday. Fear keeps her quiet. I can't even imagine. In a particularly adorable (yet sad) moment, Gary asks Martrell what happened to him and the six-year-old whispers it like a secret: "I got shot." This should not be happening.

For discussion, we're joined by Steve Perry, who implores that the community must take responsibility. Anderson latches onto the "stop snitching" thing again, but he even notes that Martrell's mom is afraid to come forward. Maybe all the witnesses are afraid to come forward. I'm not sure he's putting that angle into the proper context. The show will be live in Chicago on Wednesday and I'll be interested to hear what the local press has to say regarding 360's coverage.

Anyway, Steve points out that if these recent murders had been committed by a white kid, the black community would rise up. He's demanding to see that same reaction now. Wow, tough love and good point. Anderson notes that people seem to accept and even expect this kind of crime against urban kids. Another good point. This would be a much different story if it were happening in an upscale suburb. That's a simple fact. All these dead kids is nothing anyone should accept.

The "shot" tonight is a pint-sized Kurt Russell giving the pre-game pep talk in the movie "Miracle." So cute. For those of you who haven't seen the film, possibly because you're not a sports person, coughAndersoncough, it really is a great flick. I was amazed at how climactic it felt, even though we all totally know the outcome going in. Pretty good show. That'll do it.