Spending Bill Yanked, Birther Sentenced, Checking In On Afghanistan, And Playing Tribute To Larry King

Hi everyone. Quite the historic night for CNN! Larry King will be missed. But we'll talk about that later. The bullet points first have other business to attend to, so pop on your solidarity suspenders and let's get this show on the road.

• Hey, raise your hand if you hate Congress. It seems that these days our legislators aren't effective at anything...except sucking. See, they were supposed to get this spending bill passed (you know, to fund the government--important!), but Harry Reid had to yank it because some Republicans are going back on their word to vote for the thing because they're in a tizzy over earmarks. Sigh. Also? Senator Jim DeMint is kinda being a dick. I mean, I'm just sayin'.

• Anderson Cooper: "We should point out that Senator DeMint was the star of tonight's game-playing, but there has been plenty of blame to go around on both sides of the aisle. What's amazing, though, is how many politicians on both sides of the aisle can stand up, that is when they're not playing games and speak out against -- wait for it -- all the game-playing." Balance! But the latter part of this statement was backed up with a montage showing legislators from "both sides of the aisle" talking about game playing. Good job. In this case they proved their balance-y statement. That's all I'm ever asking for.
  

• For discussion, we were joined by Erick Erickson, Gloria Borger, and Steve Kornacki of Salon.com. Despite my rather strong dislike of Erick, this panel wasn't too bad. Well, it didn't make me want to jab something sharp in my eye, anyway. Improvement!
  

• Our anchor: "This is probably a naive question, but, I mean, when it comes down to it, what's wrong with letting a bill come up for a vote?" Oh, honey...

• Actually, there's nothing wrong with that happening. That would be great! But unfortunately, the Silver Fox is using the reasoning of a moral sane person, and, well, we're talking about the senate. Remember when you learned about Congress in your ninth grade civics class and you thought it was this noble institution? If you're a political junkie, eventually you learn how things really work...and you cry sad tears.
  

• Anderson responding to Gloria's statement that the White House wants to get it all: "Yes. Well, I want a pony for Christmas. I don't think I'm going to get it. So, we will see." I don't know. I think you have a better shot at that than the rest of us.
  

• Tonight we learned that Lieutenant Colonel Terrence Lakin--a birther previously humiliated by our anchor--was sentenced to six months in military prison for defying orders. Basically his distinguished career is now over, his pension gone. All because of a batshit conspiracy theory. Since feeling the heat, Lakin has done a 180, expressing his regrets regarding the entire thing.
  

• This whole story is just sad. It's pretty obvious he was used by the birther movement, but it's hard to feel sorry for him. As Anderson said to his lawyer during that weird and contentious interview, "the guy's an adult."
  

• We were joined by Jeffrey Toobin and JAG officer Thomas Kenniff for the legal lowdown.

• Toobin: "Well, you know, you asked at the beginning, was he a pawn or he did get what he deserved? I think the answer is yes to both of them. I mean, he was a pawn. But I'm sorry. You know, this is not some 18- year-old private who had his head turned by some fancy lawyer. This is a doctor, 18 years in the military. He has to know that, in the military, you have to follow orders." Bingo.

• We were then shown a clip of Mike Jones, the security officer who took down school board shooter Clay Duke. He sounds like a pretty humble and awesome guy. As for the 360 kids, they get points for foregoing airing the video during the teases as they had been doing the past couple days, but they still ran it too much as Mike was talking.

• The "shot" tonight was a video that contained the Pope, and half-naked men eagerly demonstrating their flexibility. I gotta say, the watchful eye of His Holiness is a total buzzkill when you're trying to enjoy some good old fashioned softcore porn.

• Afghanistan coverage! Is it my birthday? A new strategic review says things are not so bright and sunny in the country, and really, we didn't need a report to tell us that. To keep Obama honest, the 360 kids hit us with a montage that shows the Commander in Chief continuously talking about the war's progress. That was very finely edited, so I guess we'll just have to trust that he was really talking about Afghanistan in every one of those clips. Because seriously, in one clip he simply said, "I would add that." Um, okay. This isn't exactly a criticism, but more like a word of caution: don't fall into the trap of making the clips fit the agenda, 360. It might someday get you into trouble. Still love those montages though!

• Great discussion with Peter Bergen and Sebastian Junger. I want to see "Restrepo."

• Michael Vick earned himself a spot on the RidicuList tonight after expressing his desire to once again be a dog owner. Um, what? Yeah, that's not happening. The 360 kids suggested that he maybe start out with a goldfish or a Pepperidge Farm goldfish cracker. ("Friends" fan on staff? "That's not a fish. That's a goldfish cracker." Oh, Chandler.) They then introduced us to a German toy called the Cackle Dackle, and hilarity ensued. It's a toy dog that, well, does his business. "You see that? See that?" asked Anderson. The look on his face was priceless. Yes, we saw. And you are 12. Hilarious.
  

• Tonight an icon left his chair. I've had my issues with Larry King (softball questions, occasional shocking tactlessness, promotion of unsavory figures, etc.), but you cannot deny that the man has had an amazing career. It seems that 360 had plans to go to Larry live at the party he was attending, though that apparently didn't work out. Instead they played this look back:

• His last broadcast, like the man himself, contained a lot of awkwardness, but was ultimately pretty charming. Loved BriWi, Katie Couric's poem, and Cannon's impression. Also, our anchor succeeded in expertly sucking the snark right out of me. God damn, Silver Fox. God damn. Below is Anderson's very touching thank you to Larry, including words from his own father:
  

• Still no Gary Tuchman in Haiti. Sad face.

• The show was pretty good. Honesty-keeping. Variety. Some humor. No Loesch. Ahem. Yes, I'm fairly pleased.
  

House Votes To Repeal DADT, Congressional Whining, Jim DeMint Stalls Changing Death On High Seas Act, Exploiting The Shooting Video, & Obesity Surgery

Hi everyone. I'm short on time tonight, so this will be an abbreviated version. On we go!

• Yay for the House passing the 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal. This may actually happen.
  

• Harry Reid, why do you hate Christmas? Making those poor Congresscritters work next week? Such a Scrooge! I'm playing my tiny little violin for them right now.
  

• Um, yeah. This is their job. Most Americans work a hell of a lot harder than they do, so the whiners need to suck it up. I love that Anderson Cooper basically said the same thing, except, you know, politer.

• I'd like to remind everyone that five years ago Congress found the time during their Easter recess to vote on the private life of one woman. Just saying.
  

• Oh 360, you're bumping up against false equivalency again. After they played a clip of Harry Reid noting the Republicans had filibustered 87 times, our anchor had this to say: "But also for the record, Democrats joined some of those filibusters. And as recently as last week, with the clock ticking down toward the holidays, independent Senator Bernie Sanders took up nine hours of Senate time speaking against the tax deal." Yes, he did, but uh, there was nothing scheduled. He wasn't holding anything up. Are the 360 kids being factually accurate? Yep. Are they perhaps creating a false impression? What do you think?

• Anderson spoke with Joe Lieberman about DADT. His sudden reasonableness is really starting to freak me out.
  

• Lieberman: "I think that the overall movement to end discrimination against our fellow Americans, based on their sexual orientation, is the front lines today of the civil rights movement." I approve of this message and wish to subscribe to his newsletter. (It's just an Internet saying, Lieberman. Please don't actually send me your newsletter. It's bad enough I get emails from Paul Begala with the subject line "My Hair." *shudders*)

• Oh Louie Gohmert, you're still all crazy, aren't you? Never change.

• We had a segment with Paul Begala and Dana Loesch. All I have to say is that it surely made the baby Jesus cry.

• Good follow up on the Death on the High Seas Act. Really telling that Senator Jim DeMint would support a change of the act 10 years ago, but not now.
  

• Anderson spoke with Keith Jones, father of Gordon Jones who died on the Deepwater Horizon. I'd post the video for you, but they don't have it up.
  

• It was very sad to hear Keith say he's dreading Christmas. I remember my first one after my dad died. Never easy, as Anderson noted.

• Transitioning now to a Tom Foreman piece on the Florida school board shooting. We learn more about Clay Duke, and Ginger Littleton explains her actions. Once again, 360 continuously airs the shooting. It's getting kinda disgusting.
  

• Good job keeping Allergen honest regarding lap-band surgery for obesity, but Dr. Phil? Really? You think Sanjay Gupta was wondering WTF he was doing in a split screen with that guy? Or maybe we were supposed to be playing a game of 'which one doesn't belong.' One is a respected neurosurgeon and journalist; the other one once made us all feel sorry for Britney Spears.
  

• Tonight's RidicuList contestant was a Facebook thief with massive cojones. Taking a picture of yourself wearing stuff you stole and posting said picture to your victim's page? Wow. Also, maybe it's just me, but I'm sensing that our anchor is not a Facebook fan. I think I'm with him on that one. Now it wants me to get a new profile or whatever. No! And stop sending me requests for things I don't understand! *deep breath* Okay. I'm better now.

• I'm pretty annoyed that the only Gary Tuchman Haiti coverage we've gotten so far this week has been Palin-related. Below is a Backstory video I found of him doing his rollerblading thing (yes, he rollerblades!):
  

• Save a certain guest, actually two certain guests, tonight wasn't bad. I like all the mini fact checks everywhere. Oh 360, you're becoming so facty. Just, uh, maybe work on the booking a little.
  

Anderson Cooper Will Not Stop Until He Slays Every Birther

Hi everyone. I don't really have much to say up top here, so let's just do this thing:

• The birthers are back! Well, so says Anderson Cooper. Personally, I didn't think they had ever left. Remember Army Lieutenant Colonel Terrence Lakin? The guy who just sat there while our anchor smacked down his interrupting lawyer? That dude goes on trial today, hence this segment. Also, apparently 11 odd House Republicans are backing a bill that requires presidential candidates to submit an original birth certificate. Le sigh.

• Nice clippage of Bill Posey, Ted Poe, Randy Neugebauer and John Campbell. Also loved the quiet notation of Dan Burton and Louie Gohmert's hypocrisy.
  

• The Silver Fox has built quite the reputation as a birther demolisher (one more take-down on his punch-card and he gets a free Slurpee!), and thus, it now appears these people are a bit leery of coming on the show. What to do? I know, send Joe Johns! As you might imagine, Joe didn't get anywhere either, but I suppose it was amusing watching him try. Maybe?

• Anyhoo, since they don't have a fresh birther for our anchor to pummel, they play the video of the lieutenant and his lawyer. Normally I would deem that move suspect, but, well, that interview is just so damn cathartic. Though it may not be all that news-worthy at this point, I could watch Anderson take down birthers all day.

• The video is actually more relevant than I just painted it since the guy is back in the news. Still. You know the 360 kids are wishing their boss could take on some fresh crazy.
  

• For discussion of Lakin's case, we were joined by Jeffrey Toobin and criminal defense attorney and former military judge advocate general officer Thomas Kenniff.

• Toobin: "Just because a bunch of crazy people raise an issue, that doesn't mean the Supreme Court has to address it."

• More Toobin: "You know, this is not a fight between Democrats and Republicans. This is a fight between the sane and the insane." Amen to that.

• Anderson: "I wouldn't go so far as saying insane, but, I mean, it is interesting that people who seem rational have latched on to this issue in a way that defies rational explanation." Well, you should go as far! Anderson Cooper, sometimes you are too polite for your own good. Shall we compromise and call them 'fact-averse'?

• Toobin: "Insane sounds right no me, but you're a nicer guy than I am, I guess" More diplomatic anyway.

• In regards to the overall segment, it's gotten to the point that I'm torn on whether they should cover these people anymore. I love the smack-downs, but what are they accomplishing? It's like playing whack-a-mole; they're just going to keep popping back up. Birthers will exist as long as Barack Obama is in the White House. It's as simple as that. Should the 360 kids keep spending their time on them? I don't know.
  

• Moving on now to extremely shocking video of a shooting that occurred at a school board meeting in Florida. This was actually teased at the top of the show, and I gotta say that even though Anderson warned it was graphic, they played the clip too fast for anyone to really heed the warning. Just the fact that they teased it left a bad taste in my mouth. Look, there's a shooting coming up! I guess this is the gross side of TV news.
  

• Tom Foreman walked us through the video, which included shooter Clay Duke spray painting a 'V' on the wall, school board member Ginger Littleton attempting to knock the gun out of Duke's hand, William Husfelt (superintendent of Bay County Schools) calmly trying to reason with the shooter, shots fired, and Duke eventually going down at the hand of security officer Mike Jones. The entire thing is simply amazing. We learn that Duke eventually shot himself in the head, but no one else was hit.
  

• Anderson then spoke with Husfelt in what turned out to be a fairly long interview. I thought the segment with Tom was a little much; this segment takes it over the line. Don't get me wrong, hearing the superintendent speak was compelling, but throughout the interview they played the shooting over and over. It reminded me a bit of the Cho pictures from Virginia Tech, though obviously this outcome was much, much better. There was a relatively happy ending here, but it was still a shooting, and Duke presumably has family. I wish they would have used the video more sparingly.
  

• For the "shot" tonight, we have Conan O'Brien having a little fun at our anchor's expense. Said Coco in a clip of his monologue: "Anderson Cooper announced that the name of his new talk show is 'Anderson.' I think I speak for everyone here on the staff of 'Conan' when I say, 'God, what an ego on that guy.' You'd think people around him would tell him how bad that looks." But Conan, "Hanging with Mr. Cooper" had already been taken! Personally, I think our anchor should go all in: "Silver Fox." You know you'd watch!

• Now onto earmark talk. Erm, I mean congressionally-directed spending. That's what the kids are calling it these days! Honestly? I just can't get my Angry Face on over this. I fully support the 360 kids pointing out the hypocrisy, but when it comes to the issue of earmarks themselves, they're not a big chunk of the budget, and the money will be spent anyway. For some reason it's become this easy thing for politicians to rail against in order to show their fiscal responsibility cred.
  

• For discussion, we had Paul Begala and Erick Erickson.

• Erick responding to Paul's assertion that earmarks are a small portion of the budget: "...when you look at how earmarks are used more often than not in Congress, yes, they themselves are a small portion of the budget but they're attached to larger pieces of legislation that aren't quite as popular and they get those unpopular pieces of legislation passed." Good point, I suppose. See how fair I am!

• Paul: "If there were no earmarks, or there were no congressionally- directed spending, all you would do is, you wouldn't cut the spending. What you would do is empower some bureaucrat at the Department of Transportation to decide where that road or bridge should be. Often that bureaucrat might be wiser but often she might not be. Maybe the congressman knows better in his own district where the highway bypass ought to be." Exactly.

• I'm afraid the 360 kids and I parted ways on the RidicuList tonight. They took on the ladies of "The View" for mocking John Boehner's tendency to end up in tears at the mention of, well, pretty much anything. Joy Behar has dubbed him "Weeper of the House," which I'm sorry, is funny.

• Anderson Cooper is not amused. "But aren't people always saying they want politicians to be more real?" he asks. Actually, I just want them to pass legislation relevant to my life. "And aren't men always being told now that we're supposed to be more sensitive, more vulnerable, willing to show emotions?" Yes. We like that. But Boehner is doing it wrong. Look Silver Fox, there is a line, okay? I fully support a guy having a good cry every now and then. Every two minutes he's on camera? Not so much. And actually, this isn't even a gender thing. I'd feel the same way if it were a woman.
  

• Also, this quote from Joy really brings home why Boehner's crying specifically is annoying: "He cries only when he talks about how sad his life was. he had to sweep floors. He was a janitor, and he pursued the American dream. And yet he has very little empathy for people who are in that position now."

• Anderson: "I'm one of the most uptight people around, believe me, but I've been known to shed a tear from time to time. Sure, I, you know, try to keep it limited to a darkened theater while watching 'Bambi.'" Well c'mon, anybody who doesn't cry when Bambi's mom gets shot must be dead inside. Don't even get me started on Dumbo's "Baby Mine" scene.
  

• Anyway, about the being uptight but known to shed a tear, yeah, we know. And though I'm assuming our anchor did not actually write this segment, one wonders if his not-completely-deserved emo-anchor label had anything to do with his feelings on this. But Anderson's "time to time" tear-shedding (which despite the proclamations of some write-ups, have never really been on camera) is quite different than Boehner's all the time.
  

• So, to sum up, men, embrace your tears, but let's not overdo it, mmkay? And to Boehner, hey, at least they weren't talking about your tan, right?

• Check out Rachel Maddow's take on the Boehner tears.
  

• The show was okay. I'm torn on the birther issue and thought the shooting coverage went too far.
  

Shooting At Virginia Tech: Day Four (Thursday's Show)

Hi all. Well once again the show was pretty sucky, so let's just speed through with another sort-of review, shall we? Anderson is still on the campus, and I'm still not quite sure why. We begin with a piece from him on Cho that informs us he purchased the handgun online. Then we move on to a John King piece that shows us new pictures of Cho's suite. I don't know why that's necessary, but they've stopped with the constant pictures of him with the guns, so I guess I'll just be happy. Next it's "expert" time! Dr. Helen Morrison seems to want to blame this on repressed homosexual urges. I swear, it alway falls on the gays, doesn't it? I mean, the guy was stalking girls, not guys. Anderson makes that point and she gives us some psycho babble, which might be true in this case or might be complete crap, but we'll never know. Dr. Gail Saltz takes the play angle and speculates he might have been abused since he wrote about molestation. And I've written about a woman who shoplifts, but I'm no thief. Although to be fair, she does basically state it might just be a delusion.

Next up we have a Tom Foreman piece on getting the mentally ill help in college and then there's an expert on what the university can do. Okay here's my question: what if next time it's not a student? We're going to have to think broader. Moving on to an interview with "Electroboy" author Andy Behrman about his struggle to get diagnosed and treated as bipolar. It's a really interesting story, but bipolar disorder is different I think that what Cho was suffering from. After that there's even more coverage on Cho and then we have a Matthew Chance piece on the reaction in South Korea. Yes, they actually did a piece from Korea. I mean, it made news there, so I guess that makes it legitmate news here, but it still boggles the mind. The hour ends with an Anderson piece that is a tribute to the victims. Now this they did a nice job on. Respectful at least. I especially like the way they went out to commercial-no annoying graphics or sound effects.

The second hour starts with a whole bunch more Cho stuff, most of it repeat I think. Next there's an author that I mostly missed (sorry, snack time), but it sounds like he was talking about some social issues that I'm interested in, like the fact that we have more mentally ill in jails and prisons than treatment centers. After that we have a Tom Foreman repeat and then OMG other news! In a Candy Crowley piece we learn that the Supreme Court made the landmark decision today to uphold the partial birth abortion ban. The previous court went the other way, so it's safe to say that Roe is now officially threatened. So that sucks. I'm actually not as pro-choice as one might assume, but banning abortion is just something we can't let happen. I really wish both sides of the debate could come together to work on preventing unwanted pregnancies before they happen, but I guess I'm just a dreamer. Anyway, the 2008 candidates are already all over it, playing to their bases. It looks like come election time this issue will be more important than ever.

For discussion about this and Alberto Gonzales' testimony (in regards to attorney-gate) today, we're joined by Jeffrey Toobin. Anderson asks how big the Supreme Court decision was and Toobin says huge. He notes that the previous court said the ban was unconstitutional and now it seems Justice Kennedy sees this as an invitation to restrict other abortions too. See that's the thing, I might be okay with this ban, but it's a slippery slope. Toobin thinks one more vote and Roe is gone. Anderson seems a little shocked about this and asks if he's sure. Toobin's pretty sure. Let's hope Toobin's wrong. Next we're played a clip of Arlen Spector getting all up in Gonzales' grill and Gonzales answers just about every question with a version of, "I don't recall." Anderson asks if Gonzales will keep his job. "I don't recall, Anderson," says Toobin. Bwah! Aw, Anderson is no fun. He doesn't even crack a smile. Of course he is in the middle of a tragedy, so yeah, there's that. I thought it was funny, Toobin. Oh, and for the record, Toobin does not think our pal Alberto will make it. Pity. Actually out of a lot of them I don't mind Gonzales so much. Except for the whole torture thing. And Lord, you know you're way through the looking glass when the torture guy is looking okay to you. After this there's more Cho stuff and repeats. Anderson says he'll be there tomorrow. Argh. Go home, Anderson!

Shooting at Virginia Tech: Day Three (Wednesday's Show)

Hi everyone. We've got Anderson back tonight and he's wearing a suit. Hmm, was John King wearing a suit? I don't even remember. I guess they're trying to go for repectful, but if that's the case it would have been better if they went for respectful with their coverage, not just their clothes. Tonight I bring you a sort-of review. I'm fairly disgusted by the coverage, so I only halfway paid attention. The big news that came out today is of course the videos and pictures that Cho Seung-Hui sent to NBC. 360, BTW, shows the pictures continuously throughout the broadcast, which I find completely irresponsible. I agree with NBC's decision to release what they did, but then the news organization is suppose to be sensitive in how they use them. We're totally not seeing that here (and to be fair many other shows were way out of line too). In fact a lot of the time they run the pictures on a split screen. I can't imagine what this is doing to some of the people at Virginia Tech-not to mention it's giving Cho exactly what he wanted.

So anyway, in a Gary Tuchman piece we learn that Cho actually mailed the package in that two hour gap of his murder spree. That's pretty disturbing. Afterwards Gary says, "but you can imagine, for the parents at home who lost their children, watching this, this has to be so painful." You think? Then we're on to a Randi Kaye piece that goes more indepth on the stalker situation. We learn that two women actually contacted police over his behavior, but did not press charges. After that we're on to the requisite speculation with a couple of "experts," and Anderson becomes fixated on Cho's hat (or actually lack there of) in the pictures. In the center of what turns out to be an "expert" sandwich we have a piece from Anderson on Cho's treatment (or actually lack there of) and his hospital stay.

Moving on to a John King piece that explains that initially the police went after the wrong man, thus allowing Cho to roam free for that two hour gap. The guy that they actually went after was the first victim's boyfriend, which must have been devastating for him. I mean, his girlfriend is just murdered and then he's getting interrogated about it. For some reason John needs to be at all the places mentioned in this piece. See John at the shooting range. See John in front of the poor boyfriend's house (I'm sure he appreciates that, BTW). See John knocking on the boyfriend's door and getting ignored. Love you John, but I wouldn't answer either. Can we not leave people alone? After John's piece we have a piece from David Mattingly all about Cho's second killing spree. There's even a computer animation. Is this necessary?

At this point we're at the hour mark, so they repeat Gary's piece. Then Anderson talks with an FBI profiler and asks him the question I've been wondering: "...who is the "you" he's referring to? Is it just society as a whole? " The profiler says yes, but I'm still wondering. Not to go all Bill Frist or anything, but Cho definitely rings schizophrenic to me. We've already been told he had an imaginary girlfriend. Assuming he really did believe he had a girlfriend (and wasn't just saying bizarre things to say them), it's not a stretch to assume there might have been other "people" in his life and maybe he's talking to them in the video. Of course I'm only speculating, which I hate, but whatever. Then FBI guy (actual name: Gregg McCrary) says, "And I think it's -- the responsible thing to do is to back off on showing these videos and these pictures. You can certainly report the story and that needs to be done, but I think the danger here is that we're energizing some other killer and that we may have some other events that follow in the wake of this." Exactly. Speaking of copycats, there was a shooting near the brother's university today, but it was reported as at the university. This caused the mother to immediately think "copycat" and thus freakout. I learned this all separately and called him because he does live near the unversity. Besides being asleep at six at night (slacker!!!), he's fine. So anyway, 360, please listen to FBI guy. Because a copycat false alarm is scary enough.

Next up we've got more pieces about Cho and then a lawyer women. Gary even has a whole piece that ponders the meaning of the phrase Cho scrawled on his arm. Sigh. Then we've got Candy Crowley with a piece on the gun control debate, which started up mere hours after the shooting broke news. Classy. Hey, remember how a couple days ago I said we would be seeing talking heads shout at each other about gun control. Well, here they are! Joining us is Erich Pratt from Gun Owners of America and Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Erich goes off about how gun control is the problem and blah blah blah. Yeah, well other countries with stricter laws don't have our gun violence. Paul thinks we need to prevent people like Cho from getting guns in the first place. Then Erich implies that Cho chose the university over downtown Blacksburg because he knew people would be defenseless. What the hell? Yeah, and I guess the fact that he was a student there had nothing to do with it. Then Erich states that England has a gun ban and their crime rate is the highest in the western world. I could be wrong, but that sounds like total crap to me. Anyway, there's arguing and Anderson weakly tries to jump in, but he pretty much never had control to begin with. Probably shouldn't have on the loud people when the anchor no doubt has the mother of all jet lag.

Moving on to some new video shot by two guys visiting the campus from Sweden. Man. Welcome to the US! We're usually an okay country, I swear. After talking with them we get some headlines where we learn that other stuff actually happened in the world, such as some massive chipping away at Roe vs. Wade and Baghdad imploding. BTW, the 30 minute evening broadcast by NBC went into both of these stories longer than the two hour broadcast of 360. Just saying. After the headlines there's a piece about one of the victims who was shot in the leg and at the end of the show Anderson, as if prompted by an email (ahem), notes that one of Cho's writings that they mentioned was actually lines from "Romeo & Juliet". There were blog comments somewhere in there too and I have to wonder if 360 notices that it's the same people over and over again. I mean, I don't even read the comments the majority of the time and I'm noticing.

I'm going to hold off on grading until some normalcy takes hold, but let's just say if I was grading it wouldn't be pretty. Watching tonight I have no idea why we needed Anderson Cooper for this. John was doing fine and it will be a really big shame if they don't get to go back to Afghanistan now. I hope Anderson at least moves back to the studio soon because the campus needs to be left alone. I also really hope 360 tones down their coverage because I actually found myself watching Lou Dobbs tonight and realized I'd rather be watching that than 360. I guess we'll see what happens.

Shooting At Virginia Tech: Day Two (Tuesday's Show)

Hi everyone. We've got John King anchoring for us again because Anderson is apparently still stuck in limbo. I guess it takes two days to travel from Afghanistan to the states. That must be one frustrated reporter. I still can't quite believe he turned right around. It seems like a crazy decision. But whatever. It does, however, beg the question: Is the most immediate always the most important? Last week Don Imus was the most important thing in the world, now it's as if he never existed.

I've been having some difficulty watching a lot of the television coverage (specifically cable) of the shooting because quite frankly it's making me feel a little dirty. The tasteless graphics. The tragedy theme music. It's a massacre packaged for a viewing audience. It's obvious a lot of the students want to tell their stories and they should definitely get the opportunity, but I'm sure many just want to be left alone. I can't imagine what the media circus must look like. CNN alone apparently has 120 people there. And over and over again we're told that this is the worst shooting in US history. Now obviously that's true, but should people really be making such a big deal about that fact? What if there are copycats? And I'd rather not give the next wacko any motivation to break the record.

As you've probably guessed by now I'm not doing a regular review. I don't know why I thought coverage might be anywhere near normal today. After all, I clearly remember the Columbine coverage still going strong three days after the shooting happened. So this is going to go on a while. Plus information is still coming to light and other information is changing. For example, yesterday we were told that we shouldn't compare this shooting to Columbine because the shooters were nothing alike. Today we learn that-scratch that-we should totally compare the two shootings because they were a lot alike. The shooter was actually a South Korean student at Virginia Tech named Cho Seung-Hui who had been in the country since he was eight, and not a Chinese National as some had reported. It seems he was a loner. Shocking I know.

A majority of 360's coverage tonight was an EXCLUSIVE interview Gary Tuchman did with Cho's roommates. In this EXCLUSIVE interview we learn that Cho was a pretty weird and messed up guy who stalked girls and caused people to actually notify the authorities. Gary's EXCLUSIVE interview also informs us that Cho hardly ever talked and had an imaginary girlfriend. Did I mention the interview was EXCLUSIVE? I wouldn't want to shortchange CNN in their sole claim over a part of a, you know, tragedy. Okay that lack of tact aside, I actually thought Gary did a really good job. Though I am a bit biased. I loves me the Gary. So what else do we learn about this mass murderer? Well, it seems he was a big fan of the song "Shine Down" from Collective Soul. Apparently poor Collective Soul is the new (or would that be old?) Marilyn Manson.

One thing that bugged me about this interview is that they nickpicked this guy's life apart. Don't think I mean that in sympathy to the shooter; I'd just like to point out that if you look at anyone that closely they're going to look crazy. When these things happen we always are looking for a reason. Sometimes I think there isn't a reason and I'd hate for any of the freaky little irrelevant things he did (like leaving the lights on at bedtime) to suddenly become warning signs or whatever. Now the stalking? That was definitely something to be concerned about. Big red flag there. But sometimes quiet kids are just quiet.

Another thing we learned about Cho is that he wrote plays. Very bad and disturbing plays. So disturbing in fact that the professor pulled him out of class. Obviously she was right in that this guy was definitely dangerous, but I'm trying to decide how I feel about the overall idea of scrutinizing people's writing. People write disturbing things all the time and they don't go out and kill 32 people. Hell, I remember reading a story in my college writing class in which a whole extended family of children was abused and/or murdered-each in a different and twisted way. And this was in an anthology. I myself write fiction and have been known to kill a character or several, though not all violently. Creative writing is suppose to be, well, creative. I really hope there's not going to be a chilling effect on what people write because they're afraid of being referred for counseling now.

Ultimately, hindsight is 20/20. A terrible thing happened. Could it have been prevented? Maybe. Maybe not. Sometimes bad things just happen. However, we're wired to need a reason. Because reasons make us feel safer. If there's a reason we can stop it from happening again. And maybe this will cause schools to put more precautions into place that really do stop the next school shooting. Of course that will be of no help when the next big shooting is in a mall. Or in a park. Or...you get the picture. For now we have to sit though all the "experts" who are unapologically certain about what was going on in Cho's head and his motivations for doing what he did. In reality, only one person can ever know that. And he's dead. So now we're left with that unanswerable question we're always left with: why?

I'll post something at my usual time on Thursday evening, but whether it's an indepth review or not remains to be seen. Thoughts on the whole situation?

At Least 33 Dead In The Worst Mass Shooting In US History (Monday's Show)

Hi everyone. Well, what a sucky Monday, huh? I have to say, this shooting does nothing but reinforce my belief that this period in April is just not a good time. Let's see, there's been Waco, Oklahoma City, Columbine, my own personal family tragedy, and now this. I don't know about you, but I'm totally down with skipping straight to May. So anyway, the blogging won't be the norm tonight because 360 was essentially two hours of BREAKING NEWS. We know that this morning someone shot two people in a dorm at Virginia Tech University and about two hours later someone opened fire at Norris Hall in the university, killing 30 more and then turning the gun on himself. Besides that, we don't know much more. Authorities won't even confirm that the two shootings were done by the same person. This leaves a lot of time for speculating, inferring, and of course hearing individual stories. To recap all of this would be pointless because some of what we think we know now will be different tomorrow. That's the MO of the breaking news story.

Also, there's not really anything for me to snark or call BS on right now. In the coming days the ridiculousness will take hold (actually it's already starting). We'll hear from "experts" that will drag out the same tired possible reasons for the shooting: video games, movies, tv, music. Marilyn Manson's image might find it's way back onto all our tv screens. Talking heads will shout back and forth over a renewed guns rights debate and some might even go as far as to advocate guns at school. Oh, too late. Politicians will then trip over each other as they rush to Virginia and show that it is they that are most empathetic and somber. And gosh darn it, isn't that a great quality in a president? Finally, everyone who was clutching their pearls last week over Don Imus and the nasty things that rappers say will this week be fretting a-new about how we keep our kids safe from random acts of violence. Don Imus, BTW, will spend the week recovering from being sucked in, spun around, and spit out of a news cycle. As for 360? My friend Arachnae has a prediction for them: second hour on Friday, a Very Special AC360: A Nation Mourns. Complete with montages and tasteful music. But that will all be for another blog. For right now it's all too sad and tragic. I would however like to thank Tom Foreman for making me laugh tonight when he pulled out his map of the university. Always with the maps!

You might have noticed we had John King filling in (and getting blown around) for our intrepid anchor tonight. So where in the world is Anderson Cooper? Well, somewhere between Virginia and Afghanistan. And I have to say my mind is boggled. Anderson was suppose to be anchoring live from Afghanistan all this week, but it seems that due to this shooting story they had him turn right around and come back. If he was in New Orleans or something like that I could understand bouncing back. But Afghanistan? A trip like that takes months to plan and I imagine is an enormous effort by tons of people. For them to just throw that away is pretty shocking to me. Of course I don't know the reasoning or who even made the decision. Was Anderson dying to come back to cover the big story or is there one ticked off anchor on a plane right now? Who knows? I do know that when I read Anderson's blog about how the soldiers in Afghanistan feel they have been forgotten it made me feel pretty crappy knowing they'd essentially been bumped for more immediate fare. I suspect I'm not the only one that feels crappy about that. Hopefully they'll get to go back soon.

I just honestly don't understand why they couldn't have stayed a few days to at least file a bunch of stories. Obviously they couldn't air any coverage from there tonight because though I hate speculation even I can agree that would be ratings suicide. But if they wanted their big anchor on screen they could have had him intro packages... or not even. John did fine by himself. Anderson is my favorite anchor, but he's not CNN. I don't get why they can't live without him in Virginia. Of course I suppose they are going to need someone to take over after all of the other anchors are hospitalized with pneumonia. I should point out though that while 32 people lost their lives to horrific violence today, more US soldiers lose their lives to violence in Iraq and Afghanistan every single month. But I guess we're used to that now. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who's lost someone.

I will leave you with a story that's kind of funny, kind of stupid, and fairly disturbing. My siblings and I all went to the same public high school, with my brother being the last one to graduate in 2005. When I was in high school we dealt with violence and fights, but it was pre-Columbine, so talk of school shootings wasn't the norm. However, after all that happened the school apparently worked on prevention and then eventually drills. When my brother got to high school they one day decided to practice their "school shooting drill." One of the main things the students were suppose to do in this drill was to push all their desks and chairs up against the door so as to keep the shooter out. Sounds like a pretty good plan, right? One problem: the doors opened from the outside. Your public school system, ladies and gentlemen!

I expect to resume regular blogging tomorrow, but it will depend on the coverage. Any thoughts?