Tea Party-Backed Candidate Christine O'Donnell Wins Delaware Republican Senate Primary, Progressives Do Happy-Dance

Well! What do we have here? It's been quite a primary night in the good ol' U. S. of A. Delaware voters took to the polls, and given the choice between an establishment Republican and a crazy chick, they decided, yeah, we're gonna try out the really crazy model this time. And it warmed pundit hearts all across the land. Why? Upset, baby! A shiny new awesome narrative of which to pontificate.

So much lollers going on here, people. The tea partiers are all, "yay!!!!" But those cynical Republicans who exploited them as a means to attack Obama are now realizing this monster they've created is alive and has a mind of its own. Karl Rove is attacking O'Donnell. Michelle Malkin is attacking Karl Rove. Meanwhile, progressives, who have been hearing a heavy dose of "dems in disarray" talk from the beltway class, are all, "ha ha ha! Best night ever!"

So what does it mean for November? No one knows for sure, and anyone claiming to is lying. For now, let us ponder the fact that Delaware Republicans just nominated a woman who is adamantly opposed to...masturbation. That's right, people. No more dancing with yourselves. Cyndi Lauper, you're on notice. (You'll go blind!)

I love how after Paul Begala skirted around the issue tonight, Anderson Cooper was just like, oh for the love of...: "She was against masturbation. I will say it." The Silver Fox has no patience for your childish sensitivities, people. Aw, remember how they used to do the sex segments and he could barely get through them without blushing and epic stuttering? All grown up and cynical.

Anyhoo, there's really not all that much for me to say here. I didn't blog last night because I was tired, and frankly the show was crappy. Tonight I left my TV on during AC360's hour. If I wasn't able to entertain myself with Twitter, I wouldn't have even watched that much. I find most of the punditry excruciating (especially Erick Erickson who just needs to...not exist). Hopefully we're not going to be panelopalooza between now and November, because I am sooo not coming along for that ride.

Also? I'm pretty disappointed with the little "fact-checks" Tom Foreman is doing on the candidate ads, which are barely fact-checks at all. Talk about half-assing it. According to Tom, they didn't "have time to go through every point," yet they sure did find time to give John Dennis some free publicity. Funny how that works. Well kids, there's always tomorrow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• That'll do it. Show wasn't bad.
  

Back Live In The Gulf, A Pointless Tea Party Debate, More Haiti Coverage, And Puppies!

Hi everyone. The 360 kids are really earning those frequent flier miles and then some, leaving Haiti and going straight back to the Gulf. I hope someone is watering Anderson Cooper's plants. Not much else to say, so let's rock and roll:

• Despite being away for a few days, our anchor has not lost any of his ire at BP. Currently the company is engaged in an underwater operation to get this thing fixed once and for all, but as per usual, they haven't exactly been transparent. And this does not sit well with Anderson Cooper, who proceeds to rip them a new one (in his own mostly-polite Silver Fox way) for the next two minutes. I almost had to laugh. I mean, the broadcast just started and BP has already been thoroughly bitch-slapped. But no one can say it's not warranted. Also, in the name of my own transparency, I shall provide you with my notes of these minutes, which are as follows: "AC: Grrr! BP. Transparency!"

• Anderson on the operation: "If it doesn't work, there could be an underwater volcano of oil, with almost no way of stopping it." Um, WHAT?! Well hey, no worries. Because everything has gone swimmingly so far.
  

• Chad Myers showed us something mechanical-y on the Magic Wall, while I pondered whether or not they actually teach you these things in meteorology school.
  

• Billy Nungesser and James Carville joined Anderson to talk about transparency, berms, and other related outrages. I don't really have much to say, except that having a transcript to confirm Carville's quotes is a beautiful thing. A misquote gone prevented!

• You know how 360 has been blessedly shielding us from political stupidity as of late? Yeah, well that ends now. I have only vaguely been following the latest Tea Party-related ridiculousness, but now it is front and center on my TeeVee screen. The controversy: the NAACP passed a resolution condemning racist elements in the Tea Party movement, and the movement is now none too pleased. I have no idea why this is happening now. Again. Haven't we already had this conversation several times?
  

• But this is catnip to cable news and 360 has decided to jump on the bandwagon, bringing us a debate between Tea Party leader Mark Williams and Roland Martin. I gotta say, when they jump, they go all in. How anyone could expect to get anything from these two besides a train wreck is beyond me. Actually, I suspect that might be the point (ratings, baby!). I could go through this mess point by point, but I did that last time they yelled at each other nonsensically. I mean, the guy defending against racism charges once called Obama an "Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug," so that's where we are as a country right now (so proud!). That point, by the way, was not brought up by our anchor. Anderson actually got metaphorically knocked down early on and never really got back up. If he can't keep control (and with those two I don't know anyone could), I wish they'd stop doing this.

• Gary Tuchman is actually still in Haiti, which makes me happy and a little irked all at once. Why did they have to bring the show back after only two days? Ratings actually improved their second night. But whatever. Gary can hold down the coverage. They just better not do that thing where he's there and then they don't air his stuff. Annoying!

• Anyway. Gary follows up on the customs problems by interviewing Haiti's director of customs, Jean-Jacques Valentin, who blames the charities for not properly filling out paperwork. Says Gary: "Doctors Without Borders says their paperwork was fine. But even if it wasn't, get the cars to them. They're trying to help your people." Word. Gary shows us a whole bunch of equipment just sitting around, and notes that charity groups are afraid to speak out, lest the government become even more uncooperative. You know that stress ball I mentioned last night? I need it.

• Gary also joins us live after his piece. Anderson starts to get his rant on, and then, quite bemusing to me, Gary sorta gets his rant on too. A mini rant! Warranted? Completely. Expected? No. But back to Serious Town, says Gary: "Even if there is a paperwork issue, people here desperately need the help. I mean, there's huge fights going on behind us right now." *Sigh*

• Anderson doing a tease: "Later, also the victims of the oil spill in the Gulf you have not heard about. Family pets given up because their owners here can no longer afford to care for them." Au contraire, Silver Fox. I was tweeting about this issue weeks ago. There's even a Facebook group to provide awareness.
  

• They appear to have recut Sanjay Gupta's piece from last night for rerunning.

• When we cut back to Anderson, he is standing there holding an adorable puppy. It's like being slapped in the face with cute overload. An adorable anchor holding an adorable puppy. Are we being a little manipulated here? Perhaps. Do we care? Hell no! The puppy (named Finnegan) gives Anderson some kisses and he returns the gesture. And now I am dead. I have been murdered by cuteness. It's okay, people. It was a good way to go.
  

• Oh, you want to know why the puppy is there, don't you? In a Randi Kaye report, we learn the sad news that Gulf coast residents are being forced to give up their pets because of the havoc the oil disaster has wreaked on the region's economy. She meets with Ana Zorrilla of the Louisiana SPCA, and together they introduce us to more furry friends that have been given up. So sad. Even worse, they're not at a no-kill shelter. If you want to help, check out the above Facebook link and donate to the Louisiana SPCA. The extreme adorableness and sadness is below:

• The show was fairly good, with the second half definitely being stronger than the first. I'm drawing a blank on what this bullet point can contain. It happens, people!
  

Two Shows, One Blog Post: Interview With Dr. Jack Kevorkian, Scary Ash Plume In Iceland, & More!

Hi everyone. Well, not even a week after saying I wasn't going to blog Fridays anymore...here I am blogging a Friday. To make up for skipping out on you Thursday, I'm smooshing the last two night's shows into one post. Not a review, exactly, but review-ish.

Thursday, being tax day, brought us some Tea Party-related coverage. Our friends at 360 began by showing us that, historically, taxes are fairly low right now. In fact, most Americans have seen their taxes go down under this administration. Yet people are angry.

Jessica Yellin spent some time at a Tea Party protest and reports that the crowd was well-behaved with no signs of racism. It sounds like they've gotten more image conscious. Maybe I've missed it, but why does it seem like the media never actually talks to the protesters? I'd like to see a journalist do what this guy is doing. Obviously the videos at the link are edited; obviously the group has an agenda. Does that mean they're out of context? I don't know. I've never seen a journalist do similar questioning.

Anderson Cooper noted that though taxes are down now, many people are worried about the future when the Bush tax cuts expire. Thing is, Obama campaigned on that very issue and was elected with a strong mandate. The majority of the country wants those cuts to expire. Elections have consequences. Anyway, Tom Foreman also had a nice breakdown of how our taxes our spent. This overall segment wasn't bad.

The top of Friday's show brought us the news that Goldman Sachs has been accused of fraud by the SEC. Ali Velshi tried to further illuminate the situation by replacing the financial firm with an antique car dealership. Not bad, but in the battle for most original analogy, I think I'm going have to give the prize to Rachel Maddow and her poisoned donuts. It makes more sense if you watched. One of my faves, Matt Taibbi was a guest to talk about the situation, so yay for that.

Back to Thursday, the news broke that Obama had ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a rule that would prevent discrimination against same-sex couples when it came to hospital visitation. Anderson interviewed Janice Langbehn, and we learned the heart-breaking story of how Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida denied her and her children the right to see her partner Lisa on her deathbed. During the next broadcast, Anderson told us that the hospital had called to dispute Janice's story. I'd probably rather believe that one woman was lying, than that a whole group of health care professionals could be so heartless, but sadly I'm betting that's not the case.

On Thursday we also got this kinda weird taped segment with Chad Myers about the fireball seen in the Midwest (if you're wondering, no, I didn't see it), and the volcano in Iceland. It was nice to see Chad, but the segment felt out of place to me.

We had additional Iceland coverage on Friday--this time with Gary Tuchman reporting from on-the-ground. I know Gary's a traveling man, but it seems like he's really getting around lately. Just thinking about his frequent flyer miles makes me tired. As for the story, that is one crazy-huge plume of ash. Gary talked to a nervous farmer who has already had to deal with flooding because the volcano erupted under a glacier and it melted. Now they're worried what happens when the ash comes. Scary.

Before Gary's piece, Anderson had noted all the grounded flights in Europe. In a Randi Kaye report, we learned why it is a very bad idea to fly though ash. Apparently, ash contain glass, which will melt on an engine and cause it to stop working--which is exactly what happened to a flight in 1982. National Geographic did a reenactment. Everyone survived, but that's not an experience I'd want to have.

Friday also contained a debate between Chris Hitchens and Tony Perkins, regarding the National Day of Prayer. I have to admit, when I heard their names, I burst out laughing. Because really? Please. These people are so entrenched in their ideals that there's no way anything enlightening could come out of a conversation between the two. What's the point? I find these segments controversy-driven and wish they'd save it for HLN.

Both nights we had segments of Anderson interviewing Dr. Jack Kevorkian. It was interesting, though to be honest, when Anderson tweeted for us to send him questions, I couldn't think of a single thing I really cared to hear him answer. I'm not familiar with every person Kevorkian helped die, but I really don't have any issues with him ending a terminally ill person's suffering. Mental illness? A handicap? That gets more complicated.

Kevorkian is right in that doctors play God all the time. I disagree with his belief that the "death panel" controversy during health care reform was about religion. I think that was strictly about politics. Anyway, like I said, the interview was fairly interesting, but I have a strong aversion to promotion disguised as news. Let's cut the crap here; HBO is airing a film on Kevorkian (we're even joined by stars Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, and director Barry Levinson) and their parent company, Time Warner, is also the parent company of CNN.

That children, is why these interviews occurred. That's not to say 360 wouldn't have jumped at the chance to interview Kevorkian anyway. It just leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. Also, it was weird to watch the actors talking about him when he was sitting right there. Sarandon made a good point regarding upping a patient's morphine. She's right, it happens a lot, yet it's never become an issue.

On Thursday, Anderson interviewed comedian Lewis Black...for like a minute. Seriously, it was comically short. Lewis didn't even get a chance to get his blood pressure up! I'm assuming it was cut for the breaking news on the Obama order. Otherwise, why bother? The "shot" contained Lewis in the green room, so there's that. Also? He tells us that Wolf Blitzer used to be a werewolf. Silly Lewis, robots can't be werewolves.

The "shot" on Friday was a clip of Willie Nelson admitting to Larry King that he had smoked pot before the interview. Dude, I'd smoke pot before an interview with Larry King as well. I kid! Anyway, those jokesters at 360 have edited the clip to make Willie appear really stoned. Anderson thinks this is HILarious. Laugh it up, Silver Fox. What if someone edited clips of you to make you look drunk? Oh, wait.

The shows weren't too bad. I still have no idea what's going on with the second half of the broadcast. Is the "Big 360" interview always a celeb? Because you can't have Chelsea Handler one night and then, say, Bill Clinton the next. You're going to give your viewers whiplash, 360. Also, the celeb thing is going to get old real quick. I guess we'll see what next week brings.

DA Claims Teaching Sex Ed Could Result In Prison Time, Tea Partiers Form A National Federation, Battling The Rainy Season In Haiti, & Too Big To Fail

Hi everyone. I'm just going to cut right to the chase. Tonight we begin with the news that Scott Southworth, a district attorney in Wisconsin, is warning teachers that they could face prison time if they use a sex ed class that was approved by the state government. A weird bit of trivia that is probably neither here nor there at this point: Scott was a 2007 CNN Hero. So okay then.

Anderson Cooper gives us more details at the Magic Wall, like how the program mandates Orgy Thursdays. I kid! Yeah, this is your standard sex ed class. What's there to say? The DA is Republican, it was passed on a partisan Democratic vote. These stories aren't new. There's always someone out there screeching, "ZOMG, they're teaching our children to have the sex!"

Enter said screecher: we're next joined by Southworth himself. He calls the class "a radical program to sexualize kids." He also says that any sex had by children is illegal because they cannot give consent and teachers could be liable--I guess by encouraging them with their sexy facts. Meh.

Lisa Bloom then joins us to pretty much call BS on all this, and she does it well. She says DA dude has no legal ground to stand on, much less sane ground. Bottom line: no one is saying let's teach kids to have sex, but they do need facts to protect themselves. Then we're shown a teen pregnancy PSA featuring Bristol Palin. I am not kidding.

Moving on now to Tea Party talk (oh how I love the Tea Party talk!) with David Gergen, John Avlon, and Candy Crowley. Before I begin though, remember how I've previously noted that John comes across as a fake person? Well, apparently he's a fake writer too! Okay, okay, that characterization might be a tad unfair of me. Poor attributor would probably be more accurate, assuming the Gawker and Salon accounts are true. What can I say, I'm bemused.

Anyway! It seems that 20 Tea Party groups are banding together and forming themselves a federation. Yay? Truth be told, I think it would be awesome if these people really started their own party. The Republicans would pee themselves. The Democrats would just have to do sit back and watch everyone else implode around them. Of course, they'd probably still find a way to screw that up.

The Gerg brings up some polls that are completely meaningless without context and everyone seems to agree there's a real movement going on here--one that's frustrated with how they've been portrayed in the media. "And fair enough on that, and I include myself on that probably early on," says Anderson. Whoa. That's a significant admission.

We all remember our anchor's (admittedly hilarious) off-handed comment about tea-bagging all those months back. While other anchors devoted whole segments to mocking the term, that was Anderson's one and only mention. Yet for some reason, the Internets made him the poster child for Tea Party dismissiveness. It's not hard to assume what that reason might be, but whatever.

I bring this up, because I've noticed something lately. Suddenly, CNN is all about the Tea Party movement. They've been heavily covering the Tea Party Express national tour, and have been relentlessly promoting this piece from an African American producer, which shows the movement in a mostly positive light.

Personally, I found the piece really annoying, not because of the positiveness, but because it's another example of a member of the media acting like they're not a member of the media. It begins with a summary of what we"often see in the coverage of Tea Party rallies." Well yes, because that's what you people showed us for months and months on end. Hello!

Now I guess CNN is trying to correct what they perceive to be an error. They want to be friends with the Tea Partiers (and they really want their ratings!). They're even reaching out to conservatives to tell them about the awesomeness of their coverage (and how they're pissing off the left in the process).

Perhaps this kind of thing is just business as usual, and perhaps Anderson's comment tonight was just a coincidence. But I have to say, all of it has left a very bad taste in my mouth. Dear CNN, Foxification won't help you, and I really hope you're not stupid enough to think it will.

For the record, as someone who's been watching, I don't disagree with our anchor's comment. Protest movements are generally not given all that much respect by the media. Just ask the anti-war crowd. The Tea Partiers shouldn't feel special. Though I personally find the movement ridiculous (and childish), there's a small part of me that sympathizes with what they're doing (even if I think they're dead wrong).

I remember those days back in 2003 and wonder how different it might have been if the media had listened. Is the Tea Party right about initial dismissiveness from the media? Yep. Do they deserve the amount of coverage they're getting now? Nope. Is the movement all crazy extremists? Nope. Is there an undertone of racism among some members? Yep. Will the media ever report this story with accurate context? To be determined (but probably not).

Transitioning now to a Gary Tuchman piece on the rainy season in Haiti. Well, it's here. And the camp he's reporting from is located on a steep hillside. Not good. The plan is to actually move people out of Port-au-Prince to a safer place they've designated outside the city--a big change for people who've lived there their whole lives. Moving everyone is a huge undertaking. Sunday is the target. Let's hope they succeed.

We then go to Sean Penn live and Anderson asks him about the test run they did today, but no straight answer is given. There's a lot of talk of government and aid organization bureaucracies. Sean also notes that hospitals are being closed because they're running out of money while aid organizations are spending their time evaluating how to spend money. Frustrating. Anderson asks Sean what he's learned so far. "I think that in disaster, over-caution kills people is the likely lesson," he replies.

Now some levity: I've discovered that Anderson has "going to the Magic Wall" body language. I can't really explain it. But as they cut back to him at the anchor desk, something seemed off, and then it hit me: "You're about to go to that frickin' wall again, aren't you?" Plus then I noticed it wasn't live, so yeah, kinda a give-away. The topic is Citigroup execs who testified on Capitol Hill today.

This is followed by an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin, the author of "Too Big to Fail." It's a decent segment and I'm glad they're giving this stuff some coverage. But I'm wrapping things up because I'm tired.

The "shot" tonight is this bizarre Family Feud clip about Ellen DeGeneres. Apparently, she doesn't like our country very much, which is just as surprising to her as I'm sure it is to you. Seriously, WTF? And yes, all the people clapping is probably the most disturbing thing about that clip.

The show was okay. Weirdly, I actually found the last half better than the first this time. It seems like they're trying to lead with sensational controversies now (sex ed, Confederate month, doctor who posts sign against Obama). They're legitimate stories I suppose, but it feels like a ratings ploy. I'm glad we got some Haiti coverage. That'll do it.

Possible Terror Plot Uncovered, More Tea Party Talk, Michelle Obama Takes On Health Care, Teen Traces His Roots, And Blitzer Is No Jeopardy Champion

Hi everybody. Anderson Cooper is once again coming at us from Los Angeles, and we begin with some nice scary terrorism news. An Afghan national living in the U.S. is being questioned by federal authorities regarding a possible terror plot AND he has admitted ties to Al Qaeda. Awesome. From Jeanne Meserve we learn that the guy's name is Najibullah Zazi, but she really doesn't know all that much else.

Peter Bergen then joins the conversation and Anderson says the following: "I have got to say, I am, and I think there's a lot of people who are very skeptical when they hear about these kind of raids or arrests. Oftentimes, kind of on further inspection, it turns out to be just a couple guys sitting around talking, who never had any access to any weaponry or anything." Bingo. I am definitely one of those skeptical "lot of people."

Time and time again we hear about some plot, everyone freaks out, and then later we find out it was just a couple of yahoos who thought they could actually take on a whole army base or something. So while I definitely think this is important for 360 to cover, and though Peter seems to think this one is the real deal, I'm still going to let this thing percolate before I expend any real blogging energy.

Transitioning from one kind of craziness to another kind of craziness. Yeah, we're still talking about the controversy over the protests over health care reform. The POTUS could really use not having to deal with this right now, but deal with it he must. Media blitz! In a Joe Johns piece we get a sum up of our prez talking to the media, broken down by network, which is sort of weird and amusing. On a related note, while we're talking about networks, did you guys see Rick Sanchez taking on the lies of Fox News? Booyah! Now that's what I'm talking about.

Back in the piece, we also learn that Joe Wilson speaks! What does he say? Meh. Nothing that interesting. He claims that if he could do it again he wouldn't. Whatever. For discussion of this, we're joined by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Jennifer Palmieri of the Center For American Progress. Honestly, there is nothing of note here, though Tony does manage to bring up Prop 8. Quite the one trick pony, isn't he? Well, if you count abortion too, I guess he's two tricks.

On now to an Erica Hill piece on the Obama administration's latest move in the health care reform debate. Time to deploy the misses! They're hoping she'll be a force to be reckoned with. After all, she brings to the table a 75 percent approval rating among women, personal health care stories, and fantabulous arms! Unlike with Hillary Clinton, Michelle will mostly just be playing the First Lady role in this situation. I wish her good luck.

Next up, we have a Randi Kaye piece on the murder of Annie Le, which is followed by discussion. But I can't take this coverage anymore, so I switched to Jay Leno. Drew Barrymore was on. She drove a car around a track that had a cardboard Ed Begley Jr. It was weird. So...there's that.

Moving on to a cute Soledad O'Brien piece, in which we follow 14-year-old Donovan Rogers on his journey to trace his genealogy. Malaak Compton-Rock (wife of Chris) started this really cool program called Journey for Change, which took Donovan and 29 other Brooklyn kids to Africa, so they could learn to appreciate and take advantage of the opportunities they have. One part of the program is DNA testing.

The idea is to help the kids learn where they come from. When the big reveal finally comes, we learn that Donovan has roots in Sierra Leone. "I'm complete now. I know more about me and where my ancestors come from. And now that I know this, I'm going to take it further and discover more of that culture, because that's who I am," says Donovan. Cool kid. I hope Malaak is able to expand her program in the future. I really liked this piece, and judging by the look on Anderson's face when it was over, he did too. Yeah, I might have aw-ed. Sue me.

For the "shot" tonight, this just in to The Situation Room: Wolf Blitzer, like, really sucks at Jeopardy. That's right, the Wolfbot came face-to-face with one Mr. Alex Trebek and the result was humiliating, crushing defeat. The most winceable part is when he's informed that even though he's in the negative, it's celebrity Jeopardy, so they're going to make an exception and let him keep playing. Man, that had to burn his beard. So, Anderson and Erica Hill are sympathetic to their colleague's public embarrassment, right? Oh hells no! They're loving this.

To be fair, our anchor (who is a Jeopardy champion himself, thank you very much) somewhat has the Wolfbot's back, noting that it's really more about the buzzer than what you know. Uh huh. Right. And if anyone thought they were getting out of here without seeing a little of the Silver Fox's appearance, well, you don't know him that well. "Oh, you have tape. Excellent," says Anderson, as Erica intros. Yeah, because he didn't know that was coming.

Anyhoo! You can check out Anderson's big win here. If you're like me, you will be amused by the combination of overly intense seriousness mixed with that quirky dorkiness we all know and love. Also? "They told me I might be able to come back on this year," says Anderson. That would be really cool. But are there really that many celebs waiting in the wings that Anderson Cooper has to wait and see if he's been picked to come back on? I guess Alex Trebek really is our overlord.

Finally, goodbye to producer Jason Rovou, who is headed to the home of the suspendered-one. Good luck, Jason. I did not know you, but you rock a bee suit like nobody's business. On a related staffer note, don't forget Jack Gray's live-blog on Sunday! Fun will be had.

More Discussion Of The Tea Party Protests, Interview With Barney Frank, Annie Le Case Update, Border Funding Bungle, And An Overly Honest Doctor

Hi everybody. Anderson Cooper is coming at us from Los Angeles tonight. I know this because he actually tweeted (gasp!), but he did not elaborate. So your guess is as good as mine. Choose your own rumor! Kidding. Okay, so you know how Jimmy Carter got everyone worked up into a lather when he said racism was behind the tea party movement? Well, the news cycle is just about at that point where things quiet down. So you know what we need? Something to ratchet it back up. Enter Nancy Pelosi.

Today she got a little teary when she noted that all this anti-Obama rhetoric is very reminiscent of what she saw in San Francisco in the late 70's, which is a reference to the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone. I think we all know what happens next in this play. Occupying the role of the Republican who is angry she would even say such a thing, is Minority Leader John Boehner. So that was fun. And the news cycle has red meat for at least one more day.

A Candy Crowley piece breaks it all down. We know the drill: Socialists! Nazis! Racists! Oh my! The president doesn't want anything to do with it, and no one is actually talking about health care. This is where we are now. I don't understand why people have to get so defensive when race is brought up. I haven't heard anyone say that everyone who opposes the president is a racist. If you think you have legitimate gripes, well fine, we're not talking about you. Though one does wonder about people who claim not to be racist, yet get overly defensive when the subject is brought up.

Next up, Barney Frank is here for the "360 Interview" (there's a graphic and everything!). He starts off by talking about the assassinations Pelosi alluded to and notes he wouldn't have made the comparison. All I can think is that I really should rent "Milk" sometime. Then Frank gives us a little history lesson in partisan politics, laying most of the blame for our current situation on Newt Gingrich's doorstep. Apparently the Newster felt that the only way the Republicans could ever win was to demonize the opposition. Says a lot about their policies, doesn't it? And here we are.

Frank goes on to talk about the faith that has been lost in our country's institutions, such as the financial sector and the news media. People get their information from partisan sources now. When you can't even agree on basic facts, what can you agree on? "You guys are more in the middle, but you're in the minority in being sort of in the middle," says Frank, referring to CNN. Anderson is all over this one. "Tell me about it," he says. Aw, the Silver Fox needs a cyber high five, y'all. (Though in my opinion, CNN's problems are just as much their own doing, as they are due to competing against partisan networks.)

For our requisite panel tonight, we once again play a rousing game of "which of these people don't really seem to belong?" Barney Frank sticks around and we're joined by David Gergen, Republican Congressman Mike Rogers, and Deepak Chopra. We're back to the racism deal and we begin with Rogers, but he pretty much says what you'd assume he'd say. The Gerg reiterates his point from last night that the racism is only on the fringes. Then he starts talking about Lincoln and the negative way he was portrayed, ending with, "And it's important to remember what happened to Lincoln in April of 1865." Um, wow. There's no follow up here, which is a shame because I think the Gerg just implied something pretty big. Maybe I'm misreading.

It's Deepak's turn now and he goes from talking about the moving goal posts of reform, to the fear people feel, to how end of life care extends suffering, to all the money spent on unnecessary tests, to how there are more health care lobbyists in Washington than Congresscritters. Wow, that was quite a trip we just took. I mean, all good points and all, but quiet the mouthful. Anderson then flips the subject to Frank's totally awesome instructional video on how you deal with a crazy person.

Following the clip, Frank explains that the woman who asked the question was a LaRouche. If you're not familiar, consider yourself lucky. "I ran against one who said that Queen Elizabeth was a drug dealer. My response was that I didn't think she dressed nearly well enough to be a drug dealer," he says. I love it that the Gerg and Anderson are the ones who get a kick out of this the most. Frank then makes probably the most important point about this whole thing thus far, which I'm not sure a lot of people are getting: "There is a reluctance on the part of mainstream politicians to repudiate the angriest and least rational and least logical and unfairest people in their own wing."

This is the problem with the debate in a nutshell. As I've noted numerous times, there are legitimate reasons for people to be wary about reform, but the debate is being driven by the crazies. Why? As Frank says, "The conservatives were very happy to let them go out and attack Democrats." Both sides have their fringes, but at this point the difference seems to be that the Democrats keep their fringe on the fringe, while the Republicans are allowing theirs to represent mainstream conservatives. Example: the Daily Kos is viewed as a far left blog by many, but Truthers and 2004 election conspiracists are not welcome there. Whereas Glenn Beck, who literally tells his followers Obama is creating his own army, is seen as a leader.

Okay, so this brings us to Rogers, who admonishes Frank for not calling out Code Pink during the Bush years. Except uh, according to Frank he totally did (even threatened to have police remove them), and boy is he not happy about this accusation. Rogers also talks about how the protesters are just average people who are scared. Well, of course they're scared; you let people keep telling them that Obama wants to kill grandma. The evilness of government sticking their nose in health care is also brought up. "You mean the same people that couldn't get water to Katrina...," says Rogers. Oh no, he didn't. A Republican is using Katrina as a political football? WTF? When Obama makes some horse guy head of FEMA, then you can talk. Until then, zip it. That's enough of that.

Transitioning now to me changing the channel and then forgetting I've changed the channel. You ever do that? Anyway, when I remember what show I'm watching and flip back to 360, Tom Foreman is there live to talk about the arrest of Raymond Clark in the murder of Yale student Annie Le. We're then joined by Lisa Bloom and stalking expert Rhonda Saunders for speculation. Seriously, Rhonda even flat out admits that's what they're doing: "And right now I think everything is pure speculation. We really don't know." Yep. So the point of this segment is...? Next time I hear Anderson talk about how much he likes facts, I'm going all Joe Wilson on his ass. (With love, of course.)

On now to some actual reporting...from Drew Griffin. Yay? Yes people, I have issues with this reporter. Search my archives if you want some background. Essentially this piece is about two border crossings to nowhere. Nowhere, I guess, being Canada. Love you Canada! Anyhoo! Up in Montana they have a couple of these crossings that see very little traffic, but are getting themselves a $15 million upgrade. Sweet! How little traffic are we talking? Like under 20 vehicles per day. This is illustrated to us by having Drew sit in the middle of the road. See how he can sit there and there are no cars? Clearly no one would have understood this situation without that demonstration.

Drew tells us that once the Democrats took over Congress, the two senators in Montana--Baucus and Tester--became mighty powerful. So, of course, the implication is that this is a big old porky gift to the state of Montana. And hey, that's probably the truth. It certainly looks like it. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no trust in Drew's reporting, so there's that. After Drew's piece, he tells us North Dakota's Byron Dorgan sent Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano a note about the situation and now things are on pause. Hopefully the upgrade gets kaboshed if things are really as bad as they seem.

Next up, we have a Gary Tuchman piece that continues the series on medical malpractice. We meet cardiologist Lester Dyke, a surgeon who likes to speak his mind and is unafraid of becoming unpopular among his peers. That last part is a good thing because his opinion is not going down well with the medical community. See, while most doctors point their fingers at trial lawyers when it comes to the problem of high medical costs, Dr. Dyke has his finger trained on his own colleagues. He claims doctors are putting money-making above patient care. Whoa. Now that's guts. As you might imagine, his referrals? Yeah, not so good these days.

For the other side, we also hear from gastroenterologist Carlos Cardenas, who denies that Dr. Dyke has been blacklisted for his comments. These men practice in McAllen, a very poor county in Texas, yet home of the second highest health care costs in the nation. Says Dr. Dyke: "The doctors are able to profit not just from being physicians like we have traditionally, but by ordering tests on equipment that they own or X-rays on equipment that they own, or sending patients to facilities that they own or have a financial interest in." Now that sounds like something that needs a big investigation.

But Dr. Cardenas says he thinks the county does extra testing--or utilization, as he calls it--because the patients are sicker. It's an interesting debate. This has been a good series. I wish they were doing their whole "dig deeper" thing on this stuff instead of giving us panels filled with speculation.

For the "shot" tonight, Susan Boyle is baaaack. Meh. I'm over her. The show was okay. They're starting to become too panel-focused again, but at least Anderson is doing actual interviews now. Also, in case I forget to pimp tomorrow, Jack Gray will be live-blogging the Emmys this Sunday. All the cool kids will be there! If you're not familiar with Jack Gray, grab some chicken fingers, wrap yourself in a Snuggie, and click on his name in my links. That'll do it.

Update: I'm getting lots of hits on Gary's story. Here's the video for those interested.

RIP Patrick Swayze, Tea Partier Mark Williams' Craziness Causes Unintential Hilarity, Annie Le Murdered, And Bonus Kanye West On Leno

Hi everybody. Well, the 360 kids have made it back stateside safe and sound and for that I am thankful. Now only if we could get the same quality coverage in studio that we got out in the field. Eh, a blogger can dream. Though not a huge Jay Leno fan, I have to admit, I was a little curious about his debut tonight, so I did some flipping. You have been warned.

We kick things off with the God-awful annoying "breaking news" graphic telling us that Patrick Swayze has succumbed to pancreatic cancer, which of course is very sad. Way, way too young. In an Anderson Cooper piece we're given Swayze's career highlights: "Dirty Dancing," "Ghost," "Red Dawn," "The Outsiders," "Point Break," "To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar." He had a good career. "Ghost" and "Point Break" are two of my favorites.

Barbara Walters then calls in to talk about the interview she did with Swayze after his diagnosis. This all kinda feels excessive to me. It's always strange to see how celeb deaths rate when it comes to news coverage. A bigger news day he might have just been a headline. Anyway, we learn that Swayze was a Texas cowboy who loved his horses, which leads Anderson to share an amusing colloquialism he first heard from Reagan: "there's something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." Interesting.

Next up, Erica Hill tells us what people have been saying about Swayze online, but I totally turned to Leno and watched a musical car wash number. Sorry. Then we're joined by Dr. Anton Bilchik for the medical angle. Because we always have to have the medical angle. It's pancreatic cancer. What is there to say? It's deadly and the symptoms are subtle. Kinda a bitch.

Transitioning now to tea party coverage. But before you get your "woo hoo" on, it ain't that kind of party. Candy Crowley gives us the low down in a piece. On September 12, angry citizens took to the DC streets and opened a can of crazy on America. Oh my was it ever crazy. The gist of their message? Government bad! Oh, and Obama is a Nazi. But are they racist? Um, hello! Yes. Not all, but yes, some of them are clearly having a bit of an issue with the country being led by a black man. Once again, no mention of Glenn Beck (who basically orchestrated this thing) by CNN. I wonder if that's a policy or something.

Now it's time for the fun part. For discussion, we're joined by David Gergen, James Carville, and tea party organizer Mark Williams. I'm a little torn about again seeing Mark on my television screen. After all, he's essentially just a dude who hates the president. Why should we listen to him? Not to mention the fact that it appears CNN is breaking their own policy to have him on. But then again, he comes off so poorly that it's almost like CNN is giving him the rope to hang himself. So yes, stick him on TV and let him represent the opposition. Please.

Anderson begins by noting that the protests may have been bigger than liberals would have guessed. Um, really? Because I heard they were at most about 70,000 people, which is a pretty small percentage of the population and not even as large as anti-war protests. And we all remember how those protests totally stopped the Iraq war. Oh, wait.

Anyway, Anderson goes on to wonder if maybe this is really about people being mad their presidential candidate didn't win. Mark brushes that off and says the protesters are "working stiffs" who are being called "Nazis" by their government. Um, come again? WTF is he talking about? Who in the government is calling people Nazis? Perhaps he is confusing that with the last government calling the opposition "morally or intellectually confused." THAT actually happened.

OR maybe he's confusing the government with himself, because Anderson is all, um, actually you're the one that called Obama a Nazi. Mark flat out denies the charge, which leads Anderson to note that it's on his website. Ha! The Internets never lie, Mark! But it turns out his site doesn't call Barack Obama a Nazi. It calls "Mubarak Hussein Obama" a Nazi. You see how that's different? Do you?! Also, Mark wants us to know that Obama is "taking the seeds of socialism planted by George W. and fertilizing them and watering them until they go into full bloom" Zoh my God the president is gardening! The horror!

Since Mark claims to have been against Dubya's socialist seeding as well, Anderson asks if he protested back during that administration. Mark assures us he did. I call BS. This would be the perfect time for 360 to be all, "oh really?" and then whip out a clip of him praising 43, Daily Show-style. Now, of course you can't prove a negative. But one wonders why this wasn't all researched beforehand. That wasn't a question asked for the viewer's benefit. It's clear that Anderson does not know the answer.

The floor finally gets thrown to James, who acknowledges that a lot of people turned out, but is disgusted by their behavior. Specifically the signs that read, "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy." Classy, no? Mark tries to argue that only three people had those signs, but James notes it was confirmed by CNN that they numbered in the thousands. Then Mark tells James he needs to get out and see America. Because obviously the true Americans agree with Mark. See how that works?

Anderson then turns to our favorite voice of reason. Bring us home to sanity-land, David! "I think that, Anderson, we're going off the rails here in some of these demonstrations," he tells us. Looks like it's been one too many Nazis for our Gerg. He even wonders if the country's partisanship is becoming ungovernable. Mark finds this outrageous, noting that in the 60's we had cities in flames. And the Gerg is like, um, yeah, everyone sane condemned that. Yet here's Mark standing up for the crazies. Even James is like, hey, if you want to align yourself and the Republican party with people who scream "you lie!" at the president, then get on with your bad self.

Next Anderson gives us a little Maureen Dowd, noting that he's sure Mark reads her column "religiously." Dowd thinks the protests have an undercurrent of racism. Yeah, they do. But Mark of course dismisses this, pointing out that he's seen "exactly three" of those "witchdoctor signs" during his travels. Three again. What a coinky-dink. Like celebrity deaths, I guess offensive Obama signs always come in threes. Anyway, Mark thinks those fringe people are "no more part of mainstream America than are the hippies who wear nipple clips and feather boas in San Francisco's streets during so-called peace demonstrations." Um, nipple clips and feather boas are racist?

Anderson throws Mark a bone and says that he understands his argument here, but notes that on his website he calls Obama "an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief." And this is where your blogger loses it. You can't even be mad at this point; it's just too freakin insane. Just sit back and laugh at the WTFery, people. For the record, Mark is full on embracing the crazy, which reduces poor Anderson to having to ask if he really thinks Obama is an Indonesian Muslim. (And I love the little eyebrow cock--even Mr. Opinionless Sleeves can't deal with this BS.) I'm practically falling out of my chair at this point. The fact that Carville is currently laughing his ass off as well isn't helping.

But the Gerg apparently still thinks this guy is worth getting angry about. "You think he's a racist in chief? Racist in chief? Is that what you called him? That's unbelievable," he says. Aw, it's gonna be okay, Gerg. The crazy cannot be reasoned with. Anyway, Mark continues to cling to his whole "working class American" meme because, obviously, Obama supporters don't work and aren't really American.

Anderson tries to wrestle us back into reality by bringing up a quote from conservative David Frum. Even he thinks things have gotten out of hand. Well, this is what happens when you let the Sarah Palins of the world define your party. I think it's about time to wrap this all up. There's some more back and forth and Mark tells James, without irony, that it's hard to take him seriously when he's acting "irrational." Yes, we wouldn't want anyone to start acting irrational.

Mark also goes off about the "corporate takeover of D.C." Which is why he wants to protect insurance companies? Uh huh. Bottom line, Obama is the change that millions of us voted for. It's not our fault Mark isn't part of that group. You can see the second half of this whole exchange here. Also, apparently Mark was not happy about his appearance, which he relays in a blog post here, calling his segment, "perhaps the most outrageous thing to come out of CNN’s AC360." Well he's sorta right.

Interestingly, this post has been edited. If you do a Google blog search, you will see that he originally portrayed his segment as a "three against one," even saying that Anderson ganged up on him. The new version just focuses on David and James. Afraid of the wrath of Cooper? Too bad the Internets never forget.

Ok, time to watch Kanye West on Leno. Last night at the VMA's he stormed the stage and stole Taylor Swift's moment, confirming to the world he's a total ass. Now he's chatting with Jay. Awwwkward. I flip over just in time to see him take the chair. Leno has gotten softer in his new time slot. Instead of doing a Hugh Grant, "What the hell were you thinking?" he goes all Barbara Walters and almost makes Kanye cry by asking what his late mom would think about the situation. Now, normally I would totally be manipulated by this, but no! He's been acting like a total ass since BEFORE his mom died and now he's going to use that as an excuse? That's some stone cold douche-baggery there.

Back to CNN, we're in the middle of a Tom Foreman piece on that missing Yale co-ed, Annie Le. Except she's not missing anymore. She's dead. Very sad.

Erica Hill has the "360 Bulletin" and hey, guess who we're talking about again? Kanye. "I actually watched just the beginning of that, because the rest of it was pretty much unwatchable. I felt so bad for her," says Anderson. This kinda cracked me up because I did exactly the same thing. When did MTV become so unwatchable? I barely even knew who Taylor Swift was before last night. I only turned it on because people were talking about it on Twitter. Everything is infinitely better when there are people to bitch with online. How do you think I got through any of Bush's State of the Unions? Anyway, we also get played the requisite Obama/Kanye mashup. C'mon, like you didn't know that was coming.

The "shot" tonight is the classic SNL Chippendales skit with Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley. Two entertainers both taken too early.

The show was just okay. Hopefully they're still getting back into their studio groove. I guess we'll see.