Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread 5 February 2006

You're right on the money. Any respiratory issue is more severe at greater altitudes. EMT's in CO will confirm that around 70% of all ambulance calls in the mountains are for respiratory problems.

My analysis, before watching the shows, of the Sunday Morning lineup

The Memes:

Primarily the old media is built around establishing the "meme" of what the news is for any current debate. A meme, in this context, can be thought of as the terms of the debate. They want to frame the debate using their loaded terms in order to drive the conclusion to their predetermined and preferred outcomes.

A perfect example is their insistence on referring to the NSA intercepts of Al Qaeda communications as "domestic spying."

Meet the Press memes:

My guess is that there are two main memes this week, as exemplified in the agenda on MTP:
- Republicans have a "corruption problem"
  - electing John Boehner as Majority Leader is both an admission of this "fact" and a failed attempt to change, since John Boehner is just as heavily in the pocket of conservative lobbyists
- the NSA "domestic surveillance program is illegal"
  - the program is illegal, Arlen Specter knows it and his hearings will show it
Roundtable reporters will reinforce the two main memes and promote a third, lesser, meme
- Bush missed a chance to embrace the Democrats agenda in the State of the Union address by not adopting their plans as his own

Fox News Sunday memes:

Fox generally presents the same old media memes as the rest of the shows, but tends to present them as questions rather than statements of fact
- Republicans have a "corruption problem"
  - they will ask Boehner about his reputation as "King of K Street" but they'll give him the opportunity to present his version of his involvement with them
- the NSA "domestic surveillance program is illegal"
  - similarly General Hayden will be treated with great respect by the interviewer (Chris?) and allowed to lay out the arguments he has made so forcefully and effectively in the last couple of weeks
I haven't seen who will be on the roundtable this morning, which really gives the most important clue to the direction Fox is taking, IMO, I just hope that Brit is on and gets a chance to slap down Juan once or twice

ABC This Week memes:

My reading is that ABC will also pursue the same two main MSM memes
- Republicans have a "corruption problem"
  - they will also use Boehner's election as Majority Leader as an admission and a failed attempt to change, but they will be attacking GOP chairman Mehlman to do it
- the NSA "domestic surveillance program is illegal"
  - they will be attacking General Michael Hayden as the author of the "spy web"

CBS Face The Nation memes:

It appears to be 3 for 3 on the old media shows with the "Republican Corruption" and "NSA domestic spying" memes, though they will add the "missed chance for change" spin to the NSA discussions
- Republicans have a "corruption problem"
  - this will be pursued by allowing Leaky Leahy to spout charges of White House ties to Jack Abramoff.
  - They may also try to make Bush's SOU "alternative energy" mention of "switch grass" into an example of pork barrel politics by attacking Jeff Sessions
- the NSA "domestic surveillance program is illegal"
  - the Republicans are "making it partisan" and "angering the Democrats" by not agreeing that it is illegal and must be authorized by Congress
- The roundtable will reinforce these memes, particularly the SOU as a missed chance, but will add red meat that Bush's proposals are big government, pissing off the conservatives, but not big enough, pissing off the liberals

CNN Late Edition memes:

CNN is following the corruption angle but is switching from the NSA issue to the turmoil this week over the Muhammad cartoons
- Republicans have a "corruption problem"
  - CNN will try to tie back "Republican scandals" that dropped off the radar screen too quickly for them, particularly by trying to revive the Cunningham bribery scandal with attacks on Duncan Hunter
- The Bush plans in the Middle East are a proven failure and the US is backing evil islamo-fascists in exchange for oil

The Guests:

So, why are these particular guests on the Sunday Morning News Shows?

My feeling is that there are 5 categories into which invited guests fall, primarily based on what they can contribute to the meme they want to promote:

proponents of the conservative version of the meme being discussed, invited in order to be attack it and them - often they are chosen because of a particular weakness that the media feels they can exploit
enemies of the conservative version of the meme being discussed, who are given an uncritical platform to promote their version of the meme
so called conservatives or "conservative allies" who can be counted on to attack the conservative version of the meme (because they always do or have said something particular on the current topic against conservative interests)
reporters who will lay out the old media's agenda and their version of the meme being discussed
neutral non-players who are on for either comic relief or "human interest" stories, brought into establish to give a "warm feeling" about the old media types as the "good guys," since they are the ones who find and promote these "heart warming stories"

There are also "wild cards." They are often token conservative reporters or intellectuals. Many times they are included as type 1 or type 3 guests but they surprise the planners and put forward a compelling argument without allowing an easy personal attack.

Therefore I have tried to categorize the guests on this weeks shows and provide some rationale for that categorization

Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi ambassador to the United States
- Type 3
- Reasons:
  - Saudi Arabia is our "ally" but they are the prime promoters and funders of the current round of unrest, as well as of islamo-fascism in general
- Appearing on:
  - CNN Late Edition

Iyad Allawi, former Iraqi interim prime minister, Iraqi Parliament member
- Type 3
- Reasons:
  - Allawi was supposed to be the great neo-con hope for governing Iraq after deposing Saddam, but he was effectively slimed by anonymous leaks from inside CIA and State (which may or may not be true) and has been turned into an icon of the "failed Bush policies," particularly being cast as an Iranian ally (he "passed secrets to them")
- Appearing on:
  - CNN Late Edition

Rep. John Boehner, R-OH
- Type 1
- Reasons:
  - reason 1 is simple enough, he's the "new (Republican) House Majority Leader"
  - The attacks will be personal and will paint Boehner as another "corrupt Republican"
    - The New York Times analysis emphasizes Boehner's ties to "corrupt" lobbyists with the nickname "the King of K Street," just another Tom Delay
    - US News and World Report, in an article titled Faking Reform, brands Boehner as "no stranger to the lobbyists' cozy K Street clan: His political action committee raised over $31,000 from the tribal clients of Jack Abramoff, the superlobbyist now singing to the feds in a congressional bribery scandal. And, about a decade ago, he had to apologize for passing out campaign checks from the tobacco lobby on the House floor."
- Appearing on:
  - NBC Meet The Press
  - Fox News Sunday

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, Foreign Relations Committee
- Type 2
- Reasons:
  - do I really have to say anything? I mean, really?
- Appearing on:
  - CNN Late Edition

David Brooks, columnist, The New York Times
- Type 4
- Reasons:
  - Brooks promotes the idea that Bush's SOU comments were pushing a big government agenda
    - Appearing on NPRs News Hour with Jim Lehrer Brooks said this about the SOU: "... conservatives are upset because this is big government conservatism, there is nothing government won't take over. And you are hearing a fair bit of that from the right... I would say the first thing I noticed is that there is ferment on energy and portable healthcare. Bush didn't propose huge things on this. But there is a debate starting that we need a big energy program and we need to make healthcare portable."
  - Brooks frames the NSA argument as Republicans being partisan as well as reinforcing the idea that it is illegal
    - Appearing on NPRs News Hour with Jim Lehrer Brooks said this about the Senate hearings on the NSA surveillance: "I guess what struck me first is how partisan it is. You know, we've been talking on this show for a couple weeks about getting together and saying reform, let's reform the FISA bill, this law that governs the intelligence and so we can all agree, we'll have the program, we'll get it under some judicial framework so, very little hint of that. Republicans utterly confident that they don't need the frame -- that it is legal, Democrats very angry."
- Appearing on:
  - CBS Face The Nation (roundtable)

Ron Brownstein (LA Times columnist)
- Type 4
- Reasons:
  - Brownstein's piece in the LA Times on the SOU has this gem in it: "But on crucial issues such as the federal budget deficit, access to healthcare and America's dependence on foreign oil — all concerns Bush is likely to emphasize Tuesday — the nation is unlikely to make significant progress unless the parties narrow their differences. The evidence suggests that the best way to confront these problems is to blend ideas each side favors. The political imperative of greater contrast collides with the substantive imperative of more cooperation."
- Appearing on:
  - NBC Meet The Press (roundtable)

Dominique Dawes
- Type 5
- Reasons:
  - "the Olympic gold medalist, gives a sneak peek at a Super Bowl ad that's just for dads"
- Appearing on:
  - ABC This Week

Sam Donaldson
- Type 4
- Reasons:
  - Sam is dragged out of his cryo freezer and stood up to spout reliable "Bush is an idiot" and "Republicans are all crooks" agitprop
- Appearing on:
  - ABC This Week (roundtable)

John Harwood (Wall Street Journal)
- Type 4
- Reasons:
  - Harwood's piece in the WSJ on the SOU starts with: "A politically weakened President Bush addresses the nation tonight facing two clear demands from the American public: solve problems in the health-care system and bring U.S. troops home from Iraq."
- Appearing on:
  - NBC Meet The Press (roundtable)

Gen. Michael Hayden, deputy director of National Intelligence
- Type 1
- Reasons:
  - General Hayden is the person who "came up with the (crazy) idea" that the President could authorize wiretaps (for national security reasons) without going to a court
    - ABC news frames the interview this way: "Then, as the fierce battle over domestic eavesdropping rages, I sit down with Gen. Michael Hayden, deputy director of national intelligence, in his first-ever Sunday morning interview. On the eve of the Senate hearing on the president's terrorism surveillance policy, I talk to the former head of the National Security Agency — the man who designed the highly controversial program." So Hayden is the evil creator of Bush's nasty domestic spying program. Attack plans are laid.
    - NPR pushes this too: "Gen. Michael Hayden came to (President Bush) with the idea shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. At the time, Hayden was chief of the NSA; he's now No. 2 at the new Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Prior to the president's authorization, Hayden says he authorized more modest modifications of the NSA's rules for information gathering."
  - In addition Hayden is likely to be attacked personally for having "misled Congress"
    - Newsweek's Mark Hosenball states that the "former Clinton administration national-security official Morton Halperin and associate Michael Fuchs suggest that in an Oct. 17, 2002, hearing before the joint congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks, Hayden “misled Congress” when he testified “that any surveillance of persons in the United States was done consistent with FISA." (FISA is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the 1978 law that requires investigators to obtain warrants from a specific secret court before conducting surveillance of American citizens and others inside the United States.) According to Halperin and Fuchs, at the time Hayden made the statement, he “was fully aware of the presidential order to conduct warrantless domestic spying issued the previous year."
- Appearing on:
  - Fox News Sunday
  - ABC This Week

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California; chairman, Armed Services Committee
- Type 2
- Reasons:
  - Hunter got $39,200 from "tainted sources" and is implicated in disgraced Congressman Cunninghams corruption
- Appearing on:
  - CNN Late Edition

Afghan President Hamid Karzai
- Type 1 and Type 3
- Reasons:
  - Type 3 because he is critical of the cartoons of Muhammad, thus Bush is supporting one of those "crazy Muslims"
    - Karzai urges cartoon papers to sack editors
    - Karzai hits out at sacrilegious cartoon
  - Type 1 is because he is our ally in Afghanistan so look for further attacks on his government as inept or not really in charge
    - Afghan police battle Taliban; Karzai to protest leaky border
    - Afghan, US forces battle insurgents
- Appearing on:
  - CNN Late Edition

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) ranking member, Judiciary Committee
- Type 2
- Reasons:
  - Leftist Think Progress is promoting a letter sent by Senators Patrick Leahy (along with Dick Durbin (D-IL)) to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "questioning him on what he knew about the ties between Jack Abramoff and Timothy Flanigan a former White House lawyer, who withdrew his nomination to be deputy attorney general last October." This is part of an attempt to tie Bush to Abramoff.
- Appearing on:
  - CBS Face The Nation

Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee
- Type 1
- Reasons:
  - ABC news frames the interview this way: "Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman joins me for an exclusive interview on the GOP's ethics woes and its chances of holding its majority in 2006."
- Appearing on:
  - ABC This Week

Mayor Greg Nickels, Seattle, Washington
- Type 5
- Reasons:
  - warm and fuzzy Super Bowl stuff
- Appearing on:
  - CNN Late Edition

Mayor Bob O'Connor, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Type 5
- Reasons:
  - warm and fuzzy Super Bowl stuff
- Appearing on:
  - CNN Late Edition

Cokie Roberts
- Type 4
- Reasons:
  - Cokie will just be Cokie, probably tell some quaint story about when she was a child spitting in Tail Gunner Joe's coffee and how these Republicans remind her of that evil era
- Appearing on:
  - ABC This Week (roundtable)

Sen. Jeff Sessions, (R-Ala.) member, Judiciary Committee
- Type 1
- Reasons:
  - there is a meme being established by the left (AP, NPR and green news sources) that Jeff Sessions is the person behind the SOU reference to "switch grass" as one part of an ecologically friendly plan to move to alternative fuels. It appears that this will be attacked on at least two fronts, first that it is not really environmentally friendly and second that it is an example of a "special interest" inserting their own pet projects to benefit local interests. This latter meme may be an attempt to cast any Republican initiative as an example of a "corrupt practice," comparing it to earmarking.
- Appearing on:
  - CBS Face The Nation

Senate Judiciary Cmte. Chair Arlen Specter, R-PA
- Type 3
- Reasons
  - MTP frames this as Specter getting set to hold "domestic spying hearings"
  - Specter has already declared that the President must have Congressional authorization to conduct any surveillance and that the NSA program is "clearly illegal"
  - NRO reports that: "Specter’s concerns do not even address the importance of the program to our national security. Rather, they are dry and often far-fetched legalisms that evince an interest primarily in defending the turf Congress claimed in 1978 by passing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)." So Specter is arguing that the Executive Branch must get permission from Congress to exercise any of its powers once Congress takes a stand on them, whether or not they derive directly from the Constitution.
  - Specter is only slightly less reliable as a critic of the Bush administration than John McCain
- Appearing on:
  - NBC Meet The Press

Karen Tumulty, reporter, Time magazine
- Type 4
- Reasons:
  - Tumulty is one of the lead reporters pushing the idea that "only Republicans are corrupt"
    - David Corn reports via CBS News that "(m)y friend Karen Tumulty reports in this week's Time that Justice Department prosecutors are running a decent-sized investigation... Another official involved with the probe told Time that investigators are viewing Abramoff as "the middle guy"--suggesting there are bigger targets in their sights. The FBI has 13 field offices across the country working on the case, with two dozen agents assigned to it full time and roughly the same number working part time. "We are going to chase down every lead," Chris Swecker, head of the FBI's criminal division, told Time... Nearly 50 agents chasing down Abramoff leads across the country? Republicans far and wide better watch out."
- Appearing on:
  - CBS Face The Nation (roundtable)

George Will
- Type 3
- Reasons:
  - George will tell us all that
    - Republicans really are corrupt
    - Bush is not listening him therefore Bush is an idiot and must be breaking the law with this "NSA stuff"
    - the SuperBowl means that baseball starts in just a few weeks, therefore all is right with the world
- Appearing on:
  - ABC This Week (roundtable)

Fat Tim on mtp is all over the place trying to do a leftward leaning pirouette with Boehner but Boehner keeps tripping him up, he has Timmy's number and it's all left all the time.

Love it. Russert insinuating the President cleared the NSA surveillance while Ashcroft was in the hospital in his Specter interview. Classic. russert is doing as much, if not more, to help sink the Democratic party.

If the Democrats would regain the House, the country is in trouble for years to come.

Between the fact that incumbents are rarely beaten, and just the change in demographics over the last ten years (particulary the redistricting in Texas) should prevent that from happening.

Although the MSM has screamed about the poor job the house has done, the Republicans really delivered pork to their districts...that is what gets Representatives reelected. (For good or bad...)

No one should listen to Michael Savage--he's crazy and he'll make you crazy too.

If the Democrats would regain the House, the country is in trouble for years to come.

Nothing to worry. Did you watch Bush happily saying " Waiting for the campaign to start & we have a pretty good record" ? Rove team is already started working.

I have a sneeking feeling you may well be right if not we will both need to apologise

My interest in Pro Football is based on the players from the college teams I support. Seattle has Chris Gray and Steelers Kendall Simmons, both from Auburn University. Both teams have a single player from University of Alabama, so I just hope for a competative game.

I'm getting more sensitive by the minute too. And I make no apologies about being guilty of discrimination...........between decency and pure ranchiness, between truth and lies, between patriots and traitors, etc.

Steve Forbes, Fred Thompson, Jack Kemp, Victoria Toensing, Barbara Comstack are some of the others of the 25 strong team.

Great Analysis in #242 Phs!

John Boehner is kicking Russert's buffalo butt. Russert is asking his usually 15 questions without taking a breath of the Republican guest, and when Boehner is following all that nonsense, and hitting back at him nicely. Russert is even confusing himself with these multiple question questions, and he seems to lose his train of thought. I think that Boehner is disarming him with his smoothness, and he is not getting ruffled like the usual Pubbie reaction to the onslaught of this DNC pig.

Sam Donalson came out FOR media censorship on "This Week" today.

"why should we.. what right do we have to go around pointing a sharp stickin these poor people face? What good does that do?"

The Democrats stand a better chance in the Senate than House but I really anticipate Republican gains in both this year, to a stunned media and Democrat campaign.

Swann is now tied with Pretty Boy Rendell for Governor.
Swann can win. Rendell has lots of money to spend on misleading advertisements.

Pat Roberts also wrote a letter to Screamin' Howie. Glad someone is finally calling this jerk on some of his idiot comments. Pat called Howie's comments irrational and irresponsible ;-)

Chairman Roberts Reacts to DNC Chairman Howard Dean’s Egregious Comments on Terrorist Surveillance
Sen. Roberts Website ^ | Sen. Roberts

Posted on 02/03/2006 10:41:55 AM PST by hipaatwo

Rush just read this on the air, thought I'd post it.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today sent the following letter to Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean:

“I was recently apprised of your assessment of the President’s terrorist surveillance program – an “early warning” capability to intercept the international communications of al Qaeda terrorists to and from persons within the United States. With respect to this important program, you stated, “President Bush’s secret program to spy on the American people reminds Americans of the abuse of power during the dark days of President Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew.” As Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, I find your statements to be irrational and irresponsible.

“Any suggestion that a program designed to track the movement, locations, plans, or intentions of our enemy – particularly those that have infiltrated our borders – is equivalent to abusive domestic surveillance of the past is ludicrous. When Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson approved the electronic surveillance of Martin Luther King, those Presidents were targeting American citizens based on activities protected by the First Amendment. When President Richard Nixon used warrantless wiretaps, they were not directed at enemies that had attacked the United States and killed thousands of Americans.

“I believe Americans understand that the careful and targeted program authorized by President Bush has no relation to the abuses of the past. Indeed, its closest antecedent is the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Attorney General Robert H. Jackson on the eve of World War II. With war looming and reports of lurking enemy saboteurs, President Roosevelt ordered the use of domestic electronic surveillance to target “persons suspected of subversive activities.” As President Roosevelt noted, “It is too late to do anything about it after sabotage, assassinations and ‘fifth column’ activities are completed.” Significantly, President Roosevelt’s direction was issued despite a statute (Section 605 of the Communications Act of 1934) and Supreme Court precedent (United States v. Nardone, 302 U.S. 379 (1937)) that prohibited such wiretapping.

“When President Bush exercised his constitutional authority and responsibility as Commander-in-Chief to target international communications between potential terrorists within this country and al Qaeda members overseas, he recognized, just like President Roosevelt, that after a terrorist attack occurs “[i]t is too late.” Our nation had been attacked on September 11, 2001, by foreign enemies. We were, and are still, at war with an enemy that Congress identified in an Authorization for Use of Military Force (Pub. L. No. 107-40 (Sept. 18, 2001)). Much of the war against al Qaeda is being fought overseas – Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq. But the war against terrorism is not confined to foreign lands. The war against terrorism is being fought every day in our own backyard. America is a battlefield.

“In peacetime and especially when our nation is at war, our leaders, including the chairmen of our political parties, should be more careful and better informed before they criticize the intelligence programs that protect our nation. Vibrant debate is important in our free society, but that debate should be serious and rational, especially where national security is concerned. Too many are looking at national security issues through partisan lenses. I have seen it on the Intelligence Committee for the past three years. Our nation, and the men and women of the military, law enforcement, and the intelligence community, deserve better.”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1571088/posts

Re: Boehner....I was mightily impressed on learning that Boehner has NEVER earmarked anything. Can any other senator make that claim? I wonder and doubt it.

Curious what Sammy said about the use of Christian images in dispicable ways that his sort call "Art"

Very interesting...you've put a lot of time and thought into that post...