Posted on 02/05/2006 5:16:31 AM PST by Alas Babylon!
The Talk Shows
Sunday, February 5th, 2006
Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:
FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Gen. Michael Hayden, the principal deputy director of national intelligence; House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Boehner; Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.
FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
THIS WEEK (ABC): Gen. Michael Hayden; Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman.
LATE EDITION (CNN) : Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.; Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; Afghan President Hamid Karzai; former interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi; Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi ambassador to the United States; Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor; Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.
Early in the first 4 years of this administration I read an account of the visit by the Prime Minister of Japan. He and George W. Bush shared an appreciation of High Noon and they both apparently identified with the Gary Cooper character, Marshal Will Kane. Later Bush presented the Prime Minister with an original poster from that movie which he has mentioned several times since.
This was right around 9/11
In the run up to the Iraq war this incident came up as an analogy for how Europe was treating Bush in relation to confronting Saddam. The analogy worked pretty well, with the craven Germans and French betraying the noble sherrif GWB in the face of the murdering Saddam. But then the analogy got... ugly. If you continued on assigning roles from the movie to real life individuals that would make Tony Blair into Grace Kelly.
Ewwwwwwwwww!
However, what I want to know is, who does Delores Del Rio represent? And would that make Lon Chaney Jr. equivelant to Putin? Nah, Putin was either the bar tender or the guy that showed up to be deputized... until he found out no one else was signing up. But that does make Colin Powell out to be the Lloyd Bridges character, Deputy Marshal Harvey Pell.
What happened on the Sunday Morning Talk Shows
By: Mark Kilmer · Section: Other Politics
Super Bowl Sunday, February 5, 2006
This weekend was more about amusement than anything else, although John Boehner seems ready to chart something new. He defends lobbyist-funded travel and wants to add transparency to the earmarking process. On MTP, he said that he does not know Jack Abramoff and that he would like to ban political conventions. (He has a 10p bedtime.) On FNS, he said that the GOP must fashion a Vision, and from that Vision should be fashioned an Agenda. (Let there be Light!)
On FNS, General Michael Hayden pointed out that the Washington Post lied in their NSA story of this morning, wherein the paper alleged that the NSA was listening to huge numbers of phone calls and flagging for certain words as a tipoff demanding closer analysis. "THIS IS NOT TRUE."
Arlen Specter, after some serious goading by Tim Russert, relented on MTP and said that he would consider subpoenaing Jimmy Carter about the FISA Act.
Pat Leahy charged on FTN that the President knew about the 9-11 hijackers before the attack and did nothing. Earlier, Jeff Sessions argued, quotably, that "incident to war is the power to surveil."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai told Wolf Blitzer on LE that the cartoonists were evil and should be punished. He said nothing about those trashing embassies and elsewhere, except that they are as angry as he is.
Of the Cartoon Rioters, Duncan Hunter said later on LE that we are "dealing with a nutty neighbor, who, if you look at him the wrong way, comes out of the house with a shotgun." Babs Boxer declared on the same show that we would be victorious in Iraq if we left now because it would mean that we trusted them to handle things themselves. I'm not certain how this woman reasons, twisted multi-planar reality from the mind of Cthulhu, dead but dreaming.
On his show, TW, George Stephanopoulos confronted Ken Mehlman with his notion that Hegel, McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Arlen Specter were the meters by which the world must judge the body of Republican thought.
And to get on with what's on our minds, General Michael Hayden, once coached by Steelers owner Dan Rooney, predicted that the Pittsburgh Steelers would defeat the Seattle Seahawks. No point spread from the general, "not a betting man," but he'd settle for victory by a single point. Some among us would sooner see a definitive victory and a team of the 21st century.
The show-by-show review is beneath the fold.
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Feb 5th, 2006: 12:52:48
BOEHNER ON MTP. Tim Russert's first guest on NBC's Meet the Press was House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), and Russert asked him: "Are the Republicans in trouble?" Boehner, who has made noises to that effect and whose election was prompted by that supposition, said that his job was to "restore trust" and to get the party "back on the offensive."
It was Russert, though, who went on the offensive, castigating Boehner for proposing that student loans be cut. Boehner answered that he wrote that provision, and that it was not a cut. The Republican plan, he said, actually "expands benefits" and reforms the program, saving $12-billion. Russert accused him of forcing college students to pay a higher rate of interest on their loans, and Boehner replied that he proposed a floating rate for the loans. Ted Kennedy wanted a fixed rate.
But Russert was insistent: WHY CUT STUDENT LOANS, NOT EARMARKS?!? Boehner repeated that he has never taken an earmark but that he doesn't know "that its appropriate to eliminate all of them."
Russert pointed to the Hastert-Dreier lobbying reform plan, which would eliminate travel for members paid for by lobbyists. Boehner said that they needed to come up with something that's real, not something that merely looks good. Russert documented that Boehner takes lots of trips to resorts, all funded by lobbyists. Boehner responded that he is open, transparent: "What you see is what you get." He explained that he's likeable and thus gets invited to speak at certain events. These events, he explained, are held in nice places because that's where people like to meet.
Boehner explained that he's not here because he wants to be a Congressman; rather, he's here because he wants to do good.
Boehner suggested eliminating political conventions, since they no longer serve their intended function. Barring that, he would eliminate convention-related parties thrown by lobbyists for particular members. He wants to get to bed by 10p.
Russert confronted Boehner with the Congressman handing out tobacco money on the House floor many years ago. The Congressman said it was a mistake, he regretted it, and he worked with former Speaker Newt Gingrich to ban that practice.
Congressman Boehner believes Tom DeLay is innocent. If DeLay is cleared and wants to return as Majority Leader, Boehner said: "We'll talk about it." Russert, it seemed, wanted a pledge from Boehner that he would step aside and give the conference back to DeLay. He did not get it.
Russert asked Boehner about Jack Abramoff: "He's a shadow, a lobbyist hanging over Congress." Boehner said he's never met him and would not return money donated to him by Indian tribes, insisting that it had nothing whatsoever to do with Abramoff. (He has letters from the tribes to that effect, he claimed.)
BOEHNER ON FNS. John Boehner was Chris Wallace's second guest on FOX News Sunday, where he said that the party faces a challenge coming into the midterms, as the President's poll numbers were down but the economy was good. He said they need to have a vision of who they are, and from that vision, they must create an agenda.
Without directly mentioning the Hastert-Dreier lobbying reform plan, Boehner suggested that some of the reform proposals were "childish," in that they treated "members like children."
He won't go along with a ban on lobbyist-funded travel, because one "can't lock members up in a cubbyhole." These trips are "educational," he explained. They get members out to see America. But he hinted that such trips should be "approved by the Ethics Committee." He said that though he doesn't do earmarks, he does not think it appropriate to eliminate all of them. He wants the member's name attached to them, though, and he wants them added in the open, not in the privacy of an off-the-floor meeting.
He wants reform, he said, but he does not want to do what has been done in the past, which is to overreact and pass all sort of rules, after which "nobody knows what happened." (Hey, Newt!)
GENERAL HAYDEN ON FNS. Wallace's first guest on FNS was General Michael Hayden, the deputy director of National Intelligence. He trashed a Sunday morning WashPost piece asserting that the NSA program has not caught very many suspected terrorists. Hayden argued that the number of FISA applications in not a valid measure. He countered the WashPost assertion that the NSA screens massive lots of electronic communications looking for key words which would prompt direct surveillance. "THIS IS NOT TRUE," said the general. He said that the program was not "a drift net" covering "Lackawana, Fremont, and Dearborn."
Analysts have to believe that there is an al Qaeda connection before the communications can be monitored in any way, he said. The program is not being used against the President's political enemies, as some have charged.
ARLEN SPECTER ON MTP Russert next talked to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania), the man who will run hearings into this surveillance bit beginning on Monday. Arlen finds "strange and very unrealistic," the assertion that the President derives his authority to conduct the warrantless surveillance of suspected terrorists from the resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq.
He argued that the entire House and Senate Intelligence Committees should be informed of such things, not merely "The Super Eight" (Majority & Minority leaders, Intelligence Committee chairs & ranking members).
Russert played a clip of the President speaking in Buffalo several years ago, telling his audience that it was necessary to get a court order before monitoring a phone call, and he asked Specter if the President were lying. Specter answered that it depended on whether the President were talking about purely domestic surveillance, in which case he was accurate, or about the broader surveillance conducted by the NSA, with an international component.
Russert cited President Carter as asserting, in his signing statement for the '79 FISA Act, that the Act was definitive on electronic surveillance powers. Specter suggested that it was a question of whether the President's Constitutional powers supercede a statute. Russert asked Specter if he would call Jimmy Carter to testify at his hearings, and Specter said he would "think about it."
Russert cited Chuck Schumer in demanding that Specter subpoena legal opinions given to the President by his lawyers. Specter was resistant but left it on the table, saying that he would "consider it" if it were necessary.
SESSIONS AND LEAHY AND BOB. On CBS's Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer talked to Senators Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) and Pat Leahy (D-Syrup), both in the studio. Leahy said that everyone wants to protect the nation from another attack. The first one "occurred on [Bush's] watch," thus the President does not want his legacy further sullied by another attack. He argued that we'd be better off if the President had caught Osama bin Laden. It would have been "our biggest success," catching OBL, Leahy argued, but the Administration blew it. They blew it on Katrina, he added. He then challenged the Administration to "stop the polemics."
Schieffer cited Specter in saying that the President was "on shaky ground" in justifying himself. Sessions said that the power "is necessary," and that "incident to war is the power to surveil." (Beautiful language!) He said that the enemy can kill people "without a Miranda warnings," and we have to stop it. He stressed that the program covers al Qaeda, not Hezbollah or any other group.
Schieffer cited Sandra Day O'Connor as saying that war is not a blank check for the President. Sessions agreed, and Schieffer switched to Leahy for "your version of history," adding that the White House has said that going to the FISA court would tip of the enemy. Leahy suggested that al Qaeda is not foolish enough not to know that we're tapping their phones. He argued that no, Congress was not informed of the program, adding that by that, he meant they were not adequately informed.
Sessions pointed out that none of the Super Eight had said that they were not adequately informed. Leahy mentioned Rockefeller, and Sessions reminded that this didn't happen until the New York Times revealed the program. (He suggested that "somebody ought to look into" the times culpability in this matter.)
Leahy insisted that Congress has given the Bush Administration five changes in the FISA law, basically whenever they ask. He said that he would subpoena the private memoranda from the President's attorneys. Sessions said that such documents should not be disclosed, as they would have a deleterious effect on the advisorial relationship. Leahy objected that such documents had been subpoenaed from Clinton, and Sessions pointed out that this was for a specific crime.
Leahy forced in the last word, as Schieffer was shutting down the segment, that the President knew about the hijackers before 9-11. And that segment ended with that bombshell.
HAMID KARZAI ON LATE EDITION. On CNN's Late Edition, host Wolf Blitzer first talked to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. They discussed first the furor over those cartoons. Karzai said that he an all Moslems were angry, but the Danish had apologized. He said that this doesn't matter, it was "really, really bad," and it should never happen again. "Having said that," even though he's offended, Moslems should realize that the Prophet Mohammed "is much larger" than a few cartoons. He demanded: "The cartoons must stop coming again and again." He wants everyone to condemn it, and he wants "actions taken against the people" who published the cartoons. He doesn't think the Afghans should attack American troops, but the cartoons have to stop. (And the exchange resembled this chaotic paragraph.
He did not condemn the rioting, and one wonders if he weren't reciting the politically expedient to delay the angry mob from trashing his office.
Wolf asked him if Southern Afghanistan were falling apart, and Karzai had an interesting take: the terrorists are now targeting civilians, indicating that they are no longer strong enough to take on the military.
He promised that they are still fighting terrorists. He wants to do so "in a more deeply strategic manner than we are doing today."
Blitzer suggested that Osama bin Laden, in his recent cassette, had asked Karzai specifically for a truce: "Do you believe him?" Karzai's emphatic reply: "NO!" OBL has been killing and destroying Afghanistan for years, and he must be punished, said Karzai. (Just like those really, really bad cartoonists.)
Karzai is "fairly sure" that OBL and Ayman al Zawahiri are not in Afghanistan "because the people won't allow it." (What about these lawless tribes from the hinterlands about whom we hear so much?)
HUNTER AND BABS ON LE. Well, Representative Duncan Hunter (R) and Senator Babs Boxer (D), both of California, next chatted with Wolf. First question to Hunter about the "so-called escape" al Qaeda's U.S.S. Cole mastermind from a prison in the Yemen. Blitzer said that he thought our relations with Yemen were good, suggesting that the Yemen set the mutants free. Hunter answered that we have an apparatus in place to catch them.
Boxer expressed incredulity that "23 people can quote-unquote 'escape.'" She expressed anger at our "so-called allies."
Blitzer asked Hunter about the "international outrage" over the cartoons. Duncan said that we're "dealing with a nutty neighbor, who, if you look at him the wrong way, comes out of the house with a shotgun." He pointed out that people take shots at Christianity without violence. He mentioned Isikoff's fiction about the Koran being flushed down a toilet sparking riots. He pointed out that the President's surveillance program would enable them to intercept phone calls and catch them.
Boxer said that some people just don't understand freedom of speech. It's right to protest, demand an apology, and boycott, but it's wrong to use violence, she pontificated.
Blitzer played a clip of al-Zawahiri's vid, with the mutant saying that he's with the "Muslim masses" working to kill President Bush. He asked Hunter if it were wise to farm out the war on terror to NATO. Duncan said it is important for everyone to get involved. Blitzer said that the President, by giving it to NATO, was giving France a veto over operations. Hunter said that as long as it doesn't affect our operations, this is fine.
Boxer said that Iraq was not about the war on terror, and there was "not one al Qaeda cell there," and Blitzer cut to a commercial.
Back from the commercial, Hunter explained that the gassed Kurds, the mass graves, proved that Saddam was a terrorist.
But Blitzer wanted to concentrate on the cost of the war, after Paul Wolfowitz had predicted that the Iraqi economy would get back on its feet. Hunter answered that President Bush was spending 4% on the military, while JFK spent 9% and President Reagan spent 6%.
Boxer shrieked about "blank check" and "bottomless pit." We're spending on Iraq while the President cuts student loans and Medicare.
Hunter said we're in a "period of steady work in Iraq, handing off control."
Blitzer said that "if we are there to help them [the Iraqis], why don't we listen to them." Listening to them, of course, means pulling a Murtha and getting out of there now. She's convinced that the Iraqis are begging us to leave, telling us that they have things under control and we're only making matters worse.
Babs said that by leaving, we'd be declaring victory, because we'd be telling the Iraqis that they're ready to take control of their own country. A word from Babs Boxer, it seems, alters reality and makes a delusional national liberal sect's angry whimsy so.
KEN MEHLMAN ON THIS WEEK. He wasn't on any of the schedules, but RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman was George Stephanopoulos's first guest on ABC's This Week. Steph confronted him with some ABC News/WashPost poll figures which show the Dems leading the GOP as the preferred party to handle our nation's problems and the preferred party in the coming elections. They also prefer the Dem candidate over the Republicans by 23-points. He suggested that the Dems were thus poised to assume control of the House and the Senate. (Those were national numbers, not State-by-State or district-by-district, so Steph's argument is very tenuous.) Mehlman argued that the GOP has an agenda which people will dig.
"The President has reached out to Democrats…"
Steph countered that the President's initiatives proposed this year were a lot smaller than those proposed last year. Was this an admission, Steph asked, that the President lacked the political capital to do anything? Mehlman countered that these initiatives "may seem small to Washington," but they were not small to the American people.
Steph accused the GOP of "throwing down the gauntlet" on national security, and played a clip of Chuck Hagel last week saying that this would backfire on the GOP. Mehlman agreed that it would backfire. Steph attacked Karl Rove for identifying Democrats as having a pre-911 mindset. He pointed out that such strong Republicans as Hagel, McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Specter didn't like throwing down the gauntlet. Were they pre-911 Republicans?
Steph mentioned a proposed Constitutional Amendment to limit the powers of the President in wartime. Mehlman said that this would be a bad idea, as we should not limit the power to protect the American people.
Steph pointed out that the Democrats were "having a field day" with John Boehner's selection. "With his background," Steph asked, can Boehner be effective? Mehlman said yes, pointing out that Boehner has worked with Ted Kennedy.
Steph pointed out that Hastert is soft on earmarks but tough on travel, while Boehner is the opposite. Mehlman said that they will work together, adding that if Boehner can work with Kennedy, he can work with anyone.
Steph asked if Hillary were the "dream candidate for the Republicans," or are they frightened of her. Mehlman argued against running a "derivative campaign," based on the opponent. He argued that Hillary votes with the Dems, there is no "New Hillary." (He noted that she voted for the failed "Davos filibuster" against Justice Alito.
MICHAEL HAYDEN ON TW. Steph next spoke to General Michael Hayden about the NSA surveillance program he designed. From a "secure location." (The Veep did not appear.) This was a confounding interview to watch, in that Hayden had to answer questions without saying anything truly substantial.)
He spoke of "Executive Order Twelve-triple-three," under which they are "taking steps to protect the homeland."
"Everyone should expect the NSA to pursue al Qaeda." This authorization permits them to catch the dangerous stuff.
He takes the people most knowledgeable about al Qaeda. They do not have time, he argued, to go after what is not important. If the intercept is not relevant to his mission, they move immediately on. He said that "all NSA decisions have a legal dimension." Lawyers are "looking over our shoulder."
Steph said that Democrat Representative Jane Harman of California, the ranking Dem on House Intelligence, has said she can't understand why they can't go to the FISA courts for warrants. "It's about speed, it's about hot pursuit of al Qaeda communications," Hayden responded. Steph said they have 72 hours to get the warrant, and General Hayden cleared up an "urban myth," explaining that there is a "process" between the NSA analyst submitting to the Attorney General then going to the FICA court. "It does take time." It's not an instant ask, gimme.
"Whatever it is we do in the future has to be done in a way that doesn't reveal our tactics, techniques, and procedures to the enemy," Hayden said.
Steph argued Hayden's contention that if this program had been in place prior to 9-11, we could have prevented the attacks. Steph argued that we knew who the hijackers were before 9-11 but just didn't do anything about it. Hayden said that in his professional judgment, we would have identified some of the al Qaeda operatives in the United States "and identified them as such."
Hayden stressed that the only communications covered by the program are those coming into or out of the United States. Two al Qaeda suspects calling each other inside the United States would not be covered by this program.
General Hayden was coached by Dan Rooney, and Steph described him as "maybe the biggest Pittsburgh Steelers fan in the United States." The General picked the Steelers to win this evening.
Here we go, Steelers.
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Have at it.
I have to go to bed....but I just had to tell you that I loved this last post...
The main "eye-opener" for me....was that Leahy accused Bush of knowing about 2 of the terrorists before 9/11 and didn't do enough to stop them...
LOL>..and they are complaining NOW that he is overstepping??
Also..he said the FIRST attack was under Bush's watch?? What was the 1st WTC bombing, that happened during CLINTON'S WATCH???
OK, before anyone else jumps in, that should be Katy Jurado, not Delores Del Rio. Sorry about that.
We are the fact checkers and truth detectors. We are the great equalizer in major debates. We are the independent voice of lots of different points of view (admittedly mostly on the right) that provides perspective on the "big picture" that the entrenched and powerful want to put forward.
Mehlman is on fire on Steffi's show! Quick paraphrase: -
We don't question the patriotism of the Dems. We question their ability to defend our country.
Alas, .... thank you, and kudos for all you do every week
on this thread.
Well, yeah ----
Those who have been dragged reluctantly into carrying American flags in their protests (instead of burning them), or wearing them on their lapels, do not have the same respect and love for America that we have, for sure.
Official spokesmen cannot say that, of course. LOL!
I think that Leahy is showing signs of senility - repeating the mantra that "Bush knew."
thanks ab and for everything you do,great stuff at #782.
Wonderful post here Phsstpok--its hard to accurately analyze what fr is but you are close if not right on.
"I didn't know about Cindy's stroke and certainly wish her well. Being married to that egomaniac would make anyone susceptible to a stroke"
About time to dump this one and find another sugar-pie-honey-bunch!
Maybe the Bud distributor this time!
What a lot of work by you, Rodguy. My gosh. You must take good notes :-)
Thanks again Peach much appreciated as well as your excellent posts yesterday.
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