Posted on 02/03/2007 3:02:45 PM PST by Phsstpok
Preview and Analysis for Weekend of February 3rd and 4th, 2007
Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:
NBC's "Meet the Press"
CBS's "Face the Nation"
"Fox News Sunday"
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CNN "Late Edition"
ABC's "This Week"
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This week the dinosaur media is of three minds. First, they wish to highlight the arguments, particularly within the Republican party, over the troop surge. They want to create the impression that the only people supporting the surge are "out there" hawks who aren't in firm contact with the real politik. The second thrust is the rapidly growing field in the 2008 presidential horse race. Only four elections, two presidencies ago, Bill Clinton didn't declare his candidacy till October of the year before the election. This time around the field is filling up with declared candidates a full nine months earlier. It's interesting to me, however, that of the declared candidates on the air this week Edwards gets a friendly solo interview with Lil Timmah while Senator McCain will be mired in conflict over the surge with a likely unfriendly Georgie Stepoallofus. Oh, and Tom Vilsack talks to Wolfie, ho hum. At least he's good for some Bush bashing and anti-surge sound bites. The third theme is the Super Bowl. I find this particularly vexing due to the numerous incidents of malfeasance in the last few weeks among the presstitutes that are being ignored and covered up. These are best exemplified by the treatment of Michael Gordon by his lords and masters at the New York Times for daring to say that he wants us to win in Iraq, contrasted with the silence from the Washington Post over William Arkin's disgraceful statements and subsequent conduct, particularly calling our military "mercenaries" who should shut up and be glad that anyone supports them in any way.
So, what does each show offer us? Well, here's my take.
NBC Meet The Press is a straight forward one player look at John Edwards candidacy for president. Will it be a hagiography? Will Lil Timmah thump him for the outlandish hypocrisy of his "two Americas" hype and his own Daddy Warbucks lifestyle? We'll just have to wait and see, but I can guarantee you that Timmah will solicit as many Bush bashing quotes as he can. This week I don't think that there's a lot of there there from MTP.
CBS Face The Nation completely abandons any rational discourse on the issues of the day, regardless of the fact that we may be in the run up to the war of Armageddon. Nope, CBS has the Super Bowl this year, so they turn the entire show into one big promotion for that ratings bonanza. I guess they know who signs their paychecks. It's the guys who make Miller Lite and the monkeys at Monster.COM, that's who!
Fox News Sunday brings us the execrable Jim Webb and John McCain's sock puppet, Lindsey Graham. If there are two more detestable members of the political class in Washington I'd be very surprised. Most who I would consider worse, Kucinich for example, are so clownish as to have some redeeming value due to the humor inherent in their every utterance. Webb and Graham don't have any redeeming value at this point. At least we have the regular roundtable this week. Dare we hope for a Brit smack down of Juan? We can always hope.
CNN Late Edition is back to their usual eclectic mix after a limited and more focused talent pool last week. The surge is a central theme, but the news network of the Mooninites is intent on exposing the ever increasing monetary cost of Bush's war. To date the trip wire in Congress regarding the war, similar to the third rail of actually fixing Social Security, has been whether or not the Congress will cut funds for the war. CNN is determined to lay the ground work for doing that as an act of fiscal responsibility. Bush's war just costs too much. We'll have to cut back on money for WIC (Women Infants and Children, you know, baby milk) in order to continue this worthless adventure, don't you know that? Who can blame a right thinking public servant for cutting off money if those are the stakes? And don't you dare say that they aren't supporting the troops. They are. They want to bring them home where they can be safe! CNN also seems intent on being the CNN friendly network this week. To me this is of a piece with the rest of CNNs anti Bush obsession. We know that the "shadow government" that has been working against Bush has its strongest roots in the CIA. Are these guests some of the central players in that de facto attempted coup? Given the history and positions of the two ex-CIA types on this show I have my own suspicions that this is in fact the case. What's intriguing is why they are both being featured now, particularly the relatively reclusive McLaughlin. Could it be that things are going to come out in the Libby trial that they want to try to preempt? Or might this be the end game, the last plays in their war on George W. Bush, particularly putting on an all out effort to discredit and destroy our efforts in Iraq? What these two say on this show may be the thing that is most interesting to me this week. And CNN has Michael Gordon, the NY Times reporter who was chastised for saying that he wants the US to win in an interview. Are they setting him up to be "exposed" as damaged goods? Are they exposing the problems at the old grey lady? Or might they be providing the platform for his scripted recanting of his apostasy? That will also be interesting to see. What will also be interesting is whether I can stomach watching Wolfie long enough to find my answers to the questions I have posed.
ABC This Week has a straight up confrontation between pro-surge Republican McCain and anti-surge RINO Hagel. McCain has gone from media darling to persona non grata over this issue, while Hagel has become the new darling "maverick" due to his outlandish Bush bashing. Last week McCain seemed shocked by the unfriendly treatment at the hands of Lil Timmah on MTP, even after dutifully bashing Bush during the first part of the interview. I think this week he is being invited to mend his ways and "come to Jane Fonda" on this issue. Then they talk to the single mom who is a weight watcher's spokesperson as her primary source of income, despite being a semi pseudo member of the Royal Family of England about motherhood. What's up with that?
The minor league Saturday shows very much mirror their major league counterparts on the Sunday shows. The Beltway Boys echo the (premature IMHO) presidential horse race discussion and the Constitutional crisis of the Cindy Sheehanesque behavior on the part of many of our elected representatives. They even throw in the bizarre spectacle of a serious discussion of Al Franken as a candidate for Senate. The CNBC Tim Russert Show provides a platform for anti Bush dinosaur media orthodoxy on Iraq, with pretensions of intellectual objectivity. Fox News Watch completely abrogates their responsibility to critique their own profession and apparently ignores the William Arkin disgrace in favor of Super Bowl hype. Why am I not surprised? And then the Journal Editorial Report takes serious looks at the Libby Trial, the reality of our actual (and covered up) economic surge along with the reality of the Constitutional issues regarding the Iraq surge resolutions. It's nice to know that there are a few adults still working in the DBM.
So this weeks shows continue the active campaign by the left and their myrmidons in the dinosaur media (or is it the other way around) against President Bush and all that he stands for, damn the cost to America and human civilization. Many players from a surprisingly broad political spectrum dared to raise the question this week of the bloody cost of the left's last "success" in such an endeavor some 35 years ago. The butcher's bill rivaled the direct atrocities of Hitler's rule, but that idea isn't considered worthy of discussion and those people are not deemed worthy of face time by the dinosaur media. I'm not surprised, are you? Central players in the dinosaur media are standing up and declaring their all out hatred for our troops and their mission as well as exposing their own tendencies towards sociopathic behavior. Members of both parties are running full tilt towards the extreme moonbat positions of Cindy Sheehan and Michael Moore, never once considering that there's a brick wall looming in their paths (I hope). And all this time the "conventional wisdom" that they have been trying so hard to build has been becoming more soft and murky with every day. The surge just may be working, the sheeple may just be beginning to smell the odor of the lies they've been being fed and they could stampede at the slightest twitch or noise. Which way will they break, if they do? We are being thrust carelessly into a "quantum indeterminate state" where existential success or failure both loom as possibilities and the Dhimmicrat party and the dinosaur media are hopelessly invested in our failure. But I have an answer for them:
Rest here, hung up by this brass wire, upon this shelf, O my pen, whether of skilful make or clumsy cut I know not; here shalt thou remain long ages hence, unless presumptuous or malignant story-tellers take thee down to profane thee. But ere they touch thee warn them, and, as best thou canst, say to them:
Hold off! ye weaklings; hold your hands!
Adventure it let none,
For this emprise, my lord the king,
Was meant for all of us.
This should be cross posted to my blog at Wizards.townhall.com in a few minutes (hope springs eternal). This post exists primarily as a heads up for who is on the weekend talks shows, what they've been invited on to push (based on their recent pronouncements) and the spin (meme) the DBM is likely trying to push based on that information. All of this is prep work for the weekly Sunday Morning Talk Show thread posted by Alas Babylon!. That thread provides a live commentary and analysis of the Sunday talking head shows, with valuable insight and exceptional fact checking. we are the Jedi Council of FreeRepublic, at least in regards to these DBM gabfests. You wanna know what was said and what it meant, as well as where they messed up? Read that thread!
Mark Kilmer has posted his excellent preview of the Sunday shows (hours ago) over at Redstate.COM. I will try post a link to his Sunday review when it is up.
On that show with the CIA agents...you were speculating about whether they are some of the ones that are anti-Bush and may have provided leaks.
I don't trust McLaughlin, I heard that he was not happy about losing out to Porter Goss for the head of CIA...so we will see.
Re: Robert Baer...he was on Fox News this afternoon and was asked about the latest bad attack in Iraq that happened today...and the NIE report that states that things will be bad for at least 18 months...and then would go downhill if the sectarian problems aren't taken care of.
He said that the consequences of leaving are even worse...but when asked what America should do...since there are so many countries full of radical Islams that want to kill us...and his advice was to close off all of our borders...and get rid of the Muslims that are here that we don't trust...and just not let anymore in.
I was surprised he was so blunt...but he said anything short of that, and he doesn't sound to optimistic for our country.
I know Graham is not a FR favorite but it would seem to me Graham would not be cowed by Webb, because Graham is senior and because Graham was in JAG. Of course, Graham may be too conciliatory, which is his biggest problem and would make my comment moot.
Conciliatory..that is a good word for what I have seen Graham be sometimes...especially with dems for some reason.
We will see...he may surprise me...and since McCain is on a different Sunday show, they MIGHT be talking tonight, and coordinating their message re: the Iraq resolution that McCain it trying to submit.
You know how that press conference with Nancy and Pres. Bush wasn't shown?? There was that blurb about how the media was kicked out of the Q & A so that the Dems could speak without worrying about the media???
Well, I just heard on Fox News that "supposedly" Pres. Bush told the Dems in that meeting something about the war has "sapped America's soul" or something like that.
NOW..if there was NO media allowed...someone "leaked" this?? and if it was "leaked"...it is very possible that he didn't say that, right?
I will wait and see if there is some article with more...but the way that I took it, makes it sound too "apologetic" IMHO...but I am probably overrreacting as usual.
But, I was hoping you and anyone else that reads this will keep an eye out for any reports about that meeting...okay?
I really don't disagree with anything you said other than Graham doing better, on occasion, than Freepers give him credit for. For whatever reason, Graham showed more promise in the past than he seems to deliver.
I am interested in why the Duchess of York is on ABC this week. Being as I just rejoined Weightwatchers (necessitated by giving up smoking) I am interested in what Fergie has to say. (At least she does some sort of work, unlike Charles, who simply cruises the globe harnguing all of us about climate change.)
Here is a snippet from the Dose tonight:
"Dr. Wheeler concludes:
To lose this war is to lose our soul. The soul of our country, the soul of America. If we lose in Iraq, the terrorists will be here, the war will be here and among us. But we are not going to lose. We still have an enormously strong hand to play and we are going to play it.
Conservatives need to understand that our best days are still in front of us, if we proceed with confidence and principle. Ours is an ideology of freedom, and an ideology of freedom is an ideology of joy. Joy and freedom will triumph over fear and cynicism.
Watching Bush last night [at the SOTU] and talking to Tony [Snow] today inspired me to believe that this president just may drag Americans back into adulthood once again. A nation that hates its Horatios is already in grave danger of losing its soul. GW's determination to succeed in Iraq may enable our nation to regain it."
I will keep my eyes and ears open, but I would be surprised if the President didn't agree with Dr. Wheeler.
I would lay money on that. No MIGHT about it.
Talk about being someone's poodle.
For the first time, Face the Nation looks like its the only one worth a damn to watch
### I don't know if I can stomach Wolfie long enough to get anything out of that show. ###
Ditto! Thanks for your usual terrific work.
And there's an FR thread on this one
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1778676/posts
Oh...what a wonderful quote from Jack Wheeler...and you are right..
Perhaps Pres. Bush was quoting him...and the reporter just used part of the quote.
If that is true...good for him!!! (although I doubt that any of the dems really listened to him)...LOL
Did you happen to see the Dem. National Committee convention this morning, when they had 4 more potential POTUS'????
I am asking because I would like your opinion on ex-Sen. Gravel, who gave the last speech.
I didn't see it, nor did I recognize the name Gravel. I should have, though.
From Wikipedia
Maurice Robert Gravel (born May 13, 1930) better known as Mike Gravel, was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Alaska for two terms, from 1969 to 1981. He is primarily known for having put into the public record the Pentagon Papers by entering 4,100 pages of the Papers into the record of his Senate subcommittee on Buildings and Grounds, in 1971. He is currently a candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
This is what we are fighting. This is who they are. Their mind set is that we are the evil ones and anyone who opposes the United States is the "good guys."
I'm watching Shane right now on TV. If you want to know my view of reality, watch Shane and High Noon, then read Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. Between them I feel they cover pretty much all you need to know about my philosophy.
But I still love Jack Palance, even though he was the bad guy in Shane!
Me too. And I love those movies. And it wasn't always easy to be the good guys. Another favorite of mine was Stalag 17. I was very young.
There is no joy in killing those who do evil. Sometimes, however, it is necessary, but it is not to be courted. This movie (and High Noon) bring that point fully home.
I also loved Preminger's In Harm's Way, which was on TV today. I actually gave George Takei a note at an SF convention suggesting that they needed to remake that movie as a Star Trek movie. It would be great!
by needs? Don't \
Thanks for your great work!
"And don't you dare say that they aren't supporting the troops. They are. They want to bring them home where they can be safe! "
thanks , I've got my one LOL from politics today and I'm leaving the table with my winnings now. Anyone else is a chump.
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