Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread 4 March 2007

Various big media television networks ^ | 4 March 2007 | Various Self-Serving Politicians and Big Media Screaming Faces

[Alas Babylon!]

The Talk Shows

Sunday, March 4th, 2007

Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:

FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Reps. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., and Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Trent Lott, R-Miss.; Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

LATE EDITION (CNN) : U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad; Sens. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.

[TakeChargeBob]

"When asked a question about a particular current event, he always says he knows nothing about it, he'll have to ask his staff."

Thanks for the info.

Your assertion makes much sense to me and seems to be spot on. This explains a lot and is consistent with the outcome that I have observed. I had been puzzled by the fact that Chris Wallace tried to follow in his father's footsteps by trying to challenge guests in a similar to his father but being ineffective.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

I'm feeling generous this morning...I'll watch MTP for you free of charge.

Thanks, FRiend. I hope it wasn't too painful.

[Txsleuth]

MID---Here is the transcript from CNN of Tancredo's interview...I have copied and posted it without even reading it...but I will, even though another poster heard Tancredo in context and posted it. I thought it would be good to post just because...... LOL

---

TANCREDO: There's nothing compassionate about giving amnesty to millions of people who have broken into our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Congressman Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado, speaking on his turf on the issue of immigration reform. He was speaking Friday at the conservative Political Action Conference that's been underway here in Washington. The congressman is joining us now from Denver to talk about his outspoken views on immigration, the war, how he expects to stand out in such a crowded presidential field.

Congressman, thanks very much for joining us on "Late Edition."

TANCREDO: Sure. It's a pleasure, Wolf.

BLITZER: I want to talk about Iraq, first of all. Explain precisely your stance on the president's new strategy to increase the number of U.S. troops in Baghdad and Al Anbar province.

TANCREDO: OK, I would not have and I did not support that, whether you want to call it a surge or a reinforcement or whatever, and I didn't so because primarily I listened to the people on the ground, I listened to the generals who were in charge of the operation. I remember General Casey specifically in front of a Senate committee saying that he had talked with every single commander on the ground. Not one of them supported such an increase or believed that it was necessary, and in fact, would be counterproductive because it would only make the Iraqis more dependent on the United States. As a matter of fact, I believe that is exactly what the problem is that we're facing today.

And I should tell you also, Wolf, that contrary to what I've heard everyone else say so far, either condemning the idea of the surge or, as the president wants to explain it, a reinforcement, and in talking about an immediate withdrawal and whether we should have it or not, here's what I really believe is happening.

I think it's a relatively moot point, and here's what I mean by that. I think we are at the end game. I think that the increase in the number of troops that we've sent to Iraq is simply the beginning of the end game. We are leaving Iraq. We are leaving there relatively soon. I don't why a lot of people have not paid more attention to what the president said when he talked about the war...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: When the U.S. is leaving, is the U.S. going to leave with a defeat or with a victory?

TANCREDO: It remains to be seen, quite frankly. We don't know. But I'm telling you that we are going to be leaving. The president has sent a message. Do you remember when he said -- I don't know why a lot of people haven't focused on this, but he said, "I'm establishing a benchmark. And that benchmark is November. And by November," he said, "every single province" -- 18 provinces -- "in Iraq will be under control of the Iraqi government."

Well, to me, that is a pretty strong statement to anybody who's listening that that's the end of the line. And Iraq better understand it, the people of the United States certainly want it. There is not enough support in this country to continue beyond that.

We are leaving Iraq, we are leaving relatively soon. There are various scenarios that will play out, that could play out, after we leave, and we can talk about them and how we can address them, but the fact is we are leaving.

BLITZER: There was a report that came out this week on the National Guard in the United States, basically saying they are stretched way too thin, they're on the verge of collapse, the equipment is not there, the training is not there, in large measure because of the emergencies in Iraq and Afghanistan and also to a lesser degree the Katrinas, the other natural disasters that have occurred here in the United States. How worried are you that the National Guard right now is broken?

TANCREDO: I am worried about it. I feel as though we have, just as you say, stretched them as far as they can be stretched. I believe that they have done yeoman's work. We should be proud of every single person who has served in this war. We should be especially proud of the families and consoling to the families that have lost family members or have had family members injured in this war.

Look, it could have been and, in fact, was a noble endeavor. No one should go back on and no one should have recriminations about the fact that we tried. But at the point in time we now are looking at the situation, I'm telling you that we must begin the process of withdrawal from Iraq. It is not helping us in the all-out war, the bigger war against radical Islam.

BLITZER: All right. Let's move on to talk about your signature issue as you seek the Republican nomination. That would be border security, immigration, illegal immigrants here in the United States. I want to play for you a clip of what the president said in his State of the Union Address to Congress last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: We cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border, and that requires a temporary worker program. We should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign workers to enter our country to work on a temporary basis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Do you have a problem with that?

TANCREDO: Hello, Mr. President, Wolf, we have it. There are literally scores of programs that we now operate to let people come into this country legally. The immigration program alone lets about 1.25 million people into this country every year, more than any other country, we take in legally through the immigration process. That's just immigration. That's not visas.

In terms of visas, wolf, do you realize -- and I don't know whether the president realizes this, but let's talk about H-2A visas which are the kind that allowed for people to come in and do agricultural work. There are no limits on those visas. You can have as many as you want.

People don't use them because, of course, there are restrictions in terms of pay, in terms of providing some sort of housing, in terms of providing some sort of health care. So they would rather use illegal immigrants.

If any of our visa programs need modernizing, need some sort of change, I'm for looking at that. But the idea that all of a sudden -- he's presenting it as if we do not have a guest worker program today, and we do, and is also suggesting, which I think is really -- it borders on disingenuous to say that the only way we can secure the border is to have a guest worker program. Baloney. We can secure our borders. We choose not to secure the border. We can do so, though.

BLITZER: All right, let's continue, because, as you know, there's an effort underway right now, especially in the Senate, to revive an effort to get comprehensive immigration reform. Senators McCain and Kennedy are working on that together with the president. They roughly agree on what the U.S. should do.

You disagree with them, but listen to Senator Arlen specter, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He disagrees with you as well. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, R-PA.: But it's a practical impossibility to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. It is not amnesty to have legislation which imposes a fine, requires people to learn English, that requires people to pay back taxes, puts them at the end of the line.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: He's talking about a pathway towards citizenship for some of the millions of illegal immigrants in the country right now. The president supports something along those lines as well. You don't. Why?

TANCREDO: I do not. I do not, and when he starts out with the statement that is so often thrown out there and then just left to linger, well, you know, what are we going to do? You can't just simply deport people who are here, you can't deport 11 million to 20 million people.

Well, first of all, Wolf, you could. I mean, the reality is you could. So people should not be allowed to just state that as an absolute fact.

The other reality, however, is you don't have to. All you have you have to do is begin enforcing the law, especially against people who are hiring people who are here illegally, and you will see an attrition process that will reduce the number of illegal aliens in this country quite dramatically.

And then the people will not go home voluntary, you do deport, because that's the law, and yes, you can do it.

BLITZER: All right. Here's what Senator John McCain says. He's quoted in the February issue of Vanity Fair.

BLITZER: He disagrees with you as well: "In the short term, it probably galvanizes our base. In the long term, if you alienate the Hispanics, you'll pay a heavy price. By the way, I think the fence is least effective."

He says you have to find a way to have comprehensive immigration reform. He doesn't like the idea of building a fence along the U.S.- Mexican border. He wants the reform to include not only the guest worker program, but the pathway towards citizenship.

TANCREDO: You know what else he went on to say in that particular interview? He said, well, if those -- essentially pointing to, you know, the unwashed masses, all the stupid people out in the United States who are demanding a fence, if they really want it, he'll give them a g-d fence. That's the rest of the article. It goes to show you what his attitude is toward the American people. I mean, he's quite an elitist there.

BLITZER: Let me press you on that point. If he's the Republican presidential nominee, would you vote for him?

TANCREDO: No, I would not. And I'm going do everything I can to make sure that he is not the Republican presidential nominee. But I should tell you also that beyond that, just the idea of a -- some sort of guest worker program again that will solve all of our problems, we did it in 1986.

Doesn't anybody remember that? We tried exactly what these people are proposing. All it led to, of course, was what you would just expect it would lead to, far more illegal immigration. When you reward people for a certain kind of behavior, you're going to get more of it. When you reward illegal immigration, you'll get more people who are illegal coming into the country.

BLITZER: All right. Congressman, we'll end on a political note. The conservative Political Action Conference, you addressed the group here in Washington over the weekend. They had their straw poll last night. Mitt Romney came in with 21 percent. Rudy Giuliani 17 percent, Sam Brownback 15 percent, Newt Gingrich 14 percent, John McCain 12 percent.

You were down below, as you are in all of the recent Republican presidential polls. You have a long way ahead of you, Congressman. TANCREDO: We sure do. That's absolutely true. Never did I get into this thinking that I'd be at the top of the polls, certainly at this particular point in time. I recognize fully well what's ahead of me and what's in store and how much we have to work.

I'll also tell you that Romney, for instance, paid for hundreds and hundreds of people to come in, and they turned into votes for him. Other campaigns did the same thing. We should not be too surprised that we see these kinds of things, and we should not think of them as truly reflective of the broad population of Republican primary voters.

I think I'll do better when it's really people walking into a voting booth, and it's just between them and that voting booth. There's nobody looking, and there's nobody paying.

BLITZER: Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado. He's seeking the Republican presidential nomination. Congressman, thanks for coming in.

TANCREDO: You bet, Wolf. It's been a pleasure.

[Phsstpok]

Lindsey was a J.A.G. if memory serves, so it ticks him off when someone denigrates the troops. He's also a true pro-lifer from the correspondence during impeachment when I was trying to get the House Judiciary to take up the abortion issues with more verve. You may not agree, but I think he would make a heck of a President someday. If he would only unhitch his wagon from the McCain sloggery.

Lindsey Graham was an Air Force JAG.  The story I heard (from folks who might actually know) is that the recurring character on the show JAG of the smarmy suck up (and eventual murderer) Commander Lindsey was based on one of their technical consultants memories of working with Lindsey Graham in the JAG offices in the Pentagon.

He doesn't like it when anyone else denigrates the troops.  He, on the other hand, is in the god like position to judge and criticize their actions.  He's made that repeatedly clear.

His performance in the impeachment process and afterwards were where I first began to doubt him.  His participation in the gang of 14 betrayel of the Republicans, which I think was the decisive factor in setting the conditions for our losing the House and Senate last year, and his continued obstruction of good conservative judges out of personal pique have permanently soured me on old Lindsey.  He reminds me too much of Uriah Heep (not the rock group, the character from David Copperfield).

[samantha]

I don't know if you remember about 10 years ago maybe longer Laura had her own TV show on around the Noon hour on CNBC or MSNMC. I cannot remember which, but I lean towards CNBC. It was an excellent show and she was great. She was in the DC swamp of liberals and really had a tough time with their insults. One day her show was just gone, who knows why? I wish that Laura was back, honest but not mean, or nasty, nutty acting.

[Txsleuth]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1795144/posts

I wasn't the ONLY one that read Tancredo's interview that he wants them out in 6 months..

[texicali]

oh yes...I lived in NoVa, my in laws lived near the cathedral... dupont circle when I lived there had wonderful stores and shops there...I was there in the 80's and 90's..it's still 1 of my favorite cities...

[Txsleuth]

ARGHHHHHHHHHH

I just read the transcript that I posted from CNN...and the OMITTED the part that got my ears perked up.

All they have it down as is "crosstalk".

WeLL..that crosstalk was the part when Tancredo said he KNEW the troops would be home in 6 months...he said it more than once...

but, CNN just happened to NOT get that part.

[Txsleuth]

I went and got the transcript of the Tancredo interview with Wolf Blitzer...

Since you are the only one that has said that you watched it...can you clear something up for me??

I THOUGHT when he was talking about the troops coming home...Tancredo mentioned "6 months"...did you hear him say 6 months???

[Morgan in Denver]

Yep, I read it. Thanks for the information. I've heard Tancredo say some things in the past that sounded off base but came true, and others I disagreed with him on that did not.

I'll still wait for further clarification, again.

[Morgan in Denver]

For all I know Tancredo may believe the troops will all be home in six months. He's stumped me before and I'm sure he will do it again. Having said that, Tancredo will need to explain what he meant, and to what extent. Heck, write him and ask him.

[samantha]

I left there in 1968. I have wonderful, fond memories of Bicycling from 20th and O street down to the Capitol. I must have been crazy. DC Transit every five minutes, (before the Subway was built), Lincoln, Jefferson Memorials, and Washington Monument, Smithsonian, Carter Barron Amphitheater, Union Station, Smithsonian Institute, The White House, The Pentagon (MY Job), Arlington Cemetery, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. What a City, even now recalling some scary moments, it is one of my Favorite places in the Country to visit. I lived where Gary Condit's Jewish Girlfriend lived, it was a new Building at the time with a Pool on the Roof. At night I could watch Planes coming into National Airport appear to fly by the National Cathedral.

[Txsleuth]

I might do that...

I just came from a thread with an article that said that a month ago...Al-Sistani called for a meeting with Mookie Al Sadr and told him to either get with the program...suffer the consequences to his army if he stays to fight...or get out of the way.

Most people think he fled to Iran...

THAT could mean that if Gen. Petraeus' surge plan is carried out....we could actually WIN this thing...but for Tancredo or anyone to mention an arbitrary date for withdrawal...it just tells Sadr and others how long to hold out.

Shoot...even Wolf had to ask Tom if he was planning on us staying to WIN or not.

[Txsleuth]

Those of us that watch the Senate regularly and pay close attention to what the Senators say and do....KNOW the two-faced Linsday Graham...

I wouldn't trust him ..and I don't trust McCain.

[gpapa]

Slight correction. The Army Col. I was talking about was my brother, not my son.

I do not share all of your optimism about Iraq. A Republican elected POTUS in 2008 will have a difficult time stabilizing Iraq in four years. Even if a democrat takes the Whitehouse in 2008 he and his cronies will have a difficult time pulling the troops out prematurely. The aftermath will very definitely be worse with a premature withdrawal and they would take the blame. They and the DBM will attempt to spin it as being a mess that Bush II left behind, but the American public will not buy it given their general penchant for instant results. Then the "silent majority" will put the Republicans back in charge, just like they did in 1968 when Johnson quit and Nixon was elected POTUS.

[samantha]

I have confidence in not only the Iraq end of the Terror War, but I believe the Pubbies will win back the Senate and the House, and will take the White House again in 2008. The rats look just like the thieves and crooks, Socialists, Pro aborts, Anti Gun, Pro any deviant behavior, Anti Military, Anti America, cut and running, tone deaf idiots. I feel a Sea change because the Rats can no longer keep their radical nut ball base and elected officials locked in the closet. They are out there showing their butts and making decent Americans wrinkle their noses like they are smelling something really putrid. They are, it is called The Democrat Party, and DNC/DBM.

[Chuck54]

This thread has gotten too serious....... now for some humor......

Judy, a professional genealogical researcher, discovered that Hillary Clinton's great-great uncle, Remus Rodham, a fellow lacking in character, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows. On the back of the picture is this inscription: "Remus Rodham; horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889."

Judy e-mailed Hillary Clinton @NY.Gov for comments.

Hillary's staff of professional image adjusters cropped Remus' picture, scanned it, enlarged the image, and edited it with image processing software, so that all that's seen is a head shot. The accompanying biographical sketch read as follows:

"Remus Rodham was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed."

(And that's how it's done.)

[Phsstpok]

Mark Kilmer has posted his review of this Sunday's shows over at RedState.COM.  Here's the intro

Posted at 1:40pm on Mar. 4, 2007

The Sunday Morning Talk Shows - The Review

Murtha was a gas, Schumer a hoot, and Tancredo was... ?

By Mark Kilmer

Sunday, March 4, 2007

This morning on NBC's Meet the Press, it began as the Okinawa Jack Show, an entertaining look into a cloudy mind. Congressman Murtha blamed the problems at the Walter Reed Medical Center on the funding of the Iraq war, and he complained that because so many were deployed in Iraq, we would not be prepared if the People's Republic of China opted to invade.

Senator Lindsey Graham was up next, and he urged support for "General Petraeus's plan," conceding that it might not work but was our only chance. He dismissed the Dems' latest round of measures and resolutions as "political theater."

On ABC's This Week, Senator Chuck Schumer became unhinged by charges that the Democrats couldn't do anything right with regard to Iraq. He ranted about electoral mandates, ratcheting up pressure on morons, and an Iraqi government which couldn't execute Saddam Hussein properly. Senator Trent Lott calmly countered that the Democrats against taking action in Iraq in 1991, then they were for it in 2002, and now they opposed it again in 2007.

On FOX News Sunday, Diane Feinstein told host Chris Wallace that either the Pakistanis had to go into their hinterlands and break up the al Qaeda party or where should invade the area ourselves. Later on FNS, Chuck Rangel said that we were living in two Americas.

On CBS' FTN, Carl Levin wigged out on the Administration over Walter Reed. Lieberman said that nothing Levin or Murtha are proposing regarding the war has a chance of passing so they should quit wasting the country's time.

On CNN's LE, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said that he will be the U.S. representative at the upcoming Iraq talks which will include Iran. He said that they the talks were multilateral but that he is prepared should Iran want to speak bilaterally.

Also on LE, Senator Chris Dodd declared that this is a civil war and that the President is lying when he claims that the terrorists will attack us here if we flee Iraq. We are refereeing a civil war, he said, and Blitzer played a clip of Dingy Harry asserting the same thing. Senator Jon Kyl pointed out that al Qaeda had initiated the Sectarian violence by bombing the Golden Mosque in Samarra.

Congressman Tom Tancredo was Wolf's next guest on LE, where he said that we've lost the war in Iraq and we should and would get out of there soon.

Read More for the complete, show-by-show review: Read More »

Always a good read and he covers the shows when we seem to miss them, such as ABC This Week this week.

[rodguy911]

Hey P how are things, I just spent two hours on last weeks Sunday t.v. talk show thread wondering why no one was responding to my posts!!DuHHHH!!!!
I have an excuse I have been out of town all week.
Looks like I missed another great thread.
it is great to be back on FR!!

[rodguy911]

I wish that Laura was back

Many of us do. She has really gotten good on her talk radio show and her recent trip to Iraq was a booming success!

This is a gutsy lady who has overcome Cancer and a fiance who left her all in the same time frame. And still went on to become a great talk host.

We need more Laura Ingram's