Sunday Morning Talk Show Thread 12 July 2026

FACE THE NATION (CBS): Margaret Brennan anchors: Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter; Tom Homan, Border Czar/Special assistant to the President on Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio); democrat politician and former ambassador Rahm Emanuel; former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie, USMC, Ret.

FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Anchor Shannon Bream Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.); U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker; Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations Ernesto Soberón Guzmán; Chris-Ann Burton, Wash DC City Wildlife’s Outreach and Intake Manager. Panel: Michael Allen, Ben Domenech, Susan Page and Juan Williams.

MEET THE dePRESS (NBC): Hosted by Kristen Welker: Rep. Row ya boat Khanna (D-Calif.); Sen. Linda Graham (R-S.C.); Sen. Adam Schitt (D-Calif.). (MSDNC) Panel: Val Demings, Sara Fagen and Jonathan Martin—EVERY one of these easily forgotten angry Leftists slinging anti-American balderdash are featured on MSNBC/Now!

THIS WEEK (ABC): Hosted by Little Georgie Steponallofus (or is it Martha Raddish?): U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz; Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas); Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.). Panel: Donna BrazileNut, Ramesh Ponnuru, Susan Glasser and Jonathan Swan—the same Ugly, shameless, Left-wing Propagandists and Fat RINOs!

STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Anchored by Jake Toe-Tapper (or is it Dana Bash?): U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker; Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.); Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.). Panel: David Urban, Brian Tyler Cohen, Kristen Soltis Anderson and Karen Finney—Tapper’s totally and toxically biased group of democrap talking points parrots!

SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES (FNC): The Show to watch! Hosted by Maria Bartiromo: Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Frank Bisignano; U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz; Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah); Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.); Rachel Campos-Duffy, conservative political commentator, wife of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

From my AI discussion:

BUTCHER'S THUMB — July 12th, 2026

This week’s butcher’s thumb shows a tightly coordinated foreign-policy emphasis across the networks. Ambassadors, NATO, Iran, and former military leadership dominate the morning. Domestic issues are largely sidelined. The hidden story: European leaders quietly validated long-standing concerns about NATO burden-sharing — a point the networks are unlikely to highlight.

FACE THE NATION (CBS)

Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Leiter; Tom Homan, Border Czar/Special Assistant to the President on Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio); Rahm Emanuel; Gen. Frank McKenzie, USMC (Ret.).

Structural read: CBS is running a “foreign policy + controlled border segment + bipartisan House + CENTCOM” hour. Leiter anchors the Israel/Near East segment, Homan provides a single, contained border discussion, Turner offers establishment Republican foreign-policy framing, Emanuel supplies Democratic diplomatic perspective, and McKenzie gives CBS a safe way to discuss Iran without touching operational risk.

What to watch: Whether Brennan uses McKenzie to shape a narrative about “regional instability” while avoiding deeper discussion of Iran’s operational posture.

FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network)

Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.); U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker; Cuban Ambassador to the U.N. Ernesto Soberón Guzmán; Chris-Ann Burton, DC City Wildlife Outreach Manager.

Panel: Michael Allen, Ben Domenech, Susan Page, Juan Williams.

Structural read: Fox is running a “NATO + Western Hemisphere diplomacy + GOP congressional voice” hour. Whitaker’s appearance here — and again on CNN — signals that NATO summit framing will be central. Banks provides a clear Republican counterweight, and the Cuban Ambassador adds a rare diplomatic angle. The panel blends conservative, establishment, and center-left voices.

What to watch: Whether Fox is the only network willing to mention European leaders’ recent comments about increasing defense spending.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC)

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.); Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.); Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

Panel: Val Demings, Sara Fagen, Jonathan Martin.

Structural read: NBC is running a “bipartisan elected officials + MSNBC-aligned panel” hour. Khanna and Schiff provide progressive and institutional Democratic voices; Graham supplies hawkish Republican foreign-policy framing. The panel is drawn from the MSNBC ecosystem and will reinforce the same narrative lines on NATO and Iran.

What to watch: Whether Welker uses Graham to create a “bipartisan concern” narrative about Trump’s NATO posture.

THIS WEEK (ABC)

U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz; Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas); Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).

Panel: Donna Brazile, Ramesh Ponnuru, Susan Glasser, Jonathan Swan.

Structural read: ABC is running a “foreign policy + bipartisan House + mixed panel” hour. Waltz and McCaul anchor the NATO/Iran discussion, while Jayapal provides progressive domestic framing. The panel blends Democratic strategists, center-right policy voices, and establishment media analysts.

What to watch: Whether ABC acknowledges NATO burden-sharing discussions emerging from European leadership — or avoids them to maintain a “concern about Trump” narrative.

STATE OF THE UNION (CNN)

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker; Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.); Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.).

Panel: David Urban, Brian Tyler Cohen, Kristen Soltis Anderson, Karen Finney.

Structural read: CNN is running a “NATO summit + Democratic foreign-policy framing” hour. Whitaker provides the summit hook; Himes and Auchincloss — both Democrats — will be presented as sober, bipartisan-sounding foreign-policy voices. In practice, both reliably reinforce the host’s narrative on Iran and Trump’s posture. If CNN wanted genuine bipartisan analysis, one of those seats would be a Republican.

What to watch: Whether Tapper uses Himes and Auchincloss to construct a “European unease” storyline despite the summit proceeding smoothly.

SUNDAY MORNING FUTURES (FNC)

Frank Bisignano, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration; U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz; Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah); Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.); Rachel Campos-Duffy.

Structural read: Futures is running a “Social Security + foreign policy + GOP congressional leadership” hour. Bisignano provides a rare opportunity to discuss Social Security solvency; Waltz continues the foreign-policy thread; Lee and Moolenaar anchor constitutional and legislative perspectives; Campos-Duffy adds cultural commentary.

What to watch: Whether Futures is the only program to connect NATO burden-sharing to broader U.S. fiscal and defense-planning realities.

Ecosystem Summary

This week’s lineups emphasize foreign policy, NATO summit optics, and Iran. Ambassadors and former military leadership dominate the morning. Domestic issues — inflation, border numbers, Social Security solvency, crime, and institutional accountability — are largely sidelined. The networks appear poised to frame the NATO summit through speculative “concern” narratives rather than the straightforward reality that the summit was calm and that European leaders have begun openly acknowledging the need to increase defense spending.

The hidden story: European leadership quietly validated long-standing concerns about NATO burden-sharing — a point the networks are unlikely to highlight because it complicates preferred framing.

WHAT’S NOT BEING COVERED

Supreme Court fallout: The sudden disappearance of last week’s outrage — no calls for court expansion, term limits, or structural reform. Looks like no tantrums because they got their way.
Trump’s successful NATO summit: Despite multiple NATO-related guests, the networks are not acknowledging that the summit was calm, productive, and free of diplomatic friction. No “Meloni moment,” no awkward optics, no tension. The absence of controversy leaves producers without the narrative they prepared, so they pivot to speculative “concern” instead of reporting the summit as it happened.
NATO burden-sharing: Even with ambassadors booked across several networks, there is almost no discussion of Europe’s defense-spending shortfalls or recent statements from European leaders acknowledging the need to increase contributions.
Iran’s operational posture: Little attention to Gulf drone activity, maritime confrontations, proxy networks, or CENTCOM constraints.
Domestic economic issues: Inflation, energy, housing, interest rates, and small-business stress remain largely absent.
Border policy: Beyond Homan’s segment, there is no sustained discussion of asylum, interior enforcement, sanctuary cities, or migrant crime.
Social Security solvency: Only Futures touches it; the broader ecosystem remains silent.
True bipartisan foreign-policy debate: CNN’s two-Democrat booking pattern signals narrative construction rather than genuine analysis.
Institutional stress: No serious coverage of inspector-general reports, agency whistleblowers, or congressional oversight.

“The greatest power we have is the power to ignore.” — attributed to Eric Hoffer

The Sunday Morning Bray by Bray

Matthew 24:35 (King James Version)
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

How come it is such a sin to be proud of America? The media and their Communist allies want you to be ashamed of this country when in reality there are so many things to be proud of in this country. It will be a cold day in Hades when I am not proud of my father and his generation for giving the entire world their freedom from tyranny and not just the made-up tyranny you hear of today for not letting boy turn themselves into girls.

Our parents were a generation of men who fought with Patton, Nemitz, and Eisenhauer who rewrote all the history books and saved freedom. They stood on the shoulders of their fathers who won WWI and the Spanish American war and the Civil War before that. They stood on the shoulders of the ones who wrote the Declaration of Independence against the America of their time the most powerful country in the world and won. So yeah, America has a lot to be proud of and should not be shamed into not celebrating these incredible men who fought impossible odds to make America more than an idea.

This generation is being taught to forget all of these miraculous generations who have been blessed by God in spite of themselves. To turn our backs on our parents is a sin since we are told to honor out parents or be taken out and stoned to death.

My father who never talked about the war just like all of the Greatest Generation was an incredible hero in the Pacific war against Japan. He was on one of the most decorated destroyers in the war and was nearly sank a number of times including a battle against a number of ships, shore artillery, a sub which sank the destroyer next to his, and was hit by a Kamikaze.

My Boy Scout leader was in a tank with Patton’s army who had half his face burned off and another dad was on the USS Enterprise throughout the war. These heroes were the men who came off the farms of America and won battle after battle they had no business winning other than the grace of God and a work ethic that allowed them to work harder and smarter than any other army ever formed. These men are the America everyone should be proud of and honor their incredible accomplishments leaving us the Greatest country in the histoir of mankind. Their generation never talked of heroics but they put the Roman Army to shame.

When patriotic Americans say they are proud of America it is this spirit and can-do attitude they honor with their pride. They took unsettled land and turned it into the most powerful country in the world which fought every war out of sacrifice and never axed for anything in return, what is not to be proud of? They were used by God to save the Jewish people from being exterminated by a madman.

To hear these leaders both political and spiritual get embarrassed by saying it is ok to be proud of America, BUT….shames those great men who went before. It shames those men who died on Omaha beach and Iwo Jima as if they were doing it for their own pride when there is no more selfless thing you can do than lay down your life for an idea of protecting America.

Yes, those men died so their families would not be invaded and become slaves to Germany or Japan who both should have won the war if not for God’s hand of mercy, but they fought for the American dream of freedom. Every man on the earth has had that dream except this one country developed one of the greatest forms of gummit ever invented. That is what American patriots are proud of and anti-Americans despise.

It is time for political and spiritual leaders to stop being ashamed of America’s greatness since it is a gift from God and built on Biblical scripture. It was built on the shoulders of great and humble men who did not see America as what it was but what it could be for true freedom with as little government interference as possible.

You are seeing it through unfiltered eyes with the Soccer games if you watch the world citizens get a taste of American freedom. No small portions, lots of meat, and endless drinks. It is not the food, the AC, or the beauty of the US, it is the people and their unending optimism and patriotism they are falling in love with. They are loving the greatness of the human spirit being unleashed for them to enjoy. These are average people loving America being Great and being a part of its greatness. It is infectious and it seems our two enemies we defeated Germany and Japan are loving this country the most.

The media had their script of how the Neanderthal American did not appreciate the superiority of soccer and other nationalities. They had their ugly American cliches all ready to go and the worldwide fans destroyed the script with their unfiltered love of everything America. It is the story of the year that they get the importance of a Great America for the rest of mankind. They love everything the Communists hate, freedom.

I am proud of America and do not see it as a sin but an honor to all those who came before me. I have never been prouder of my country and will never stop being proud of it. It is a love and honor to the generations who sweat, bled, and died to make this the most powerful and giving country by any measure God has ever created. So yes, I am so proud to be an American and always be until my last Daily Bray. I love Oregon and the United States of America and so proud of our fathers and their fathers before them and their fathers before them and you should be too.

God Blessed America

Note: The above opinion is not necessarily my own, but FReeper Bray’s. If you wish to discuss this, please ping Bray.

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