It would be nice for me if Rita Cosby went to CNN.
Since I have the remote, and when Rita's on, it's like she's on CNN anyway I guess.
Greta Van Sustern
[Scientology] Cult member Greta Van Sustern is in the news for ambulance chasing the families of the Valujet crash victims. From the March 28th Pensacola News Journal:
"Relatives of Valujet crash victims in Atlanta reported last week that they were being contacted with offers by the law firm of CNN legal analyst Greta Van Sustern.
"The packet, which arrived in the mail, included pictures of Van Sustern, the commentator who made her mark as color analyst at the O.J. Simpson murder trial. The packet said Van Sustern's team would represent the victims for free in exchange for 25 percent of any money recovered from the airline. Taking on such a case could cost $100,000, the packet warns."
A CNN transcript was posted, which can be found at http://cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/proof/proof052496+000.html, which aired May 24, 1996 12:30 pm.
CNN's legal ace makes a case for being herself
By Catherine Fitzpatrick
of the Journal Sentinel staff
July 19, 1998
Washington D.C. -- No judge. No jury. No approach-the-bench histrionics or witness-box swoons. No testy raps of the gavel.
We convened well outside of a courtroom, seated on swiveling conference chairs deep within the CNN headquarters building that presides over First Street NE.
The interview got under way at the stroke of noon. Opening statements were delivered with chary cordiality.
Without further ado, informal cross examination of CNN's pithy courtroom scrutineer -- Greta Van Susteren -- commenced.
But just as a compelling body of evidence was about to be entered into the record, a voice arose from the gallery:
A brief recess, perhaps? For lunch?
So the newspaper reporter and the cerebral co-host of "Burden of Proof," CNN's popular weekday legal show, interrupted proceedings (namely, the media interviewing the media about the media) while a network staffer jotted down take-out deli preferences.
The 44-year-old legal eagle ordered without benefit of commas: "Roast beef on a croissant with lettuce and mayonnaise and a 2% cafe latte and a Diet Coke."
On the air and off, Greta Van Susteren punctuates her rhetoric with plenty of attitude. Unvarnished declarations of fact are gesticulated with finger-pokes. Opinion is prefaced with "Let me tell you something . . ."
"Let me tell you something," she said, tense, leaning in, punching small holes in the air. "Viewers are reeeeal smart. They know when someone is not being himself or herself on the air. If I came in and tried to be a glamour queen, believe me, they would very, very quickly catch on.
"This is what they get with me," added the former defense attorney. "Take it or leave it, that's my view."
Greta is speaking about her hair, of all things.
Explanations are in order. But first, a look at her roots.
Greta grew up in Appleton, daughter of the late Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Urban Van Susteren. Before he took to the bench, Urban managed the late Joseph McCarthy's successful 1946 U.S. Senate campaign. McCarthy was best man at the wedding of Greta's parents.
After earning a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin and two law degrees from Georgetown University, Greta was on her way to being known as an up-and-coming defense attorney in Washington. She won her first murder case at age 27.
In 1991 the American Bar Association named her one of America's 20 outstanding young lawyers.
So here's Greta today, a brilliant CNN attorney/analyst who deftly translates legalese into plain English on the air, who detangles the procedural spaghetti swirling around celebrities from William Kennedy Smith to O.J. Simpson to Lorena Bobbitt to Monica Lewinsky. And what do viewers pipe up about?
Her hair.
Well, Greta's shoulder-length tresses are truly willful. They're so wanton, in fact, that her CNN colleagues presented her with a key chain that is a miniature hairbrush.
"Bottom line? I'm happy," she said on the day of our interview, somewhat defiantly. "CNN hasn't fired me. Why should I change?"
For the record, Greta was wearing a conservative Ralph Lauren suit in navy blue.
"Let me tell you something," she said, "that's by design, by personality, by occupation.
"You want to know how I make my selection in the morning? Here's how I do it -- whatever's back from the cleaners."
Her grooming is equally minimalist: "I take a shower and comb my hair, although my producer would deny I comb my hair."
Later, in a follow-up phone conversation, Greta talks about why television viewers are so hooked on real-life courtroom dramatics -- hooked enough that networks employ squadrons of legal analysts such as Jack Ford, Marcia Clark, Greta and Roger Cossack to do play-by-play.
"The interest was always there, but the powers-that-be at the networks had no clue how absolutely gripping legal issues are," she answered. "It's the human condition. In many ways, it is both tragic and extremely intriguing."
In days gone by, she noted, townspeople meandered down to the county courthouse to find out what was going on in their community; trial-watching was a main form of entertainment.
"Now cameras are in the courtroom, and viewers are fascinated by it," she said.
True, but does the presence of the media at trials sometimes imperil or denigrate the judicial process? "You're asking me? That's like asking the fox to guard the chicken coop. It's how my bread is buttered," she laughed.
The deciding factors are whether a jury that has not been sequestered is being poisoned by a circus atmosphere outside the courtroom, she said. And whether, within the courtroom, the media creates such distraction that the prosecution and/or defense cannot adequately present their cases.
The phone conversation segues casually into an anecdote about her 44th birthday, back in early June.
"My husband is great friends with Hugh Rodham (younger brother of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton). So Hugh invites my husband and me to this picnic on the White House lawn. It's some big political deal -- they have it every year.
"So we go. Heck, we're thrilled to go. It was a gorgeous summer night. So we get there, and Hugh starts claiming this whole thing is a birthday party for me."
So what does Greta do? Oh, this is rich:
She waltzes around the manicured grounds of the White House thanking assorted congressional power couples and international politicos for renting such a terrific hall for her birthday party.
"Then," she said, "I (acted) kinda miffed with Hugh because nobody was saying 'Happy Birthday' to me all night."
Back at CNN studios, our lunchtime chat drew to a close. Greta strode out of the conference room toting her hairbrush key chain, her full-sized hairbrush, her uneaten lunch.
Two minutes later she popped her head back in and delivered this closing statement:
"Hey, I never got my latte."
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Journal Sentinel Online Inside News Go!
© Copyright 1999, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. All rights reserved.
Take Vermont for example, a state that went Republican for almost the entire 20th Century, until the New Yawk liberals moved in, and turned it into the socialist state that it is today.
I suspect that the liberals are trying to do the same thing to FOX, we need to stop this before there is no voice left on the right.
I don't think there is enough super moist lipstick to bring her up to FOX standards.
I don't think there is enough super moist lipstick to bring her up to FOX standards.
I don't think there is enough super moist lipstick to bring her up to FOX standards.
As far as the effect that hiring Greta will have, that depends on what happens to Geraldo. The punishment for deliberately lying to the viewers should be very harsh. There might be room for one transgression, but it would not surprise me and would please me greatly if Geraldo is never seen on Fox again. This would send a clear message to other "journalists" thinking of playing fast and loose with the truth.
What can FOX be thinking? Do they really think the loyal CNN viewers will switch over to FOX because they LOVE Greta so much?
Guess FOX loyalists didn't have enough to digest with Geraldo? Now this?
sw
Either that or the other cable stations are trying to sabotage FOX by sending them all their garbage.
How about "Bleccchhhhh..."?