Social Upheaval

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January 29, 2006

Sunday Mornin Teevee

First, a brief program note: I hate when the Bears season ends. Not because I follow football - I can't even watch the Super Bowl this year - but because it messes up my Sunday morning routine. Now, Meet the Press starts a half hour later, meaning that the last half hour runs at the same time at Ebert & Roepert. I think I missed their annual Note to the Academy program, but don't know for sure.

Back to the talk shows -

This Week: Like most media outlets, they spent a bunch of time giving an update on the tragic state of their reporters. Bob Woodruff and his camera man were hit by an IED and were in surgery this morning. While I share the sympathy of all the shows for the men and their families, I wonder why their situation is so much more worthy of air time then anyone else who gets hit by IEDs, is abused by US troops and Iraqi officials, or otherwise suffers in Iraq. Ok, moving on -

George talked to Barack Obama (who was Tim's guest last week). As usual, Obama sounded realistic and strategic - he doesn't come across as a politician trying divide the country for political gain, but rather looks to working with Republicans to clean up lobbying practices and other American problems.

Chuck Hagel was the Republican counterpart on This Week. It was interesting that George kept pointing out the ways Hagel is different from the Bush admin - Hagel believes in open, honest governing, including releasing photos of Bush with Abramoff and being honest about who Abramoff met with in the administration and what they discussed.

Note re This Week: they have a helluva lot more commercial breaks compared to MtP.

Onto MtP at 10am: over a half an hour with Republican Majority Liar Bill Frist. Think I'm too partisan? I really started gagging towards the end of the half hour when Frist refused to acknowledge Tim's assertion that the Minority Leader Reid rejected creating a Task Force on lobbying because he wants to create legislation, not more studies. Frist just kept repeating that he offered a bipartisan approach and Reid rejected it. Then Frist kept turning his politician's fake smile on his lies on CNBC that Tim quoted re the "blind trust" arrangement for his HCA stock. (HCA is the corrupt for-profit hospital chain that Frist's family created and runs that has ruined healthcare and workplace conditions for millions of people in the US.)

Due to my disgust with Frist, I tried to find solace in ABC. Found out that Chris Penn died. (Cause unknown.) Ebert & Roepert was a repeat, so I switched back to MtP.

The talking heads chattered on. I didn't pay much attention because they're all milquetoast heads - there's Never Ever a truly progressive opinion expressed, although often hard-line conservatives are invited to these round table discussions. I was reading my NYT (after learning that the cost is going up...seems the prices increase on everything when the calendar year changes except my paycheck, which went down due to an increase in my heath insurance cost)...okay, so all I heard was Tim saying: "Whoa, that’s going to set the blogs a running there, Kelly." Didn't actually hear Kelly's comment, so I'm thankful for the transcript. Here's what preceded that comment:

MR. RUSSERT: The president said the other day that this is a wide open race, the most wide open he’s ever seen. Does he have any kind of wink, or nudge towards any Republicans?

MS. O’DONNELL: Well, he was very careful because he knows that anything he says will influence the process. I think if he could get Condoleezza Rice to run he’d be happy about that, but we know where she stands on it.

Interesting aside to this Rice comment: I went to a lecture yesterday by a professor from Stanford, who used to work with/for Rice (she was provost of Stanford). He said that she refuses to hear any opinion that differs from her's and believes those opinions to be traiterous. So why the hell do so many pundits and politicians want her to run?!?! And where, oh where, is the Realistic, Effect Left in this country? I guess it's on PBS, since Now is starting and talkin about the new doc, "Why We Fight," that blasts the military industrial complex. Then again, it was preceded by "John McLaughlin's One On One," and McLaughlin is a one note right-wing wonder. The only problem with PBS is there are no breaks...which can be a problem at the end of 6 cups of coffee...

Posted by cj at January 29, 2006 11:31 AM

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