Sunday, August 28, 2005
Sunday Shows
I'm watching This Week right now and Senator Joe Biden (D, DE) is going on and on. Biden is one of those guys it's great to talk to, if you want to talk about Joe Biden. If you go to the illustrated DSM IVR and look up narcissism there's a small photo of Biden there. Apparently no one listened to Joe Biden and now the Iraq process is all messed up and women in Iraq are about to have the same rights they have in the rest of the Muslim dominated regions of the World. (I don't believe that, because of other parts of the proposed Charter (Constitution) which guarantee equal rights, etc, but I haven't seen the final version).
Senator John Thune (R, SD) is a welcome breeze of relief because he is actually talking about the subject, like saving Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota from closure. Like everyone on the show, he's unable to speak cogently about Iraq because of a lack of an encompassing knowledge about what's going on. I think it's fair to say that something very like politics is taking place in Iraq with dissent and even violence. I find that a vast improvement over the violence without dissent that took place under the dictator Hussein and his semi-psychotic sons ready to take over. The panel was bland. 23 soldiers died in Iraq last week, a little high.
The Fox show is on and two women, whose only credentials are that someone they bore 20 years ago died in Iraq, are talking about geopolitical issues vis a vis Iraq. Whatever your political belief, why should we believe these women know anything beyond their sad personal experience? The lefty mother is asking again and again why we're fighting. To take out islamofacist and make the World better, I answer (kinda like why we fought Germany in 1942 after Japan attacked us in 1941). She has all the Democrat talking points down but most of them are either false or facile. The right wing mother, I have to admit, is not saying things I wish she would say, but they don't sound to me like the Republican talking points. Chris Wallace thanks them for the service of their sons. That's wrong. Thank the sons who made the decision and the sacrifice. Show sympathy for the mothers and put on people who have personal knowledge about the subject and therefore are people we should listen to about the subject.
Now it's Senator Mitch McConnell (R, KY) versus Byron Dorgan (D, ND). I know that we sacrificed to help the country (and still do each day), but where do we get off thinking we have any real say in what Iraqis decide about their self governance. And yea, they'll still be Muslims. Did any sane person think otherwise? By comparison with the woman before him, Dorgan sounds positively reasonable. McConnell, however, has the right plan. Dorgan can't answer what is the Democrat's plan--he merely takes the time to criticize the current administration. Wallace tries again and Dorgan again ducks it by criticizing. McConnell points out the lack of an answer and Dorgan again 'nit-picks'. Dorgan won't touch Cindy Sheehan with a long pole, but McConnell won't criticize her. I think that speaks volumes about the unique position that woman finds herself in now.
Panel time. Brit Hume is, as usual, a river of reasoned, wise analysis. The new girl, Nina Easton, points out that the anti-war movement actually hurts the Democrats. They do, just as the extreme of the right hurts the sane Republicans. Kristol is tougher than usual. Juan Williams has some sound criticism about the silence or ineffective message of the White House, which Brit Hume seconds. Kristol offers some hope the President will deliver better supporting speeches.
Rank speculation about the future of the Iraqi Constitution followed. Hume smacks down Juan Williams for the, what?, 100th time.
Chris Matthews mini show's panel makes some sense from time to time. Even ever-Labor Katty Kay says the truth--that many people polled say they'd vote for a woman when they won't actually pull the lever (or whatever) for a female commander-in-chief in time of war. This will be doubly so if, as expected, there is a major or a series of minor attacks on us prior to November 2008. We should never take a Clinton lightly or expect her to make many mistakes, but I feel a little better about Giuliani's (or whoever's) chances in '08.
Senator John Thune (R, SD) is a welcome breeze of relief because he is actually talking about the subject, like saving Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota from closure. Like everyone on the show, he's unable to speak cogently about Iraq because of a lack of an encompassing knowledge about what's going on. I think it's fair to say that something very like politics is taking place in Iraq with dissent and even violence. I find that a vast improvement over the violence without dissent that took place under the dictator Hussein and his semi-psychotic sons ready to take over. The panel was bland. 23 soldiers died in Iraq last week, a little high.
The Fox show is on and two women, whose only credentials are that someone they bore 20 years ago died in Iraq, are talking about geopolitical issues vis a vis Iraq. Whatever your political belief, why should we believe these women know anything beyond their sad personal experience? The lefty mother is asking again and again why we're fighting. To take out islamofacist and make the World better, I answer (kinda like why we fought Germany in 1942 after Japan attacked us in 1941). She has all the Democrat talking points down but most of them are either false or facile. The right wing mother, I have to admit, is not saying things I wish she would say, but they don't sound to me like the Republican talking points. Chris Wallace thanks them for the service of their sons. That's wrong. Thank the sons who made the decision and the sacrifice. Show sympathy for the mothers and put on people who have personal knowledge about the subject and therefore are people we should listen to about the subject.
Now it's Senator Mitch McConnell (R, KY) versus Byron Dorgan (D, ND). I know that we sacrificed to help the country (and still do each day), but where do we get off thinking we have any real say in what Iraqis decide about their self governance. And yea, they'll still be Muslims. Did any sane person think otherwise? By comparison with the woman before him, Dorgan sounds positively reasonable. McConnell, however, has the right plan. Dorgan can't answer what is the Democrat's plan--he merely takes the time to criticize the current administration. Wallace tries again and Dorgan again ducks it by criticizing. McConnell points out the lack of an answer and Dorgan again 'nit-picks'. Dorgan won't touch Cindy Sheehan with a long pole, but McConnell won't criticize her. I think that speaks volumes about the unique position that woman finds herself in now.
Panel time. Brit Hume is, as usual, a river of reasoned, wise analysis. The new girl, Nina Easton, points out that the anti-war movement actually hurts the Democrats. They do, just as the extreme of the right hurts the sane Republicans. Kristol is tougher than usual. Juan Williams has some sound criticism about the silence or ineffective message of the White House, which Brit Hume seconds. Kristol offers some hope the President will deliver better supporting speeches.
Rank speculation about the future of the Iraqi Constitution followed. Hume smacks down Juan Williams for the, what?, 100th time.
Chris Matthews mini show's panel makes some sense from time to time. Even ever-Labor Katty Kay says the truth--that many people polled say they'd vote for a woman when they won't actually pull the lever (or whatever) for a female commander-in-chief in time of war. This will be doubly so if, as expected, there is a major or a series of minor attacks on us prior to November 2008. We should never take a Clinton lightly or expect her to make many mistakes, but I feel a little better about Giuliani's (or whoever's) chances in '08.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 8:13 AM 
