Cable news reaction - Just One Minute blog
The media post-speech coverage ranged from disappointing to annoying, with brief comedic interludes. MSNBC offered Chris Matthews chatting about the merits of the President's presentation with Sen. Joe Biden. Imagine my surprise upon learning that neither one was pleased with Bush's performance. Later, they brought someone else out. Tip to producer - it's OK to put a person's name in the graphic at the bottom of the screen, as an aid to the channel surfers out there.
Paula Zahn on CNN needs to adjust her medications - she brought a gleeful ditziness to her post-speech interviews that would have been spot-on if she were discussing hair treatments with J-Lo. She achieved her comic zenith with her segue from Sen. Joe Lieberman to Sen. Mitch McConnell. Lieberman closed by saying that the President had met some of the concerns of his critics by involving the UN, and that our country needed to support the troops and get behind the plan, because if we failed in Iraq the next battle would be a lot closer to home. Ms. Zahn murmured her agreement and managed to look dutifully sober for about a millisecond before she lit up with her megawatt smile, turned to Sen. McConnell and said, and I can only approximate her cheerfulness, we have reports that Brahimi is having a hard time coming up with a list of names to fill the government, and the entire process seems to be collapsing - does this concern you? No, Paula, said the Senator, visible roots have never been a problem for me. OF COURSE he didn't say that, he said that putting a government together isn't easy, but I couldn't take any more.
Ron Insana on CNBC managed to rally up Jamie Rubin, former State Dept. spokesperson under Clinton and current fo-po advisor to Sen. Kerry, as a guest. Again, my jaw dropped upon learning that the speech was a disappointment. |
