Sunday Talk Shows - Late Edition By: Mark Kilmer · Section: Other Politics
Here's CNN being CNN:
ZBIEGNEW BRZEZINSKI AND WOLFGANG BLITZER VRS. HENRY KISSINGER, ON LE. This was fairly straightforward. The host of CNN's Late Edition, Wolfgang Blitzer, was intent on discovering who specifically was to blame for the massive failures in Iraq. Former Carter advisor Brzezinksi blamed the President, the Vice President, the Vice President's chief of staff [Scooter Libby], Condoleezza Rice, and Colin Powell "for not drawing the line sharply enough."
Brzezinski does not think it is another Vietnam, despite Blitzer's appeal that he label it such. He also believes that if we're not willing to invest 500,000 troops and $200-billion, we ought to clear out of there.
Kissinger maintained that the war was a "responsible decision of the Administration." Blitzer argued otherwise, and Brzezinki argued that Saddam Hussein was not a military threat to anyone.
Kissinger said he would not appeal to Europe for help in rebuilding Iraq; he'd appeal to nations like India and Russia, which have experience in dealing with radical Islam. Brzezinski refused to distinguish between standard Islam and its radical uncle, arguing that including India and Russia – each with problems with Moslems – we would be telling the world that we are at war with Islam. (I think it could be used in that way.)
Brezezinski thinks Iraq is about to become an Shi'ite theocracy. Kissinger doesn't think so, but if it were to become a Shi'ite theocracy, it's not what we want. We ought to leave then, he argued, and let the various sides fight it out. (There is an appeal to that.)
Sunday Talk Shows - This Week By: Mark Kilmer · Section: Other Politics
The big question, I assume, was: could ABC's This Week survive a week without former Clinton staffer George Stephanopoulos?
Remember, the asked if it could survive without Sam and Cokie. They asked if it could survive without the late David Brinkley.
The answer to all of the above is clearly and resoundingly: NO!
On ABC's THIS WEEK, former Clinton staffer George Stephanopoulos was not there this week. ABC News' Chris Bury [pronounced: BEER-y] subbed, and he spoke to Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Dick Lugar and Senate Armed Services ranking sourpuss Carl Levin.
Bury pointed out recent attacks and asked Chairman Lugar: "Has the United States in effect lost the war in Iraq?" Lugar said no, and "we're learning from the process."
Levin said that we were much worse off than a year ago, but the "Administration has an opportunity to lead" and convince the Sunnis to play along whatever the outcome.
George Will asked about a "Sunni quota," a guarantee that a certain number of Sunnis will be part of the government no matter the outcome. Levin said that he didn't think this was possible, but astute Iraqi politicians had to convince the Sunnis that "there best hope" was to elect Sunnis to help write the constitution.
Will suggested that the former-regime "gangsters" are not worried about their rights; they want power. Lugar suggested that they want a 7th century Islamic government. He said that we're going to have to accept the "product of the situation," the government the Iraqis want for themselves and create.
Bury joked to Lugar that Don Rumsfeld suggested that the Americans want to train the Iraqis to provide security for their country when we cannot even provide security for ourselves in Mosul.
For turnout, Lugar predicted: "I think it will be very, very big."
Sunday Talk Shows - Face the Nation By: Mark Kilmer · Section: Other Politics
With no Barack Obama, this show lost its star power.
THUNE, ISAKSON, SALAZAR, AND SCHIEFFER ON FTN. Host Bob Schieffer talked to incoming first-term Senators John Thune (R-South Dakota), Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), and Ken Salazar (D-Colorado). Was perhaps Illinois' superstar Democrat Senator-elect Barack Obama "too kewl" for the CBS show? No, Schieffer explained, Obama's grandmother was sick. This is probably the case, and I hope all turns out well on that front, but it sounds an awful lot like a stock "likely excuse" on Obama's part.
Schieffer grilling the Republicans about Iraq, with the host telling Isakson that one early projection had the war ending this month. President Bush was doing a bad job of "reaching out" to other countries, he averred, and what was the Georgian's "criterion" for saying that the mission was "moving forward"?
Isakson replied: "I think the international community hasn't done a good job of reaching out to the United States." Exactly. Appeal after appeal has been rejected by France and her allies, but Isakson mentioned specifically Iraq's "Arab neighbors."
Schieffer said to Salazar that the Democrats had done poorly this past election: "You're one of two new Democrats coming to the Senate, and what I think most Democrats want to know is, what did you do right?" Salazar said he could represent both R's and D's, and he tried to connect with all areas of Colorado. Truth be told, though, Salazar probably won because the Republican nominee, Pete Coors, is a bit nutty.
Schieffer asked the men about Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's "threat" to "rule the filibuster out of order." Thune said he would support the move, as the nominees should have their floor votes. Isakson said that the ideal situation would be for the Dems to allow votes, but if it came to it, he would support Frist. Schieffer argued that only a small percentage of judges were blocked. Salazar pontificated about 200+ years of Senate history and tradition, re: the filibuster.
Truth be told, this is the first use of the filibuster against judicial nominees in this number, and it is not part of a Senate tradition. It is not part of advising and consenting.
FOX News Sunday was certainly better than Meet the Press, with Archbishop McCarrick offering this weeks' thoughtfulness, but hindsight tells me that Russert's interview with Dr. Phil was a bit greater in amusement value.
LYNNE CHENEY ON FNS. FNS host Chris Wallace spoke to Lynne Cheney. She said that she does not listen to Howard Stern, but she does "watch Don Imus occasionally." She explained this: "People like to escape from the all-engulfing political correctness from time-to-time."
ARCH-BISHOP THEODORE MCCARRICK ON FNS. Wallace talked to Arch-Bishop Theodore McCarrick from the DC arch-diocese. Wallace told him of a poll which showed that a majority of Americans believe that the church is under more attack this year than ever before.
McCarrick replied that from what he has read and seen on TV, that seems to be the case. He did say that he has personally experienced this.
He explained that those who want to understand the proper separation of Church and State should look at the history" of this country. He said that while there should not be a church established by the State in this country – "That's not what America is about." – nowhere does it say that religion should be "despised."
He sees a "secular religion" taking hold in our country, which in essence is a "religion" built around eliminating religion from public utterance. |
