Posted on 08/05/2006 9:02:34 AM PDT by Phsstpok
Weekend Talk Show Preview - Analysis for August 5th and 6th, 2006
On the Sunday shows I'm probably most interested in Fox News Sunday's line up. I want to hear Newt and Biden, mostly to see if they've changed their act for their second appearance together in three weeks. What is this, a do over or the beginning of a traveling show? Actually, that might have some interest. Maybe they're auditioning to get their own show if this whole presidential thing doesn't work out. Hadley made news on Iraq this week by saying that this is mostly sectarian violence now, instead of terrorism or insurgency, meaning the "C" word is now in play. There have been a lot of "I told you so" comments from people who have been trying to foment just such an outcome. This is his chance to turn the tables on some of the harshest critics of the Bush White House. Is this the beginning of a new PR offensive? Do I detect the machinations of Tony Snow or Karl Rove? Rice is going to be reasonable and probably playing dignified defense over our efforts in Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere, so is Hadley on Fox to throw some bombs? We'll just have to see. Ambassador Ayalon has been doing some good work on the shows he's done, so if he gets a chance I expect him to mop up the floor with Chattah, who seems to be a bit of a "Baghdad Bob" figure.
CBS Face The Nation has their usual "fair and balanced" guests lined up, with a Democrat who hates the President and all he has ever done matched up against a Republican who hates the President and most of what he's done... depending on which way the wind is blowing, of course. Both men believe that they have a shot at the Presidency in '08, which is, of course, proof positive that neither of them are in touch with reality. That should place a value on their comments on this show. Amusement value only in Face The Nation. this week. Hagel will probably supply several hours of sound bites for the DBM in his 10 minutes of air time.
ABC This Week is going to do a drive by assault on Condi with George "interruptus continuous" Stephanopoulos doing his best to not let her respond. He'll also probably try to lay personal blame for "all that hass wrong in the world since the Clintons were in power" on her in order to provide fodder for any Hill vs Condi '08 race. The current Connecticut Democrat Senate race is probably very conflicting for the folks at ABC News. Lieberman is an ally of longstanding, particularly for the solid Clintonista types like 'lil Georgie Steponallofus. But the MoveOn.ORG cult is so seductive to the latent Stalinist tendencies of most of the News division. And besides, Ned Lamont is a favorite of Oberführer Kos. Oh worry, worry, worry. The Roundtable is looking like a vomitorium of Bush Derangement Syndrome. George and Cokie both have long histories of personal enmity for the Bush family and Sam Donaldson is salivating at the chance to strike back at President Bush for calling him a "has been" in the White House briefing room this week. A woman scorned has nothing on a prima donna journalist who's been laughed at and ignored.
NBC Meet The Press has also got Condi and I expect 'lil Timmah to be in full attack hunch, leaning on the table and getting increasingly insistent that the Secretary of State isn't responding to the vicious juicy quotes damning the administration's policies that he dropped on the table like victims of an Israeli massacre.... whew, I think I was channeling him a bit there. Moving on to Connecticut there is less conflict around the NBC News water coolers over Lieberman getting what he deserves for having supported the vicious war mongers in this White House (channeling again). Timmah will be respectful to Lanny Davis for his devotion to the Clinton's but Russert is part of the People's Republic of Massachusetts wing of the Democrat party, still loyal to the sainted Speaker Tipp, and anyone who supports something that both Teddy and John Frickin Kerry oppose must simply be destroyed. It's a rule. He'll also be kind to Jim Dean, little brother of Howard "the scream" Dean. Timmah is a party man, first, last and always. Watch for an attempt to get both Davis and Dean to show agreement on blaming all of the worlds problems on Bush. After all, Timmah must perform his role and demonstrate the common front of the Democrat party against any and all things Republican, regardless of any other minor differences there may be.
On Saturday, as usual, the Journal Editorial Report will probably offer the most adult and informative discussion all weekend, outside of whatever Brit Hume says, of course (I hope Brit's not still on vacation). I am interested to see which Michael Oren shows up and wonder if he'll blame all of the current problems on the extreme right wing or extremist religious elements in Israel. He's been known to go both ways on things like this. I've sent Fox News Watch a message about their show for this week, but I doubt seriously that they'll talk about the growing evidence of the "Qana massacre" having been staged. I know that they'll ignore "Green Helmet Guy" and his traveling refrigerated truck of "massacre victims" on demand. Somebody ought to Photoshop his vest with something like "Atrocities-R-Us" or "Acme Atrocity in a Box." Then with World War 3 likely well underway (depending on your definitions and level of paranoia) they carve out time to discuss Mel Gibson and MTV. And they wonder why they're losing audience? The Beltway Boys will take a swing (and miss) on the Middle East situation, then move on to what they really love, which is turmoil in the electoral process. They'll point to the likely fates of Lieberman and McKinney and draw diametrically opposed conclusions. Mort will certainly see it as a clear sign of trouble for the Republicans, while Fred will be schizophrenic, relishing McKinney's doom and lamenting Lieberman's. Watching those two is like watching over the hill fencers hack at each other with wet fish instead of swords. But like a moth to a flame, I'm usually drawn in. Addiction is a terrible thing...
Overall the drive by media is attempting to blame Bush for anything and everything, particularly in the Middle East, while at the same time they try desperately to drum up interest in their political coverage of this fall's elections and the opening shots of the 2008 race for the White House. The warning signs are there that the money men in their industry might like to replace them with something profitable and interesting to viewers, such as reruns of Gilligan's Island. They have to prove that they can attract more eyeballs and therefore more ad revenue. The fact that they think being more shrill and partisan is the way to do that should tell you all you need to know about how successful they're likely to be. We may literally be watching the final couple of years of regular network news programs of all types, including these Sunday morning gab fests. As a political and news junkie I will lament their passing, but I've already moved most of my business to new media, so I won't lack for a "fix."
All of the above is simply my humble opinion, so have at it.
The individual shows are posted below, with the Saturday shows first, then individual posts on each of the Sunday shows.
The Beltway Boys (Mort Kondrake, Fred Barnes)
CNBC's Tim Russert Show (Tim Russert)
Fox News Watch (Eric Burns)
Journal Editorial Report (Paul Gigot) - FNC show page
The Weekend Preview Thread is up
If you would like on or off my ping list please Freepmail me
See the initial post for my "usual witty commentary"
CNN Late Edition (Wolf Blitzer)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1678277/posts
The Robb7 was kind enough to let me guest blog on his site. This grew out of all our Thread conversations last Sunday. I beg your indulgence for reposting it here for comment.
There is a great deal of misplaced angst in Conservative circles about the the Israeli operations in Lebanon. In the first days of the war, Ralph Peters was all ready moaning, "ISRAEL is losing this war. For a lifelong Israel supporter, that's a painful thing to write". This week Charles Krauthammer exclaimed Olmert "search for victory on the cheap has jeopardized not just the Lebanon operation but America's confidence in Israel as well" To quote Lady Thatcher, "This is no time to go wobbly" Conservatives!
The problem with these admirable mens analysis is they are trying to force a Conventional Warfare paradigm onto an Asymmetrical warfare problem. That simply will not work.
Start with our Revolution, Napoleon in Spain, Spain in South American, the US in Vietnam, Various European powers all over the world, the Nazis in Eastern Europe, the French then the Americans in Vietnam, the Russians in Afghanistan. A Conventional Warfare doctrine applied to an Asymmetrical problem always ends in the eventual bloody defeat for the Conventional Force.
Think of Israel as a boxer punching a sand bag. No matter how hard they hit, they cannot hold their fist to the bag forever. Thus as soon as they pull their fist back the weight of the sand forces the bag back to the same old shape. This time Israel, with the backing of the Bush Administration, is trying to find a way to empty the sand OUT of the bag so that when Israel's fist is removed, the bag does not simply revert to the same old form.
It's not as dramatic or made for TV sexy but it DOES have the virtue of possible achieving a workable longer-term strategic change for Israel. Israel is going for the long game, a solution to a decade long cancer NOT a drama queen ego feeding headline grabbing military blitz.
It would be utterly stupid for Israel to settle for just pruning back Hizbolla when they could possible completely uproots it.
All the various armchair Patton's plans would accomplish is a lot of dead Jews for a short term "quick fix" Hizbolla would simply bleed the Israelis while pulling back into sanctuary areas in Syria and northern Lebanon. Then when the Israelis could no longer stand the blood and treasure long term occupation was costing them, Hizbolla would simply flow back into the same positions they hold now. And in a few years from now the Israelis would face the same crises in Lebanon
Like the US in Iraq, Israel seems to be trying for a long term FIX that uproots Hizbolla and creates a viable Lebanese Govt that can police its own territory. That is why the Israelis are interested in a NATO force to do in Lebanon what it is currently doing in Afghanistan. The UN has showed it simply is too corrupt and ineffective to manage peacekeeping duties. Israel, and the world, need a force that can keep out the Terrorists while the Lebanese build a viable nation-state that can provide long term stability. Thus the Israel and the US should be looking with interest to the French.
The French are the ideal choice because of their history with Lebanon. They have good troops with lots of peace keeping experience (Its their politics that are messed up, not their military) Being Lefties the Media will pretty much ignore the head cracking they need to do as peace keepers. They do not trigger the knee jerk hysteria British, American or Jewish troops would in the Arabs. For domestic consumption the French can spin this mission as one to protect the Muslims "stopping" the Israelis. France does not have any where near the existing military commitments that the US and Britain do so have the forces available to take this one. With France heading the mission Germany, Spain and the other reluctant nervous nellies among the old Europe nations would have political coverage to get involved. The Israelis get a Neutral Zone and make one front in the WOT someone else's headache. It sends a message to Syria and Iran that the EU is not divided on controlling their terrorists proxy forces and adds pressure on Tehran to make a deal on the nuclear issue since they are diplomatically isolated. It would be also be impossible for domestic political reasons for the French to let the mission fail. In face of the success we are having in Afghanistan and Iraq, France needs to prove itself a serious world player. This mission thus would be seen as a test of Frances Pan Europeanism.
The $64 billion question is will the French do it?
"Israel's Lost Moment" Washington Post Friday, August 4, 2006; By Charles Kurthhammer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/03/AR2006080301258.html
"CAN ISRAEL WIN?" New York Post July 22, 2206. By Ralph Peters
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/can_israel_win__opedcolumnists_ralph_peters.htm
Good day, Phsstpok. Thank you so much for all of the interesting material. You keep me busy...in an enjoyable way.
Excellent essay and I think posting it here is right on target. This provides the kind of background and perspective that helps us look at what the talking heads will be saying over the next 24 hours. That's what I'm looking for when I started this thread.
Congratulations and thanks for posting this.
ROTFLMAO!!!!!!
You are becoming "Steynian" my FRiend! Mark could use you as a staff writer!
Thank you for sharing my disdain for Russert. His openly trenchant body language and tone towards Republicans is one of the biggest negatives of Russert. How he remains in the industry is beyond me... Well, my same wonder applied to Dan Rather!
Phsstpok ... "This provides the kind of background and perspective that helps us look at what the talking heads will be saying over the next 24 hours. That's what I'm looking for when I started this thread".
--or what they won't be saying!! and should!!!
Johnnie,
YOU ARE TREMENDOUS!
TERRIFIC JOB!!!
Here's his preview of the Sunday shows for this weekend:
The Sunday Morning Talk Shows - Preview
For Sunday, August 6, 2006
Meet the Press (NBC): Host Tim Russert talks to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, then to some Ned Lamont supporter guy (Howard Dean’s brother), possibly with bobby sox and matching t-shirt, and Lieberman advisor Lanny Davis.
FOX News Sunday (FNS): Host Chris Wallace talks to Joe Biden and Newt Gingrich; National Security Advisor Steve Hadley; Lebanese advisor Mohamad Chatah; and Israeli Ambassador Danny Ayalon.
Face the Nation (CBS): Host Bob Schieffer talks to Chuck Hagel and Chris Dodd.
This Week (ABC): Host George Stephanopoulos talks to Rice then does some Lieberman and Lamont stuff.
Late Edition (CNN): Host Wolf Blitzer chats with Hadley, Ayalon, Lebanese Economy and Trade Minister Sami Haddad, and Lebanese political analyst Roula Talj; and his usual cast of thousands.
—–We’ve a lot of Israel vs. terrorist stuff, including the usual political suspects: Hagel, Dodd, Newt, and Biden. Hadley and Rice are always great. This Lieberman vs. Lamont thing… well, if Ned wins, the Democrats will have proven themselves to be outside of their own mainstream. Lieberman would win in the fall eitehr way. But Howard Dean’s brother? “YEAAARRRRGH!”
I’m taking the week off from the review, as RedState.com is offline this weekend pending its rebirth in stunning, new form. But (Phsstpok) has his excellent preview up at FreeRepublic.com.
On his post he uses my real name, which I included in the email, and that's fine, but to avoid confusion here I changed it to my screen name above.
And I'm glad I'll be at church tomorrow during Chris Wallace's show. I've seen enough of Newt Gingrich for two liftimes.
Is Juan sitting in for Mort this week? I had missed that. I actually just realized that I missed the show, too.
Juan has just published a book basically taking the Bill Cosby line on race issues, blaming the do nothing black "leadership" for most of the current problems in the black community, not white racism.
Every time I think I can dismiss certain people completely they do something that actually makes sense and mess with my comfortable notions.
His perspective on the war, leaves much to be desired. He was postively gleeful as he delivered his perspective that everything thing is going wrong for the US in this war.
My blog at Townhall, Wizards.Townhall.COM, is gone at the present time. I am assuming that this is a Townhall web server issue during their startup phase (they've been up in this format for less than a month) but you can never tell. I may have offended someone powerful.
However, the FR thread remains, and the purpose of the Townhall blog was to drive folks to the discussioni here. And that was not to drive them to my thread but to invite them into the discusssions, particularly Alas Babylon!'s Sunday morning talk show thread, which is the reason my thread exists.
I'll pass on anything I find out.
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