Posted on 10/06/2006 5:32:15 PM PDT by Phsstpok
Preview and analysis for Weekend Talk Shows, 10-1-06 and 10-8-06
It's week five of the drive by media campaign to win back power in Washington for those who truly deserve it (in their minds), the Dhimmicrats. This week the attention shifts away from President Bush, because their lame but continuous attacks were beginning to work for him. Instead they are starting to point out to the ignorant boobs out there that the Republicans are really the party of homo values, kiddie porn, dirty talk and probably worse things, like drugs or even (horrors) rock and roll! They fully expect all right thinking conservatives (particularly those really stupid ones, you know, the Christians) to run away screaming and never support a Republican again. I think this scandal was set off about two weeks early and, if I'm right, it shows a high degree of desperation on the part of the party of Michael Moore. Not only weren't their attacks on Bush having the desired affect of "sealing the deal" for the dims, they were actually beginning to lose ground. The counter attacks by Bush and company on Iraq and the war on terror were a big part of it, but the biggest effect was coming from the drumbeat about who would be in charge if the Republicans get thrown out. The thought of a Speaker Pelosi or a Chairman Rangel just was too much for most Americans to take. Therefore, they needed to change the subject and fast. Unfortunately they did this clumsily and way too soon. The effect, if any, will have worn off long before election day and, in fact, the blowback might end up damaging the Soros/Clinton war machine most of all.
NBC Meet The Press has the fourth installment in their Senate debate series. This time it's Talent versus McCaskill for the seat Talent currently holds from Missouri. This is being touted as the "bell weather" race to watch on election night. If the Republicans can't hold this seat then they'll lose control of the Senate, "they" say. Talent has maintained a slight lead in all but the most tortured and tilted polls, but they keep plugging away and dumping millions of campaign dollars gathered from their billionaire sugar daddies via 527s. Reportedly they are even crossing the line and illegally using Democrat party resources in prohibited ways to support the McCaskill campaign (damn that CFR!). McCaskill seems to be an ineffective candidate, so watch for lil Timmah to carry more of the Dhimmicrat water against Talent in this weeks "debate." Following the Timmah/McCaskill tag team assault on Talent they'll try to resurrect the flagging fortunes of Bob Woodward's new book (which is losing big time to... OMG... O'Reilly!). Woodward was supposed to have at least a week where he "dominated the news cycle" to build up his book sales, provide fodder for the drive by media (DBM) and been given an opportunity to restore his reputation for bashing Republicans. Unfortunately the premature launch of La Cage aux Foley (hat tip for the phrase of the week to JER) has ruined that plan and Woodward clearly sees a future in the remainder bin for his latest tome. The usual suspects will try to revive this turkey. I give them little or no chance. "OK, so ten out of ten for style, but minus several million for good thinking, yeah?" (apologies to Zaphod Beeblebrox).
CBS Face The Nation offers us a B team of minor leaguers from the House with Davis (R, VA) and LaHood (D, IL) squaring off over le affair Foley. The inclusion of LaHood will give them the chance to question the fate of Speaker Hastert, also of Illinois. Schieffer is joined by the Washington Post's political band director to try to get a little oompah out of the old dinosaur media tuba section. Watch for a lot of declarative statements and not much in the way of enlightenment or information.
Fox News Sunday provides a "panel of experts" to discuss the Foley scandal which is made up of a spectrum of "good" to "bad" conservatives. Representative Jack Kingston (R, GA) is the sole member of Congress listed and he has come out forcefully in support of Speaker Hastert. He has also called for Pelosi, Emanuel, Dean and other Democrats to testify under oath about what they knew and when they knew it regarding the potential crimes involved in Foley's nasty behavior. They then bring on the "bad conservative" Tony Perkins (Family Research Council). Perkins has committed the ultimate sin of being a Christian who actually dares to think that Foley's
sexuality and proclivity for preying on boys is relevant to the discussion. Not real informative, but helpful for the DBM sound bite brigade, I'm sure (unless Perkins gets really, really smart and messes with them). David Bossie (Citzens United) is trotted out as a conservative voice calling for Hastert's head (he will be celebrated in song and story by the drive by media) and Laura Ingraham, who may or may not be out for Republican blood. That makes it a panel of four conservatives, 2 to 1 against the Republicans, with one "easily dismissed religious fanatic." Chris Wallace's Coming Up on 'FOX News Sunday' piece speaks about there being discussions "with key congressional leaders," but no names are listed, other than Kingston. We'll have to see. Could it be a surprise list of guests not revealed to give the opposition a chance to counter program?
ABC This Week brings on the A team partisan pairing for the Foley scandal with the heads of the Republican and Democrat House campaign committees, Tom Reynolds (R, NY) and Rahm Emanuel (D, IL). If the Republicans were going to go with the aggressive strategy of calling out the Soros/Clinton war room over the Foley scandal this would be the place to do it, but ABC has made sure that Reynolds is damaged goods in this regard and he may well be checkmated from pursuing this tack with Emanuel. This is because one of the most likely sources (according to "leaks" from ABC (Brian Ross, no doubt) and assorted Dhimmicrat sources) of the incriminating emails and instant messages is Reynolds' gay chief of staff, who is Foley's former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham (Blackmail target of Mike Rogers, but ABC won't mention that). Also, Reynolds is said to have "convinced" Foley not to retire and therefore "keep this seat Republican," which is now being portrayed as the ultimate act of political cynicism. Fordham will be the "guest who speaks but is not on the shows" this week, as quotes from him will shower down like a bad thunderstorm, particularly on this show. Reynolds is a clear target of ABC's plan in this whole thing. If they can't get Hastert they'll be happy to settle for Reynolds. And to complete the trifecta for ABC their next guest, James Baker, has a new book and a "bipartisan report" that bashes the Bush policy in Iraq. He will probably be kept away from the Foley controversy as he has come out strongly against "sacrificing" Speaker Hastert this week (good imagery about throwing someone off the sled to keep the wolves at bay). My great hope is that they've once again misunderstimated the Bush strategery because Bush is the one who appointed Baker to the Bipartisan Iraq Study Group which issued the "critical report" on Iraq. Some on the left are beginning to smell a Rovian plot and warn of Bush's own October surprise and many tie it to the recommendations coming out of this group (see show links for some of the silliness). Right now Baker is being feted by the drive by media and the left because he's criticizing Bush's policy, but what if Bush takes the Study Group's advice? Bada Bing, Bada Boom! This Sunday might tell the tale on that. I will look at Baker's appearance on This Week with a magnifying glass. George Will, Cokie Roberts and Fareed Zakaria will be called on by Steponallofus to "explain" the true significance (read "doom for the evil Republicans") of all of this in the roundtable segment. ABC is working hard to pay back their Clintonian Overlords for daring to show that awful "Path to 9/11" thingy, dontcha know?
CNN Late Edition trots out the Iraqi foreign minister, no doubt to ask him to confess that our Iraq policy is a disaster and that we've actually made things worse since toppling Saddam, who was truly harmless, after all. I think that is a minor, almost pro-forma part of the show this week. Cornyn (R, TX) is set to face off with Biden (D, DE) over all things to do with foreign policy, including the border fence and middle east policy. Biden is pushing the old Europe like "let's divide Iraq" plan and I think Cornyn will gut him like a fish over this issue, if given a chance. Cornyn's cynical statements about funding for the border fence will be used as a starting point for the discussion of that issue, which puts him on the defensive and lets Biden pontificate about how evil and racist Republican immigration policy is while also claming that Dhimmicrats have a real plan to protect our borders (no doubt he wants to eliminate our borders, then they can't be threatened, of course). The co-authors of the new political book "The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008" will work to position themselves as good members of the DBM, since they are being criticized by the MoveOn left over whatever conclusions they draw in their book. My guess is that they argue that to win you have to support America against those who want to destroy America, which Dean, Pelosi and Moore would of course find objectionable. Watch for fierce anti-Bush spinning with very little reference to what's really in the book. CNN's Dana Bash has also been criticized from the left for her recent reporting, primarily that it wasn't sufficiently slanted against Bush (she bothered to include facts, which messed up the narrative they wanted to achieve). Wolfe will give her the opportunity to correct those "errors." And then they offer up Ted Turner's idea of a "real" conservative, Pat Buchanan, in all his wild eyed, racist and jingoistic glory. Wolfe will give him a free field of fire to attack Bush while still spouting off offensive comments that they will then try to tie to all conservatives, especially Bush. It's a win-win for the MoveOn crowd, and good ol' Pat has filled this role faithfully for years.
With the exception of the Journal Editorial Report I am singularly uninterested in the Saturday shows this week. Mort and Fred are really getting tiresome with their inside the beltway conventional wisdom. I long ago decided that this isn't a "conventional wisdom" election, good or bad for us, and they just keep on keeping on with the same old tired analysis. Russert's Danforth hagiography will likely be truly offensive. I wonder if Timmah will ask him about his uber liberal US church leaders rejecting the Bible, at least as far as the leaders of his church in the rest of the world are concerned (except dhimmi England, of course)? Nah! Fox News Watch is simply boring, as their "defend journalists at all cost regardless of any fraud" approach is way too predictable at this point and totally uninteresting. When Neal Gabler is the only voice remotely interesting on this show you know they're in trouble. I keep saying that Fox should turn this into an hour, give half to the guys from Media Research Center and half to the Soros moonbats from Media Matters and let them have at it, with a panel of adults to hose down the rhetoric between segments. Now that would draw an audience! But JER may redeem Saturday for reasoning hominids. They deal with the Foley mess, but it appears to be a throwaway for them. They're real focus is American demographics, like Social Security a controversial topic that everyone simply wants to ignore but one which will clearly affect all of our lives far more than almost anything else on the world stage today. Bravo, folks. Let's hope it starts a meaningful dialogue on this complex and important topic. Wait, what am I thinking. This is dinosaur media TV (even if it is cable). They will be a lonely voice, crying in the wilderness. Noble effort, but will anyone notice?
So, what's the bottom line this week? This is a week of frantic spin where the DBM and the Dhimmicrats try to frame yet another new "winning argument" to replace their latest "losing argument" (number 974). Watch for lots of declarations of victory for the forces of Soros that ring increasingly hollow. The question at this point is how desperate will they be to shut down the investigation if it dares to look at "what the Dhimmicrats knew and when they knew it." Several senior members of the moonbat left may be seriously at risk over this whole Foley affair. I'll be interested to see how the gay community ends up reacting to being used as a stalking horse and sacrificial lamb in this way. I've talked before about a potential sea change in racial politics coming out of this election. Could there be a sea change in the politics of sexual orientation? Will the Log Cabin Republican types (R and D?) realize and communicate that Republicans may not approve of their lifestyle or agenda, but they don't want to set them up for lynching, while Nancy Pelosi isn't averse to that as a tactic, so long as it buys her power? The ultimate denouement of this part of "la cage aux Foley" may be whether Mike Rogers is investigated (dare I say indicted?) for having blackmailed a gay Republican Senator (reportedly over the Alito vote, which would probably make the target Lincoln Chaffee). If he faces serious jail time for that little bit of political theater (which he has trumpeted publicly) what doors might he kick open? I wonder if he knows where Fort Marcy Park is?
This has been cross posted to my blog at Wizards.townhall.com. This post exists primarily as a heads up for who is on the weekend talks shows, what they've been invited on to push (based on their recent pronouncements) and the spin (meme) the DBM is likely trying to push based on that information. All of this is prep work for the weekly Sunday Morning Talk Show thread posted by Alas Babylon!. That thread provides a live commentary and analysis of the Sunday talking head shows, with rare insight and exceptional fact checking. we are the Jedi Council of FreeRepublic, at least in regards to these DBM gabfests. You wanna know what was said and what it meant, as well as where they messed up? Read that thread!
I'll post a link to Mark Kilmer's excellent preview of the Sunday shows over at RedState.COM when it is up.
I'll also post a link to this Sunday's live thread here when it is up.
Intresting to watch and see if the National Republicans are smart enough to run with this idea.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1715441/posts
Posted at 12:42pm on Oct. 7, 2006
The Sunday Morning Talkshows - lineup
By Mark Kilmer
For Sunday, October 8, 2006
Meet the Press (NBC): Host Tim Russert has another face-off, this one between Senator Jim Talent (R-Missouri) and Democrat Claire McCaskill. And then, Bob Woodward will on to hawk his little novel, the one which is now ignored, in the wake of Mark Foley's shenanigans, but is falling apart by the day.
FOX News Sunday (FNS): Host Chris Wallace speaks to Representative Jack Kingson (R-New York) about the "page scandal." Then he speaks with radio talker Laura Ingraham, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and David Bossie, president of Citizens United. They're covering their conservative bases after two-weeks of Clinton (Bill) Nonstop.
Face the Nation (CBS): Host Bob Schieffer talks pages with two Republicans: Tom Davis of Virginia and Ray LaHood of Illinois.
This Week (ABC): Host George Stephanopoulos talks to NRSC chair Tom Reynolds (R-New York) and DCCC boss and former Clinton (Bill) staffer Rahm Emmanuel (D-Ill) about the "Foley fallout" and the prospects for a Dem triumph this November.
Late Edition (CNN): Host Wolf Blitzer interviews Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, John Cornyn and Joe Biden, a bunch of reporters -- including two hawking a book -- and, of all people, Pat Buchanan, He's also pushing a book.
--------Going into this, we have to cut these guys some slack. We've put a lot of pixels to the bit with Foley and the pages, but the Sunday morning talkers are playing catchup. They ignored it last week, but now the Dems have had time to lock, load, and aim at Speaker Hastert. The paucity of Dem guests is surprising, Rahm, on Steph's show, is the elections guy who, having worked for Clinton (Bill), won't have a lot of latitude to talk about sex scandals. Joe Biden, on CNN, wants to talk about other things. It's terrible, he's above it, it's trivial: "Look, Wolf..."
If you know of anyone liveblogging Talent vs. McCaskill, let me know and I'll link.
As always, (Phsstpok) has his entertaining talkshow preview up at Free Republic.
I'll have the complete review here at RedState early tomorrow afternoon.
Posted in Special Features — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »
I would love someone to ask one of these people. WHAT should Hastert of done? A Rep comes to him and tells him about 2 emails sent by another Rep to one of his constituents. Remember Hastert is an older male. Imagining he is going to have all the hip late 1990s dogma about how to spot a Sexual Predators down is nonsense. They look into it. The emails are not actionable. They sit the guy down and tell him to knock it off. HE knocks it off. There is NO report of any contact AFTER the warning was issued. Innocent until proven Guilty ISN'T just a slogan.
In the perfect world, what was Hastert suppose to do?
Hope the National Republicans are watching this. This is a brilliant response.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1715525/posts?page=2
A Tale of Two Ads
The Weekly Standard ^ | 10/16/06 issue | William Kristol
Posted on 10/07/2006 2:40:27 PM CDT by AmericanExceptionalist
Repelled by former Republican congressman Mark Foley's sexual overtures to congressional pages and ex-pages, and by the House GOP leadership's alleged failure to move aggressively against him? Vote Democratic. Worried about the Demo crats' tendency to coddle jihadists? Vote Republican.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
Could you remind me please... which one is Alphonse and which is Gaston?
Thanks so much for all the owrk you put into this weeky advisory... love the way you write and read every last word!
Get ready for the hysteria and meltdown. Newsweak published a poll today claiming it is all over. Everyone hates the Republicans over Foley, Democrats are going to win 1000 seats we Conservative can all just stay home election day because Newsweak poll shows the game is over.
It pure BS, they withheld their Internals to indicate how many Dems-Reps-Indies they polled and when they polled them but it doesn't matter. The Chicken Littles are having hysterics. Sorry but I guess we are going to find a 50%D-30R-20 "Indepentent" split on this once the pros get done dismateling it. It makes no sense to suggest as many as 1/3 of Republicans are bying the Foley smear job.
If so many Republicans were upset about this and felt this way you would see it here. SOME % of Freepers would be reflecting the attitutes Newsweak is claiming their pollsters are finding. NO one is. Virtually overnight the breech in the Repubulican base has been sealed. Everyone is focused on why they hate the Dems NOT what they are upset with President Bush and the Leadership about.
I believe that is correct. Notwithstanding that this is a "conservative" board, I have seen over time that the spectrum of comments and attitudes, when you weed out the trolls, is pretty reflective of the Republican party generally. If this Foley thing was working at all, we would see it here. LOL. Julie Banderas just called the Phelps woman an "airtime whore." Just thougt I'd mention it.
Gee, Johnnie, I thought it was all over last week, the week before that and each week before that. For months now, Newsweek and others have been telling us it's all over.
I posted this earlier to Congressman Billy Bob. Frankly, I'm in bragging mode right now because of the comparison between Democrats and Republicans. My efforts now is to get the word out to voters here.
By the way, polls are not done so quickly. My guess is these polls are based on gut, initial reactions and not the true positions of voters once they have the facts and understand the situation. We just can't fall for the hype and we have to let it develop for a week or so before there will be any real indication on voter attitudes. Remember too, almost all these antics backfire on Democrats.
- - - - - - -
I realize the media spin and Democrat accusations but the Foley debacle should be a source of pride for every Republican.
We had an issue and it was dealt with. Rep. Foley resigned and the House Speaker is taking steps to counter this happening again. The Ethics Committee has gotten involved for developing the facts in this case and the FBI has the information to pursue it if there was anything done that was illegal.
Is there any, ANY, question that had Foley been a Democrat they would still be circling the wagons in protecting Foley and calling any criticism homophobia. The Democrats are shameless and for the next thirty days they will be proving that to every voter.
I agree with you, Morgan. I am proud of the Republicans too. It should be pretty clear to most people now that sick perverts are not going to be welcomed by the party if they are found out. I have long heard rumors about the promising Kasich and Scarborough being told to get out after certain ugly behavior came to light. It was done quietly, so the modus operandi is not to destroy lives, just to drum you out quietly.
As for the page program, what is it that they are going to "fix?" They are only in loco parentis when actuall in the program. Foley waited until after they left the program to start up his contacts. And there is no evidence he stepped over the line with the minor. The ugly IMs were with an adult male. The page program merely brought those might be of interest to him to his attention. So, do they eliminate the program? Nah, too much a payoff to the politically connected parents. Do they forbid contact between congresspeople and pages and former pages? Getting connected is a very large part of why they do this in the first place. I think I have the answer. Pages will sign a document where they promise to report any icky contacts from any of them at any time. Heh heh. I wonder what foolproof measures the committee will proudly announce with "we have saved the children" flourishes.
Washington, D.C. is a ridiculous place full of ridiculous people. No wonder President Bush doesn't fit in. (End of need to put down random musings.)
Nothing unless it is not working as it should or being monitored properly. These pages may be of legal age but congress should hold them accountable to the extent they are capable or vulnerable. Having said that, I am guessing the IM programs and e-mail system has to be explained better to both pages and House members. They need to know without any doubt they are being monitored and their messages saved (if that is now available with IM) in case there is a future problem. We also need consequences for any page that does not report improper behavior or who pulls an improper stunt themselves.
IF the pages were simply pulling a prank maybe they did not know the seriousness of their stunt. If they did this on purpose, they should pay a price. If they did not report bad behavior, they were wrong. If they did not report either improper IM messages or e-mail, they were wrong. I'm saying both policy and management has to be there. Pages, as well as House members, have to be constantly reminded they will be held accountable for their actions and are responsible for whatever they do or don't do.
It may be there or it may need changed. Policy and procedures have to be in place and enforced. Whatever is done when they are back home is their problem unless it comes to the attention of the leadership and reflects upon the US House.
Look, I'm not excusing any of these guys. I think the emphasis has to be on better management by the leadership, that's all. I believe Speaker Hastert's explanations and I do not think he did anything wrong other than having tougher standards in place. I'm also realistic enough to know this whole thing might have not been preventable if the people involved were intent on causing the problem and issue. But, if that's the case, I hope they are charged and jailed for their actions if it harmed the US House or its members.
Too long an answer but I'm not sure how to shorten it.
We are currently winning in Iraq right now. Problem is thanks to the Junk Media and the Treason of the Democrat Party Leadership most Americans have no clue how well the mission is actually going.
It is incredibly odd how Democrats, via their mouthpieces in the Junk Media, demand a level of perfection in Military operations that NO Journalist or Politician could ever live up to in their own professional spheres. Odd how Americans, who live with a very high level of incompetent in their government, their media, their day to day lives are so surprised and upset to discover war does work on a perfectly flawless time table. They seem to think war sould work like their two hour Hollywood action movies told them it did. 2 Hours, bad guys dead, sympathy frag of supporting actor, hero gets girl and lives happily ever after. These absurd expectations explain how it is Americans get "war weary" so very very rapidly. It is one of the biggest Achilles heels of US Foreign Policy. Our foes count on us getting bored with it all and just going home. I guess we could call it the America's Policy Attention Deficit Disorder.
Counter Terrorism (or Counter Insurgency) is as much about politics as it is about war. Conventional Military often find them incredibly frustrating because they are usually a case of 3 steps forward, 2 steps back, pause, repeat. Conventional Military people think in terms of go there, kill them, wreck their stuff, make them stop pissing us off. Counter Insurgency does not work that way. Counter Insurgency works by making the local political structure strong enough to contain or beak the Insurgency. THAT is a slow painful process.
It is made a lot hard in Iraq by the hyper negative Media coverage and excessive nonsense spewed out by Domestic Politicians using the war because they think it will help them politically. I suspect that if we win Nov 7th, the Iraq mission is won. By 2009 the Iraqis political structure will be strong enough to stand on its own with minimal US support. Probably Iraq security forces stiffened with US SOF support teams.
Opps typo, in 1st line Police should be Policy
I look forward to your posting this every week...thanks so much. Have to LOL at it.
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