Stephanopoulos & Gingrich on drapes, race & Congressional leadership

I have a few clips from last Sunday's morning talk shows that are still worthy of mention, and the first one is from This Week.

There's a remarkable amount of b.s. in this minute-and-a-half video clip.

First, George Stephanopoulos trots out a phrase that's been hackneyed for nearly 20 years now (or maybe even longer), that Obama is "Measuring the drapes in the Oval Office..." Gimme a break. Stephanopoulos should know this line well - it's one that President George H.W. Bush used against then-Governor Bill Clinton in 1992 when Stephanopoulos was working on the Clinton campaign.

More recently, it was endlessly pimped by President Bush in before the '04 election, and even more extensively before the '06 election (see below).

Hmm - well, Republicans are many things, but certainly original isn't one of them.

Back to the video at top - I'm always pleased when networks bring in Newt Gingrich, because I never want to go too long without being reminded how much I truly despise the man. Notice how much red meat Gingrich is throwing to the far right in a very short time; I especially got a kick out of Gingrich's assertion that a President Obama will "restrict the free speech rights of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh," but notice how he gives no specifics.

So, on its face, you would think that Gingrich has some concrete proof about how Obama will suppress the free rights of Sean Goebbels and Rush Göring, but he doesn't. Know why? Because that's not what Obama wants to do; he wants to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine in some form, and to also enforce a law that's still on the books, the Sherman Antitrust Act. Those two things will undoubtedly affect right-wing hate radios hegemony over the airwaves, but it certainly won't suppress Hannity or Limbaugh's free speech rights. But, it's not a stretch to say that the GOP will spin it otherwise, especially if Obama wins the election.

Obama, if he's elected in 11 days, will have plenty on his plate, but I hope that at some point he does get around to addressing both of the above topics, because the citizens of this country will never truly "take our country back" until the corporate media is busted up for good. I know, I know - I shouldn't hold my breath, but it's what I firmly believe needs to happen. That, and keeping the Internet free from tiered services, which is what the greedy media companies are pining for. (Thankfully, with a Democratically controlled Congress and hopefully Obama in the White House, the 'Net will be safe for the time being.)

I can't believe that I'm agreeing with Gingrich on anything, but I do agree with him on one point - Congress will likely be Democratically controlled, with large majorities in each house, and both houses are in desperate need for real leadership. And that means kicking Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid out of their leadership positions. Both have been miserable failures, and following the election, I will write Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D-PA), both of my Democratic legislators, to demand just that - leadership with a spine that is willing do many of the things that need to be done to get this country back in shape.

Of course, in the video above, Gingrich also railed about taxes, which comes as no surprise. But, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that taxes must be raised to combat the ballooning deficit, which is spiraling out of control. The question is by how much and who will pay more. Taxes are going to have to go up, and spending is going to have to come down in some areas - reducing the deficit must be a two-pronged approach.

Stephanopoulos also brought up "race" at the end of the clip. *Yawn* I think the predictable people will vote against Obama for this reason, but overall, I predict it won't have much of an impact. The only "race" that matters is the presidential one, and it's trending our way. But, I'm very, very wary for many reasons, so of which I will get to in successive posts this weekend.

Better late than never: Dean blasts media

When addressing the Democratic National Committee this past weekend, DNC Chairman Howard Dean took some well placed jabs at the media, and with good reason. The media coverage of the primaries have been, to be kind, disgraceful, mostly toward Clinton and Obama. And Dean is more than familiar with what negative coverage looks like (see video below).

Anyway, I digress. What an unpleasant walk down memory lane. (You're welcome! ;) His I Have a Scream speech was replayed, literally, hundreds and hundreds of times in the days that followed.

But, in the video at the top, Dean took some pretty nasty swipes at the media for its coverage, but my big question is, where were these comments 3-4 months ago? I'm pleased that at long last, Dean is blasting away at the media, but talk about being too late. Most of comments in the video (at top) qualify as yelling at a train long after it has left the station.

Dean appeared on This Week over the weekend as well, and his sage words are noted, but seriously, again, too little too late.

Dean shouldn't be completely castigated for all that he's done at the chair of the DNC, however. His 50-state strategy could be setting up the party for success for a long time to come. While I'm not slavishly devoted to the Democratic Party (or Howard Dean, for that matter), I certainly identify with it better than any of the other choices available to me right now in this country.

Pardon the pun, but this spring's primary races, when this is all said and done, will look like a blip compared to what this fall's campaign will look like. And I certainly hope that NO ONE buys into McCain's b.s. about running a "totally clean campaign" in the fall, because it ain't gonna happen. (His wife Cindy dutifully parrots this talking point at every available opportunity, as well.)

In fact, just days after publicly making that proclamation, McCain appeared on The Daily Show, and when asked about Hamas wanting to see Obama win, he repeated the claim that the terrorist organization "...wants to see Obama win. It's a fact. They don't want to see me win, that's for sure." Wow - squeaky clean, senator.

My point in all of this is that Dean had better not sit on his hands and keep his mouth closed when the attacks undoubtedly begin, and they will begin soon. (How about tomorrow - when Obama is all but certain to be the nominee?)

Make no mistake about it, many, if not most of the attacks won't come from McCain, but from groups that are backing his candidacy. One of the more notorious groups, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (or whatever they are calling themselves these days), recently stated that they intend to do the same sort of thing to Barack Obama.

Obama and Dean had better be ready, and I don't mean to just fight defensively.

Donaldson & Will spar on global warming

This one is from last weekend, but still worth a look - it's conservative columnist George F. Will, a noted Al Gore basher and global warming denier, taking the opportunity to highlight both, ahem, attributes during an appearance on This Week with George Stephanopoulos last weekend.

Kudos to Sam Donaldson for taking Will to task for his head-in-the-sand attitude about global warming. As Donaldson sagely grouses to Will, "If you and Senator Inhofe want to continue to have your heads in the sand, I'm going to continue to call you out on it. But, I have grandchildren. ..."

Good for you, Sam. Just because there are people who believe that global warming is a myth/hoax doesn't make it no so. And the deniers who part company with the bountiful scientific evidence that humans are making the Earth warmer deserve our scorn, and diminished credibility.

What really irks me about selfish people who can only look 20 years into the future with the attitude of, "It won't affect me, so who cares?" is that there are so many other benefits of reducing the burning of fossil fuels, even in the minute chance that global warming turns out not to be true. Increased pollution has many other adverse effects - poor air quality kills hundreds of thousands of people around the world each and every year.

Another thing that really gets on my nerves - the idea that drastically cutting our carbon emissions will harm our economy. When I hear people say this, I ask myself if we should hold a funeral for American ingenuity. Can you possibly imagine the global dominance America could enjoy if we took the lead in hydrogen, electric and hydrogen cars; solar, wind and wave power; and alternative fuels. What we really need is leadership in these areas, but if it doesn't come from a fossil, the Bush administration has shown scant interest.

Whether you like Gore or you hate him, the man is right - we really do need an "Apollo-type program to combat this problem." Gore has also often said that global warming "is not a political issue, it's a moral issue." That's right, it should be. But, unfortunately, some people will never be able to get past the fact that he's a Democrat who ran for (and won) the presidency.