Thought Puh-leeze

Notes on the Shows: Kristol calls Dems "irresponsible."

It was a fairly good week for progressive politics as 5 of 8 main guests represented the majority view. Once again, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel was given a positive nod, being that he is opposed to increasing troops in Iraq. He acts as a counter-balance to Joe Lieberman, a Democrat who sides with the administration almost all the time.

Among the more insipid and/or inspired quotes of the day, John McCain had a number of solid right-wing one-liners, such as "I would have liked to have seen more [troops sent to Iraq]"; "I guarantee the catastrophic results of failure"; "This [the proposed Senate non-binding] resolution is a vote of no confidence in the troops we're sending"; and, "It's [Iraq conflict] going to be long and hard and difficult..." Sweet. We can only hope that McCain emerges as the Republican candidate for president in '08.

Newt Gingrich actually made some sense on FOX, saying, "The inter-agency process is broken. It's pathetic how bad our non military bureaucracy is." He added, "We're in a long-term war. Iraq is a campaign." Another potential presidential candidate speaks out. Recall that Newt was pushing the World War III rhetoric this past summer. OH BOY!

Newt could not contain his abject hatred for Democrats when he commented on Nancy Pelosi's agenda, "typically democratic in that they had to have a tax increase as part of the first 100 hours." I don't know what Newt saw, but I certainly didn't see the Dems pass any tax increases. It's good to get people like Gingrich on the record because at best he's misrepresenting, at worst, he's lying.

Biden and Levin were given 12 minutes between them. Gingrich was on for 9 minutes alone. FOX was fair and balanced, as always.

Ted Kennedy on Meet the Press, offered, "The burden is on the president to prove that the surge will work." Plus, "If we have a president who is going to defy the American people, the military and the Congress, we have a responsibility to end the funding for the war."

Kennedy continued with this beauty: He [Bush] ought to come to Congress. The burden is on him. We are offering an alternative policy. They don't have an alternative policy. We have an alternative that will supply some training and diplomacy which they haven't tried.

Bill Kristol once again was on top of his game: "It's so irresponsible that they [Democrats] can't just be quiet for six or nine months." Geez, Bill, why not just come out and say what you mean?

January 21 Sunday Talk Shows Scorecard

Week 11

Show	Guests	Score	WeeKTotal	Cum. Total*	Cum. %**
Meet the Press (NBC)	Senators John McCain (R), Edward Kennedy (D)	1	1-2	9-29	31.03
Fox News Sunday (FOX)	Senators Joe Biden (D), Carl Levin (D); Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich (R)	2	2-3	13-30	43.33
This Week (ABC)	New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D), Kansas Senator Sam Brownback (R)	1	1-2	16-31	51.61
Face the Nation (CBS)	Senator Chuck Hagel (R)	1	1-1	9-21	42.86
Total for week, all shows (11 weeks)	all guests	5	5-8	47-111	42.34

*Total of progressive/Democrat guests to total # of guests.
**Total percentage of shows beginning with Sunday, November 12.
Chart updated weekly each Sunday.

How well are the Sunday News Talk shows presenting the progressive/Democratic point-of-view?

We look at the guests each show offers and award them a point for every one that is either an elected Democrat or shares the values of the progressive left and a zero for every one that does not. Generally, Democratic party guests get a 1; Republicans and all others, a zero.

Labels: Bill Kristol, Iraq, John McCain