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Monday, January 3, 2011

The Sunday talk shows



I'm going start off by giving Fox News Sunday their kudos for having Michael Duffy of Time magazine as their guest panelist. He gave true balance to the panel that usually uses Juan Williams like they used Alan Colmes, a whipping boy. After the first round of questions and answers, Michael Duffy, stood out as being the most knowledgeable on the panel and unafraid to state his views. After he corrected, Bill Kristol and disagreed with the direction Chris Wallace wanted to go, Brit Hume and Bill Kristol became less partisan. I don't know how much prep goes into the Sunday talk shows but Michael Duffy came prepared. Prior to the panel discussion, Chris Wallace,interviewed a couple of Tea Party congressmen and new committee chairmen Darrell Issa and Fred Upton. I was surprised that Chris showed Mr. Upton’s stance on greenhouse emission standards on his website but then pointed out that he teamed up with a lobbyist to write an article for the Wall Street Journa,l that would make a climate change denier, smile from ear- to- ear, in agreement. Mr. Upton thinks that he can convince some democrats to vote with the republicans to repeal health care. He is delusional.

Meet the Press with David Gregory had conservative columnist David Brooks, republican senator Pat Toomey, liberal columnist E .J. Dionne of the Washington Post, British columnist Katty Kay, and a professor from Yale Law, Steven Carter as his guests. Except for senator Toomey, who just wanted to deliver a consistent message of his republican talking points, the round table discussion was civil and quite informative. They said that the president would try to stay above the fray to portray a picture of being the adult in the room. It was agreed that the president will only have about 10 months to compromise; then he has to hit the trail for a partisan run for the presidency.

Jack Trapper, of ABC news, subbed for Christiane Amanpour ,and did a fabulous job, as always. I don't know if the president's chief economic adviser Austan Goolsbee is always nervous but Mr. Trapper had him on the ropes yesterday, when he asked him to predict the unemployment numbers for 2011. Most political advisers can spin their way out of a tough question but Mr. Goolsbee was over matched. I was surprised to hear ABC News director, Amy Walter, warning the republicans not to go through with their efforts on repealing health care. It might be good advice because even Joe Scarborough said it was a waste time because the legislation would not pass the senate, nor would it garner enough votes to override a presidential veto. Joe Scarborough did not  leave it at that; he went onto compare the repeal of Health Care to the house passage of the Cap in-and Trade bill.

I had a lot of catching up to do because I haven't been keeping up with our local on line forum. I did find one popular blog that was that was used by our local right –wingers as a “where have you been since Kenneth left “venue, to let out all their frustration. Alton Easton (who was 0-12 on his 2010 predictions) wrote about the misuse of president Obama’s presidential power. I used Alton's blog as material for my first Victoria Advocate blog of 2011.

I did notice that abortion became the main topic of discussion for the past two or three days. A couple of local gals (I say that with the utmost respect) stood toe- to- toe with their opponents. Victoriabybirth and Rebecca were relentless in making their argument and in this blogger’s opinion, they won the debate.

To my pleasant surprise, I doubled my followers this weekend; yeah, I know it's only four, but they are credible posters, which counts for much more. I want to welcome Legion357, a poster that does his homework and  is a formidable opponent at timesSmile

11 comments:

Edith Ann said...

Oh, Mike! Where to start!

I watch the Sunday morning stuff, the three on network television. I can’t remember which one it was, but I liked the Jon Stewart montage of the newly elected republicans talking about ‘change’. That was good. They have terribly short memories!

Let me say, VictorianByBirth and Rebecca did excellent jobs of defending their positions, and I agree-they won. At the risk of sounding sexist—just as I can’t get a full grasp on some dude’s erectile dysfunction (whoa!), I cannot fully accept that some guy without a uterus, or anyone for that matter, can dictate how I use mine! I do not support abortion as birth control, but I also don’t support having some twelve year old rape victim forced to carry a baby to term to be adopted because abortion was not an option. But that just my opinion.

Yeah, Alton’s a trip, isn’t he? Second only to OldRustyBucket and Kenneth!

I think you will agree that all followers and posters are important. You just got lucky with the large economy sized ones from the get-go! And Legion, Kyle and Rebecca do their homework, much better than I do!

Mike said...

Lol..Edith Ann, don't try that sandbagging tactic with me; I would never tangle with you on local issues or education. :-).. I have noticed that some posters take pot shots at you but they never hang around for the whole debate.

I usually stay out of the abortion discussion because I believe it's a woman's issue and if the tables were turned; men would see to it that there would be an abortion clinic on every corner... There are exceptions, I remember having a civil discussion with maryann, where she would e-mail me to remind me of our common religion.;-).Not fair..:-(. We usually stuck to the politics of abortions like the Hyde amendment and embryonic stem cell research... She is one in a million and if you pick a fight with her, be prepared for a long day. Although she is not as feisty as she once was, she comes prepared and will dump tons of information ,to back her claim...

victorianbybirth said...

"I usually stay out of the abortion discussion because I believe it's a woman's issue and if the tables were turned; men would see to it that there would be an abortion clinic on every corner..." Lol Mike, that is so, so true! Those magical pills they have now that allow you to control womens cycles would have been invented long ago too!

To me, it is not a womans decision as much as it is a humane decision. Life is hard enough as it is, given a choice between abuse at the hands of those that are supposed to love & protect you & termination shortly after conception, I would choose the latter. That may be offensive to some, but I have witnessed first hand the damaged, broken lives of children that will never live a normal, healthy life. To me that is cruel & inhumane. Religious beliefs should have no bearing on the decision, the ability of the people involved to create a loving home should be the basis for bringing life into the world.

I was told about your blog by EA, I hope you don't mind me visiting. I was wondering what happened to you, glad to see you've found this place as I do enjoy your thoughts, regardless of whether I agree or not.

victorianbybirth said...

oops, I thought I could preview before it posted....lat me add that I don't always disagree. : )

Mike said...

victorianbybirth

Please drop by more often, and I am honored to have you as a follower.

I agree, abortion is a humane decision in I would bet my bottom dollar that more times than not, it is a solemn and well thought out decision by the mother and those close to her. I don't believe that many people view "abortions on demand" as a viable option..... I've been taken to task for being pro- choice, even though my religion is adamantly against it, but I think my God gave me a brain and expects me to use it. I have to admit that maryann soften my stance, and I have the utmost respect for the Pro- Choice movement. I think they overstep their bounds by calling people who don't fully agree with their position, pro- abortion. I was shunned by some members of my family and reprimanded by my priest for allowing the doctors to take my sister off her life support system. The Catholic religion is also against Euthanasia, the death penalty and wars.

Edith Ann said...

Mike--

I'm not a Catholic, and I agree with you about Mary Ann. I trust her completely ont he Catholic stuff, but we could never quite get in the same place regarding one of my favorite dispicable folks--Wm. Paul Tasin.

Besides the fact that Tasin absolutely, without reservation, spreads harmful misinformation about breast cancer, he does nothing to speak up for our young folks dying in wars, in gangs and through domestic violence. In order for him to have any credibility, he must cherish ALL life, not just unborn life.

Oh, he's going on the list...

Mike said...

Wm. Paul Tasin makes everyone's list but I was surprised that Jared took his listing so well.... Teflon Jared?

victorianbybirth said...

I am not so sure about the death penalty, I guess it varies from parish to parish.....I was taking the Catholic classes so I could be a Catholic in good standing & the Deacon leading our class said the Church doesn't take a stand one way or another, I guess that was his wish. : ) He was pretty cool, very open minded guy as was the Parish Priest. A few classes in, he had to quit for some reason & this new guy, much younger & much more judgemental took over....I lasted about 3 more classes & I quit attending. I regret my decision but it was my Grandmas job to repeatedly tell me I was going to Hell, not this guys. : )

I'm very sorry about your sister, that had to be an excrutiatingly hard decision, but one made with her best interest at heart. I work in the long term care industry & see many families struggle with end of life decisions, my heart always goes out to them.

Mike said...

You are right,Victorianbybirth,some churches are more orthodox than others. My fellow coworkers used to tease me about going to the protestant like, Our Lady of Victory... I jokingly responded by saying " I could set my watch from the opening prayer until communion, and it never exceeded 50 minutes. I only miss 15 minutes of the first quarter of a football game"..:-)

victorianbybirth said...

Lol...those are the ones I like.....so surprises, you can plan your day! I loved OLV, very cozy & more "traditional" feeling than Holy Family but HF had Father Rupert...he was by far the best Priest ever.

victorianbybirth said...

*no*