5.31.09: Justice Needs Cataracts Surgery

The controversy surrounding the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor is due to a speech she made in 2001, which contained a statement that could be interpreted that a Latina woman, as a judge, could make a more informed decision than a white male. The second 'worrisome' statement is that she will use the perspective of her race and heritage in making decisions. We have screen-captured the statement from today's program to ensure accuracy.






The concern amongst Republicans is that this statement suggests that Judge Sotomayor will not be an impartial justice, once again, because of her heritage and race. First, in this excerpt, there seems to be a context missing when Ms. Sotomayor refers to 'that life.' To whose life is she referring? This is fair game for questioning and if a satisfactory answer isn't given, then there can be legitimate concern. justice should be blind - fair and impartial. As far as using her heritage, in other words her background, in decision-making it would suggest that she is inclined to activism instead of unbiased interpretation.

However, let's look at this through a different lens. If a justice were presiding over a case that involved malpractice and a cancer patient, and had previously had cancer or had a family member with the disease then wouldn't experience come into play in the decision making process? Regardless of the ruling, if the justice has had a personal experience with cancer, wouldn't that justice want to know as much as possible to make the correct decision? Experience is affecting the decision-making process.

Or simply, maybe Ms. Sotomayor gave the speech to a predominantly Latino crowd, and feeling particularly proud with others in the room voicing their approve, she played it up a bit. Who knows?

But racist? Consider the source of these most vocal attacks - Rush Limbaugh. In a defensive and wounded position, an animal can be at its most dangerous. From this stance, Mr. Limbaugh is achieving his goal - to focus and get more of the attention on him. That's it. Not to mention, but it must be, that Mr. Limbaugh makes many veiled racist statements daily on his program so this sort of hypocrisy can not even be cut with a knife.

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), ranking Republican on the Judicial Committee and its chair, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) were on the today's Meet The Press. What is mystifying to this column and I'm sure many others, is why can't an elected official from The Republican Party, a leader, step up and echo Mr. Sessions' measured statements of today and his call to stop labeling Ms. Sotomayor as a racist. More than anything, the absence of an elected Republican leader is what is holding the party back. Ideologues such as Mr. Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich, have insufficient experience to truly affect positive change. The lens, from which they view the world, is too narrow and limits one's perspective. Republicans are becoming fond of saying that justice should be blind, and a justice to just call balls and strikes, but that's not how it is in the real world, the changing human condition demands that the law be given perspective. Relentless dogma is what we should strive to avoid. Instead, Justices should keep their eyes wide open to the changing reality to apply the law most accurately.

By the way, Ms. Sotomayor will be confirmed as a United States Supreme Court Justice. Barring some sort of Larry Flynt type evidence, she will be confirmed.

Also, as a side note, doesn't Senator Sessions look an awful lot like Defense Secretary Robert Gates? Having more fun with pictures this week, see below and decide for yourself.

5.17.09: The Wrong Debate

For us wonks at the MTP Opinion, the anticipation for the program is only growing at the moment with all the talk during the week of the rating challenges, which Meet The Press has dominated forever... Now, it's a toss up so we were anxious to see how David Gregory would respond. Today's first two guests, the respective chairmen of our two major political parties, Tim Kaine (D) and Michael Steele (R) discussed the positions from the party perspective and how they were at odds with individuals in each party.

It's amazing how this country can't seem to get past things without being able to maintain a perspective on history. What that means is that we collectively keep going back to the same old debates that, frankly, cripple progress in this country, and today's first topic has wrongly come to be one of the defining pillars in each of the party's platforms - abortion, referring to Mr. Obama speaking at the Catholic university Notre Dame today.

Here's why we have to move on from this. First, the President actually has lead on this debate in discussing ways of preventing unwanted pregnancy. That should be the real focus instead of weather it should be illegal or not, and it shouldn't be. Most people would say that they would hope that the circumstances don't drive a woman to an abortion - the sympathy. However, it is a woman's individual right... signed into law. It should be taken out of the political debate. Take the two chairmen. Tim Kaine, the Democrat, is pro-life. And Michael Steele, though he says he's pro-life as well, he has made some statements that contradicted that position. Given this division, when the subject of abortion is brought up, the first thing that should be talked about is the prevention of unwanted pregnancy and what can be done to reduce it. It's the harder road to go down and that's why the debate remains 'legal or illegal.' It's the easier road and you crash either way.

And speaking of crash, this column, on many occasions, has cited Nancy Pelosi as the major train wreck of the Democratic Party leadership. Part of being a good politician is knowing what questions are going to be coming at you and having an answer prepared before you're hit with it. Ms. Pelosi needs to work on this. 'Dazed and confused is not good way for the speaker of the house to look,' Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal) aptly stated on today's panel. Ron Brownstein from the National Jounal postulated that arguments made of the past are used to shape the future.' If this is the case for Ms. Pelosi then it is an argument that is lost because she unnecessarily escalated the argument as Mr. Brownstein also observed.

If she was not told about waterboarding, just say so without making accusations. As soon as she did that, Republicans pounced and effectively changed to focus of the debate. Michael Steele's answer on today's program with regard to the subject is a clear illustration of the conservatives' cavalier attitude to one of the platforms of this nation's moral fiber, which is that we, The United States, does not torture. First, his focus, he admits, is not weather we should torture or not, but what did Speaker Pelosi know and when she knew it. 'She stepped in in big time,' he said. Great for 'gotcha' politics and nothing else.

But Mr. Steele also said that we used techniques that we're appropriate at the time. What does that mean exactly? This is where Mr. Gregory as moderator needs to address that, but this column gets the feeling that unfortunately, where Mr. Russert listened, Mr. Gregory simply waits to talk. So 'appropriate at the time,' but according to whom? A lawyer instructed by the Bush Administration to craft a memo? And when Mr. Gregory asked Mr. Steele what his personal view is to torture, he didn't answer and said his personal opinion did not matter. Rarely does this column use such verbiage but Michael Steele is a bullshitter; he rarely gives a straight answer and given he takes that tack too much he instills no confidence or trustworthiness. That's the case for any political animal that does that. Hypothetically, if he 'personally' disagrees with torture, but tows the party line that it is all right in some circumstances, doesn't that speak negatively of his integrity?

And one last thing on this for today. Mr. Steele, when asked about a truth commission, said that we should put it on the table. This would be another dog and pony show that would result in nothing. Instead of a commission, there should be an investigation and until the latter word gets swapped out for the former, we'll never know what happened.

OK, one more thing... speaking of not knowing what happened, an extension of the whole torture issue is the debate on whether or not the additional pictures of military misconduct from the Abu Ghraib prison. One today's program (part of the panel), Richard Haass, Council on Foreign Relations and author of War of Necessity, War of Choice felt that President Obama made the correct decision in not releasing the photos. Mr. Obama's primary reason was that it would further endanger the American military personnel. This angered the left and those whose goals is to use such things to press for Bush Administration indictments. However, in this instance we do know what happened and we have already seen many pictures and unless they show something further that we don't know, then it's just sensationalism, and this column commends the decision not to release them because even the whiff of sensationalism is not anything this administration needs.

Switching topics, the ever popular 'State/Fate of the Republican Party' came up again, but we'll be a bit forgiving here because this is certainly a topic that has to be addressed when you have the chairman of the party on the program. We'll start with a flurry of quotes and phrases from today's program...

'I want both Colin Powell and Rush Limbaugh,' Michael Steele.

'I didn't know Colin Powell was still in the party,' Former VP Dick Cheney via videotape from Face The Nation.

'Great Parties Evolve, and this one is still rocking from the hits it took,' Peggy Noonan.

'Cycle of contraction,' Ron Brownstein.

'Closer to a purer base,' Jon Meacham, Newsweek.

'What about Charlie Crist, Republican Governor of Floriday, campaigning with Mr. Obama on the stimulus?' David Gregory.

'Scary,' Mr. Steele's comment with regard to Democratic Party consolidation of power.

It is true that the Republican party is becoming purer to its base, hence they are contracting. With the population demography changing in the country, how could it not when a purer base means solidifying identification with big business and the Christian right? It seems as though the Republican Party will look the other way for Mr. Crist because of his popularity in a state that is a perpetual election battleground, but not with Arlen Spector, a 'traitor,' according to all Republicans. However, Mr. Brownstein did point out that Mr. Spector did vote with Republicans two-thirds of the time. Yes, Senator Spector's move was for self preservation, that is to be expected - he's a politician. But why this feeling on his part that his survival was in jeopardy? A less inclusive party perhaps could be the reason.

Michael Steele wants both - conservative and those a bit more moderate - but other forces in the party are dictating that you have to choose. This speaks to a philosophical problem in the Republican party, alluded to above in this column. The Republican party wants all its individual members to be on the same point on every page. Whether it be torture or abortion or taxes, it must be lock-step, but the world doesn't work like that and nuance is required in the face of complexity. This philosophy is unrealistic.

And what's really scary is that Mr. Steele's goal, as chair, is for Republican Party dominance and opines a sense of loathing at the possibility of Democratic Party dominance, but expresses this with seemingly no regard or recollection of recent history, namely the past eight years of Republican control and the disastrous outcomes due to their policies.

5.14.09: From Todays Huffington Post

David Gregory's "Meet The Press" Ratings Hit New Low — The Sunday Morning Horse Race Is On


If the Sunday morning TV throne is empty, then the race for the crown is on.

NBC's "Meet the Press" suffered its lowest ratings since David Gregory became moderator last week, dipping below the 3 million viewer mark for the first time since August 19, 2007*.

"Meet" averaged 2.97 million total viewers for the May 10 broadcast, which featured Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, Steve Coll and Andrea Mitchell.

Meanwhile, CBS' "Face the Nation," which featured an interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney, averaged 2.74 million total viewers, and ABC's "This Week," which featured interviews with National Security Adviser Jim Jones and Senator John McCain, averaged 2.62 million total viewers.

Compared to this same week last year, "Meet the Press" is down 28% in total viewers, while "Face the Nation" is up 17% and "This Week" is up 4%. And compared to the May 3 show, "Face the Nation" has slashed its viewing gap with "Meet" by 69% (230,000 viewers compared to 740,000 viewers), while "This Week" has cut its viewing gap with "Meet" by 38% (350,000 viewers compared to 560,000 viewers)

In the Adults 25-54 demographic, all three shows were down compared to the same week last year, with "Meet the Press" averaging 1 million viewers (-35%), "This Week" averaging 800,000 viewers (-16%), and "Face the Nation" averaging 760,000 viewers (-6%).

Last month, Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace (who averaged 1.32 million total viewers last week) told the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz that "the throne is empty" (in regards to Tim Russert's successor as the Sunday morning TV king). The LA Times that same day focused on Stephanopoulos as the main threat to NBC's ratings dominance. Last week, the LA Times wrote that "Meet the Press" may soon lose the top spot in the Sunday morning ratings.

*"Meet the Press" did average 2.17 million total viewers on June 8, 2008, but it was only at 86% coverage then and thus is not a fair comparison.

5.10.09: Talk The Game

With Pakistani officials claiming they've killed 200 Taliban militants as this morning's Meet The Press was airing, it's safe to say that the meetings President Obama had with Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai were productive at the least. The Obama Administration performed damage control for the Afghans and offered incentives for damage against the Taliban for the Pakistanis. The respective heads of state said agreed when agreements were needed and declared when declarations were called for. Once again, this column's praise goes to MTP Executive Producer, Betsy Fischer, for securing exclusive interviews with the two middle east heads of state. Despite that, the Program of Record faces a ratings challenge and it is directly tied to the moderator David Gregory [see appendix article]. The two respective pre-recorded interviews give an indication as to the reason's why his reception by the public is muddled.

Before we get to that, one of the analyst on the program today - NBC's Andrea Mitchell - summed it up best. "Afghanistan and Pakistan don't realize how weak their governments are." That's what you have to continually keep in mind when reviewing what they said. The New Yorker's Steve Coll (today's other guest journalist) buttressed that observing that the two leaders are very good analysts of the crises in their respective countries, but have no strategy as to how they will combat extremist forces and stabilize democratic government control, especially in Pakistan. These two leaders talked a game but we can't say it was good or bad, because they were both talking the wrong one. They should be talking proactively (strategy) and not passively (analyzing after the fact).

When Mr. Gregory asked the Pakistani President about a strategy to combat the Taliban he explained that he is lobbying Washington, trying to bolster support for the spread Democracy in the country. That's not reassuring in the slightest and what we have observed over the week and again on today's program is that when President Zardari says, for example, 'the nuclear arsenal is very secure,' our reason for concern doesn't drop below the red level. He was surprising forthright about the fact that there is a war in Pakistan with the Taliban, citing 135K troops in the mountains, and you could see the conflict over the weekend coming over the pass. Well, there's your strategy - shot them. However, the President then explained that there are military decisions outside of the parliament.

[At this point, here is an example of how Mr. Gregory 'turns people off' because his questions are asked in an effort to make a headline more often than say to explore the topic deeper and get a better understanding for all of us. It's a quality that subconsciously doesn't instill confidence, conversely illustrating petulance, hence the trust between moderator and audience brakes down. ]

Mr. Gregory asked if the military controlled the country since they control the nuclear weapons. It's a frivolous question in fact. The head politician in any country is never going to admit that anyone else except him or herself is in charge of the country. Also, if asked if your country is on the verge of collapse, the answer is also 'no' obviously but this is more nuanced. If it is an absolute emphatic 'NO,' like the one President Zardari gave today, that means trouble. A more reasoned 'no' suggests fragility, but extreme effort to make that disaster come to fruition... if you get our meaning. One of the counterpoints to this something that both men relied on today when faced with a tougher question - the excuse that it is not a decision the president makes, it a parliamentary one is a sure sign of an ultimately weak leader. He disagrees with his parliament with regard to negotiating with the Taliban, but the parliament approved it so they did and now they are into a military phase - no one direction forward.

President Karzai of Afghanistan doesn't have many strategies either to improve his country, but when he comes to Washington, he inevitably collects about 10 kilos in apologies from the U.S. Government. This time because the U.S. Military conducted airstrikes that killed close to 100 civilians. Not our first time, not our last either. With that said and with the elephant of charity in the room, President Karzai can only cite small isolated successes (roads in Kabul) but offers little when it comes to macro issues such as 60% of Afghanistan's GDP is poppy cultivation and exportation. What the United States could do to stem the production of 90% of the world's heroin is set up a governmental contract to buy the poppies from Afghanistan. Most, if not all, of the processed poppy the U.S. buys for pharmaceuticals is grown in Turkey. Give some of those contracts to the Afghans because It's easier to work an alternative trade deal with Turkey to supplement the lost revenue. Why shouldn't Mr. Karzai lobby for that?

And his true influence over the direction of his parliament and hence his country is the issue of the law recently passed in Afghanistan that permitted men to rape their wives. Mr. Karzai signed this into law and then had some international explaining to do. When Mr. Gregory asked how he was correcting the law, the President deferred to the fact that it is a parliamentary decision and that he consulted with various officials concluding that there are some elements of the law that need to be examined. Here is another point where Mr. Gregory went for the reiteration of an answer instead of probing deeper. Who specifically did Mr. Karzai consult with... his Minister of Health? Who? What specific aspects need to be amended? Specifics of what he disagreed with that he didn't see before when he signed it into law. Instead Mr. Gregory throws out a declarative summation - so rape is against the law in Afghanistan. "Absolutely, like hell!" Mr. Karzai belted.

He got the sound bite.

4.26.09: All Roads Lead Back To Jerusalem

Among all the various topics discussed on today's program with all four significant guests, the recurring topic - the one that has dominated the news cycle all week - was torture, which has reached a pinnacle moment these days. One of those technological advances (waterboarding) dates back to the Crusades and the Battles for Jerusalem. The sadder fact in the aftermath of torture is that people are calling for, defining, and conducting debates on this. The phrase 'torture debate' in the context of how the public is discussing it almost seems oxymoronic. There should be no debate and it takes some kind of gall in an individual to use the euphemism 'enhance interrogation technique' and frame an argument around that fully knowing that one is referring to torture.

Whatever you want to call it, Robert Gibbs, The White House Press Secretary, duly noted today that on the first full day in office for the Obama Administration, the President signed an executive order banning 'enhance interrogation techniques.' Questions such as 'Should we look back and investigate?' or simply 'Does America torture?' were unfortunately met with nuanced answers.
Jordan's King Abdullah II's (on today's program, but interviewed on Friday) answered were measured and carefully worded (the benefits of a classical education). When asked the latter question from above, he said that it appears the U.S. has used illegal ways of interrogating. He did categorically deny that Jordan took part in the back end of the United States' rendition program. However, when asked about whether or not torture works he said he was not an expert but that it was 'such a grey area for a country at war.' You could just sense from the King's body language that there were some skeletons there in Jordan. They have a representative government but you don't uphold a monarchy for 60 years without exercising some control.

[Note: The support that the United States receives from Jordan's King Abdullah II should be significantly noted. This respected leader in the Middle East walks a thin compromised line between other countries' cooperation in the region and his relationship with America. He, and not the Israelis, is the key to our success in the region.]

The King also reminded us of this, sounding like a broken record, when asked various questions by Mr. Gregory about resolving violence in the Middle East - All roads lead back to Jerusalem. The endless cause celebrae - Palenstinians vs. Israelis. The plethora of tensions in the region would be significantly alleviated by resolving Jerusalem and a two-state solution he contended. It can only be accomplished with significant involvement of the United States, which is a must to provide a strong arm of compromise with Israel. If the United States can facilitate and bring this about, the 'torture debate' would be left for the archeologists.

However, in the most succinct terms, the United States, like the invasion and occupation of Iraq, should not have instituted the policy of torture in the first place.

So what about investigating the past? Politically tricks to be sure, and Mr. Obama seems to be making all the right dance steps at the moment. Mr. Gibbs explained that the Administration is not initiating an investigation of Bush Administration lawyers and that he was not playing to his base on the left. In all fairness, of course Obama officials knew the release of the 'torture memos' would provoke a major public discussion. Mr. Gibbs deferred to the Justice Department and the Congress for such formal initiatives, but did unequivocally state that what ever you call it, it has made us less safe.

Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Godwin, later in the program, that the President should move forward or risk losing the dialogue with the public. She continued that today we're talking about torture instead of his great speech on tax analysis and the new plan, but since the memos are on the table they can not be ignored.

The one-time Pulitzer Prize winner was thankfully straightened out by another newly-awarded Pulitzer winner sitting to her left, Jon Meacham of Newsweek who respectfully disagreed and said that we should look back in a responsible way analyzing all the aspects and programs employed during the last 7 years including the interrogation techniques to learn from history. 'Great war Presidents have always committed great sins,' he stated.

"How could I go against looking back at history?" Ms. Godwin pleaded as she grabbed his arm. The politics of looking back...

4.12.09: Shiver Me Steel Hulls

Outside of the intellectual property definitional context, The New Oxford Shorter Dictionary defines a pirate as 'a person who robs and plunders on or from the sea; gen. a plunderer, a despoiler, a bandit.

Today Meet The Press started with an update from NBC News Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski and the chief executive officer of the U.S. Naval Institute, Major General Tom Wilkerson in regard to the fate of Captain Richard Phillips who is at this moment being held prison by Somali Pirates. There's been a daring escape attempt, gun fire, blockades, investigation, debriefings, and now stalemate. Bottom line is that we want our man back, but the conversation only touched on the larger issue of Somalia as a failed state, and more importantly neglected to discuss this is much larger terms, the fact that this is a problem the global community is not addressing as a collective. We realize that corporations who own the ships are being attacked and not countries per se; however, these bandits don't discriminate internationally and after 66 ships and $88 million dollars, where does it stop? Well, these Somali pirates were stopped today by the U.S. Navy who have rescued Capt. Philips. Way to step it up boys and get the job done, restoring a little faith in the training, patience, and skill of our military personnel. If only our civilian leaders would show the same skills when it comes to hostile encounters. Yet they remain impotent.

And the world has taken notice, most obviously Iran who are in no way giving up their goal of dominating the middle-east and by extension the region's trajectory. They want nuclear capability and they're going to get it. The United States doesn't have the stomach for bombing Iran. Besides, we make the distinction between Iran's population and the disproportionate who rule it. Israel, on the other hand, does not make the distinction between such despoilers and it gives the U.S. the shivers. Again, our impotency to do anything is on display.

We engage Iran with the great anvil of Iraq around our neck (now the most expensive war endeavor since WWII) leaving us without any leverage at all - not to mention that Iraq limits our agility to react to our crises - diplomatically or militarily. As former Washington Post reporter, Robin Wright said, words spoken with sincerity will not necessary changes things. And though there has been a slightly more positive vibe from both sides in the area of engagement, agendas and determination solidified during the Bush Administration's time in office on both sides are too far along for any change of course.

That can also be applied to engaging the Taliban as well, which has also been mentioned. It is helpful to be able to look into the eye of your enemy during a fight, but with any time-tested enemy, you won't be able to see its soul no matter what President Bush once said. They remain the enemy - it's a matter of pragmatism. But as Byron York, Washington Examiner, pointed out, this new approach and the apologist stance taken recently in Europe grated on Republicans like nobody's business, and he felt that it was unnecessary because President Obama could have signaled that without issuing such perceived verbal concessions. He and the Republicans have a point, but they're only half right. The Bush Administration was arrogant because they left an important piece of the puzzle on the table - diplomacy - they never touched it. They were looked at as plunder's of Iraq's oil, using the war on terror as a pretext. However, where they are correct, unfortunately they probably don't realize, is that concessions for terrorists do encourage much more emboldened attacks and should not be granted. The next thing you know, you have a whole new recruitment class of pirates with a bigger boat and more AK47s setting out for the deep water of the Indian Ocean.


Postscript: We'd like to wish everyone a Happy and Safe Easter.

4.5.09: Just Because He's President...

This week all the good and bad events of the week mingled at a global cocktail party, so crowded that they could not stay out of each others way despite trying to occupy opposite sides of the room. The G-20 and the Obama European Trip got a drink thrown in its face by news of another 650,000 plus jobs being lost here at home and a North Korean missile launch.

If you can walk away from any networking scenario having taken a couple names and numbers, you can call it a worthy time even if you don't close any deals. That's how this column would sum up Mr. Obama's European trip. He instilled confidence in the world that the U.S. is, frankly, going to act more level headed from here on out - listen more and attempt to see things from others respective perspectives. Did he get what he wanted? Well, that depends on who you ask. Some would say not at all because we didn't get a deeper commitment from our allies with regard to Afghanistan, nor did we get European governments to commit to more stimulus for the global economy. On the other hand, some would say that considering it was his first trip, it was a great success as he did, in fact, restore some faith in America's ability to lead the world. You can guess which partisans too which stances...

The world felt safe that President Obama would crash the car on the way home. And did we mention that he owns the keys to his own car corporation? Today's first guest, usual kudos to Betsy Fischer (executive producer), Fritz Henderson, the new installed CEO of General Motors, on the program this Sunday in the wake of this friend and mentor, Rick Wagoner, being ousted, essentially by Mr. Obama. With a few exceptions, Mr. Henderson's answers offered no real substance, but his posture did tell the story. He's been house-broken for certain, speaking in a conciliatory tone, accepting of every assertion Mr. Greogory made with regard to the Government taking over. For example, on the issue of bankruptcy, Mr. Henderson conceded that if it was needed, it would be done. When asked about specific mistakes that GM has made over the years, he didn't give any specifics. When questioned about a perceived double standard for the auto industry versus the financial sector, he prudently said that he wasn't going to focus on others, just how to make GM better. (That's good Fritz, here's another Scooby Snack...)

Ok, we kid but when he was asked why his salary wouldn't be the same as his predecessor's, $1, he flatly stated that he makes $1.3 Million. This column's immediate reaction was probably the same as everyone else's who was watching - that's a reasonable amount for the CEO of GM. And lastly, what we found very heartening is that when asked if he people to receive special incentives to buy GM, he said no. He wants GM to compete on a level playing field where it forces him and the company he leads to produce cars that consumers really want - respond to their preferences. Whether he knows it or not, Mr. Henderson instilled the spirit of what it is to be American into GM with that statement. But just because he's the chief and he said, it doesn't necessarily make it so.

This leads us to the panel discussion with Fmr. speechwriter to Pres. Bush, Michael Gerson; CNBC's John Harwood; BBC's Katty Kay; author Joshua Cooper Ramo; and Fmr. Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor, Dr. Bill Rodgers. And we'll start with a statement from Mr. Obama - paraphrasing - just because Barack Hussein Obama was elected President, that alone doesn't make us safe [from Al Qaeda]. However, just because of the fact that Mr. Obama is President, our minimal optimism that things will turn around is buoyed.

All cute metaphors aside, Mr. Harwood made a key point, and that is with regard to the firing of Rick Wagoner - it's the riskiest decision that President Obama has made to date. The recession, Iraq, and Afghanistan (at least not yet) are not his, but GM and the auto industry are now sitting up on cinder blocks in his backyard.

Just because he's President did get the attention of other world leaders and that can not be underestimated because as all the attention draws toward economic issues, North Korea launches a missile bellyaching for attention and newly installed Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu is making subtle preemptive statement with regard to Iran. Mr. Obama is going to have to capitalize on the confidence he instilled in the other world leaders to help him with a globally levelheaded approach to international crises. However, just because he's president, doesn't make us safe from Al Qaeda, again he said it, and by extension, just because his administration does use the phrase 'war on terror,' there are still acute and opaque wars going on. This column tries to keep its cynicism measured, but we have to agree with Mr. Gerson. [Aside: Mr. Gerson is a former speechwriter for President Bush. Despite this, the column found his views on today's program quite practical versus simply idealogical, which more accurately reflected the posture of the man he worked for. He actually made the point today that if it is necessary for the government to run some of these companies, they should. (Wow!)] The phrase,War on Terror has been replace with the O.C.O., Overseas Contingency Operation. To Mr. Gerson it sounded as though we 'looking for luggage' or something. We totally agree - only a wonky Democrat could come up with a stupid label like that.

John Harwood of CNBC summarized that maybe Mr. Obama didn't score this week, but he is moving the ball down the field and he's not turning it over. However, in this game, the red zone doesn't start on the other team's 20 yard line, it starts on Mr. Obama's 1 yard line and it's first and goal with 99 to go. And if by chance he does fall down and fumble the ball, the world may still think that everything is all right. Because why? Because he's President.

3.29.09: Two Voices

It is guests and intentions as shown on today's Meet The Press that make the program what it is - the news program of record. Today's format brings out the best in the guests and the moderator. At this moment, interviewing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is more important than speaking with The President, and that's who Executive Producer, Betsy Fischer, put on today. The other singular voice for the entire second half of the show come from Senator John McCain (R-AZ).

A major critique of Mr. Geithner is that he doesn't instill confidence when he speaks publicly. The hammer came down so hard at one point, that some are still calling for his head. This column doesn't feel that this kind of articulation is a high priority on the prerequisite list for the job. Just look at Henry Paulson; he sounded like he knew what he was doing. The classic con man, schemes us into doling out a ton of dough and then splits the scene leaving the rest to hold the bag and wonder, 'what just happened?' Most people didn't even know his name until about a month and a half before he was to leave the post.

Mr. Geithner's statements are quite measured; he doesn't use many extraneous words; his head dips below his shoulders when making a difficult point. However, despite the opinions of Paul Krugman and others, he does have conviction in what he's doing as a real solution. Good or bad, Mr. Geithner doesn't strike as a cynic, completely cognizant of the situation. He sometimes looks as though he's at the breaking point of being overwhelmed, but that can be good as it does not afford him the posture in which he can lie to the public. However, Mr. Gregory pointed out a very valid and big concern that many of the positions in the Treasury have yet to be filled. This is troubling because multiple voices and hands are needed for our financial problems, a consolidation of thinking leads to narrow ideology, which is detrimental. You can sight the Bush Administration's approach to the War on Terror as the operational example of where such ideology leads to and the end results. By filling the positions, the benefits are instantly a 'two-for.' You get more people to help and you calm others that there are other voices in the room. Lastly, it's a sad commentary that the Administration feels they can't find enough top-tier people to fill the posts who haven't sufficiently remained untainted by the financial industry.

Lastly, the Secretary stated today that he sees the economy and financial industry fundamentally changing, and it's going to one way or the other. It's how we want to see it changed... This is cause for action, in which the Treasury has no choice. The main debate on how to act is between the Administration and the economists. The Republicans are fringe in the economic theater, offering no real plan of long-term action, a voice sans amplification.

With that in mind, Senator McCain should still be speaking for the Republican party now, until the rest of the party can get its act together with solid reasonable new leaders and policies to go with them. Upon their respective introductions to the public as the new Republican faces, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) have failed miserably in trying to instill any confidence. Tradition would dictate that the vanquished take a step to the back so that a new energy can be realized, but let's face it, right now these new Republicans are bad energy policy. How bad? We're saying that it is a good idea for John McCain to still lead the party right now - that says it all.

However, it is because he can take a step back that his opinion is more rational and practical to reality. For example, he agrees with the Obama Administration on its Afghanistan policy. In fact, he advised today that the President should have been even more candid about the casualties and the length of time we would be there. Southern Afghanistan is for all intents and purposes under Taliban control. They now serve as as the de facto guard to the boarder region where Al Qaeda resides and operates. We're tepidly reassured because the administration understands this and making it the top priority. If it isn't, sadly we could be marking another date on our calendar.

Mr. McCain has not abandoned his style of sedated bluster completely. On the economy, he has honed his canned phrases and obviously schooled himself a bit better, but when a Republican... any Republican... talks about generational theft when discussing Mr. Obama's budget proposal, it disqualifies that person as a leadership voice on the issue. This exactly what Senator McCain did today. He, personally, could argue his points with regard to Bush policy and the past eight years, but what about the others? He was making a run for the Presidency; he could have been more vocal and persuasive if he disagreed so vehemently on all the reckless spending. With a $10 Trillion debt in the rearview mirror, some hindsight has to be 20-20, right?

The Arizona Senator also called out what he perceived to be a lack of transparency and accountability by the administration on how the money is being spent. Even though this column made the point that Mr. McCain should still speak for his party, we are not saying that we agree with his positions or have confidence in all his statements. This is the new America... we're realizing we can not have everything.



Postscript: We found it amusing how Senator McCain responded to Mr. Gregory's question of endorsing Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AL). First, he completely backed away from any endorsement, didn't commit to supporting her, and said he would like to 'see her compete.' Who's kidding who?

3.15.09: The Republican Mouthpiece?

When the Representative Eric Kantor (R-VA) says that of course Republicans could have done a better job during the Bush years when it came to spending (as he did on today's MTP), it's enough to make you rip the television from the wall. There's been a lot of talk this week about who's to blame for the financial crisis, and while most people prefer to say, "let's just move on," which is what we should do, but these types of dismissive statements by Republicans and the casual attempts to rewrite history are unacceptable. Later in today's program Katty Kay from the BBC echoed the collective indignation by pointing out that with the exception of tax cuts, the Republicans haven't offered one solid strategy to tackle the crisis. Mr. Kantor needed to step up today, but Republicans still need to establish their mouthpiece - he's not it.

It's seems like a no-win situation for the Obama situation - economists are saying that the stimulus is too small to be effective and Republicans are trying to generate a public dialogue that there is too much money being spent. It would seem... However, everyone knows what the reality is. The Government has to spend the money and more of it than they have already.

Now, before we get to ahead of ourselves, today's first guest was the Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers Dr. Christina Romer. Even though she's the chair, the public doesn't know too much about her so a thoughtful discussion was of the highest priority. Unfortunately, Mr. Gregory didn't get there. He asked her about the difference of rhetoric between Mr. Obama this week and John McCain during the campaign - to clarify 'the fundamentals of the economy are strong.' More time was wasted when he asked about Treasury Staffing. He justified the question by saying Wall Street is nervous about the staff vacancies and that it doesn't demonstrate confidence. The fact remains that it is a sad commentary that they can not find enough highly qualified people to fill those slots because of financial conflicts of interest.

By the time Mr. Gregory came to the real substance of the interview, asking about how the Obama Administration will address all the corporate toxic assets, all Ms. Romer could say is that the administration will be announcing a plan this week. He didn't have time to fully understand her insights into the crisis. Just a weak attempt at the end - what's the responsible thing for consumers at this time.

This takes us almost full circle. She said the President is going to announce a plan this week and then in the very next segment, Rep. Kantor says asks when he's going to see a plan from the administration. He also continued the weak Republican arguments that Mr. Obama has a lack of focus by taking on too many things at once and that there is too much spending. This is where it all completely falls apart for the Republicans because there was an obscene amount of deficit spending under the Bush Administration. When confronted with this Mr. Kantor used the Republican/Bush Administration consummate third rail - the troops. We increased the national debt for the troops - if only that were the case. The military budget has always resided outside of the annual budget... It makes one think about how $9 billion in cash was lost in Iraq.

During the panel discussion, which also included CNBC's Steve Liesman, PBS's Tavis Smiley, the aforementioned Ms. Kay, David Frum, who worked in the Bush Administration, was saying that there should be more domestic spending and that there needs to be global stimulus. Later in the program, with reference to Republican Party Chair Michael Steele's interview in GQ Magazine and his stating that abortion is an individual choice, Mr. Frum stated that this perspective should be included in the Republican platform dialogue. This illustrates that there are some Republican thinkers who see the writing on the wall when it comes to hot-button issues and where the attitude of the American people is.