Pundit Pap
For Sunday, December 28th 1997
by Mac MacArthur

MONDAY, DECEMBER 29TH 1997 -- NEW YORK (APJP) -- Political pundits were out in force yesterday mostly congratulating themselves and each other for the incisive intellect. Predictions and picking the best and worst of the year were high on show host agendas. Do they talk to each other every week? One imagines Russert, Snow, Donaldson and McLaughlin sitting around a round table in a private dining room at the Capitol Hill Club working out guests, topics, etc. for the next week. I can only imagine Bob Schieffer sitting out of these meets, sort of like Jack Kemp not showing at the White House "conservative" dialogue on racism with the President. Nothing much of interest happened on any of the shows this past Sunday, save Rahm Emanuel's defying street sense that the POTUS would hand a pink slip to Ira Magaziner for allegedly lying to a court. Emanuel told the world that Magaziner would stay, and we at American Politics are glad. After all, it seems Magaziner may be the only left of right Democrat left who has at least some clout on the Oval Office.

Let's get to it:

FOX NEWS SUNDAY

To show just how desperate the potential guest list for Christmas / New Year's week was, Snow was forced to lead with, yawn, Jack Kemp, frenetic wanna-bes president who spends more time in airport first class lounges than he does in Washington.

Kemp went on and on about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) , stealing Steve Forbes' thunder as he yapped that the Fund, really an arm of the World Bank and US/Allies political tool, should be dismantled or changed drastically. Of course, it didn't matter to Jack that no one in the nation, save a few dozen nitwits, give a damn about the IMF. It has no impact on the average voter's life Jack! Get with it.

Kemp claims that the IMF is causing chaos in Mexico and Korea. The last time we checked, corrupt governments and business -- often in cahoots -- are what is causing "chaos" in those nations.

Kemp also ranted about "the gold standard" of all things. Jeez, where did he come from yesterday? -- 1973?

Somehow Fred Barnes of McLaughlin Group fame showed up on FNS. What was he doing there? Probably taking the place of Brit Hume. It was a refreshing change, believe me. Barnes ought to come every week and leave Hume on a permanent vacation.

Barnes asked about potential changes to the US income tax structure and specifically the flat tax which wealth stalkers like Dick Armey are backing. The Armey flat tax proposal would tax earned income, but not investment income -- a boon for the rich. To be fair, however, other more moderate income Americans would also benefit as more than 36% of Americans report some sort of unearned income each year.

Kemp dodged the issue: "Well, some Republicans are talking about that. The flat tax should tax income but once. It's long past due to simplify and lower it. So, what Kemp was saying is that investment income should not be taxed inasmuch as the investor's income with which he made those investments was already taxed. Of course, under that logic, nothing should be taxed beyond the fabrication level.

Snow asked Kemp whether the Republicans had "the stomach" to take on Clinton on the "what to do about the $50 Billion surplus issue" which raised its head last week.

Kemp really didn't answer, but did take the bait when Juan Williams asked him why he didn't show up at the White House race relations meeting, held behind closed doors, for conservative race commentators and pols.

Kemp called the president's outreach on racism a "so-called dialogue on race." He questioned why it was held behind closed doors and suggested it should have been public. Sure Jack, and about thirty people would have watched.

Kemp conveniently forgot that the White House issued complete transcripts of the meeting the next day -- so in effect, it was public. They just had the good sense to know America didn't really care what racists, disguised as "conservatives" thought about the issue. Williams reminded him however, something else Kemp ignored.

Jack Kemp also invoked the name chairman of the race commission JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN . Personally I can't stand people who insist on using all three of their names and will refer to the highly respected Franklin as John Franklin from here on. Kemp said Franklin invited him to speak to the commission. Great.

Juan Williams honed in the race issue and Kemp gave in that he has been a support of what he called yesterday "affirmative efforts" but what he called affirmative action for decades before. Kemp is transforming to conform to GOP pollster suggestions.

Tony Snow then rammed him asking whether or not he was in favor of California's infamous Prop 209 which basically shut blacks out of the UC system -- especially the high-powered campuses of Berkeley and UCLA. Kemp would answer directly and went into a "well, I was in favor of 209 IF" routine.

But Snow, to his credit, wouldn't let Kemp off the hook asking again, ""people want a precise answer. Are you in favor of 209."

Kemp: "I was in favor of 209 if it opened .... "

Snow: "It sounds like you are hedging your bets. How bout a Federal Prop 209?

Kemp: I am not for quotas per se, but for opening up property ownership

Margaret Carlson: "What would you do about the UC situation where no blacks have been admitted now.

Kemp: "...you must use race and ethnicity as one element. The UC had a quota -- with all due respect.

Snow then asked about global warming which even I sense is becoming a dead issue in the country.

Kemp called Kyoto "cah-YO-toe" as in 'Coyote' and I started to laugh. Then he recovered and made it worse by saying something about Al Gore's "neo-Malthusian" conviction that we have to redistribute energy wealth to the third world is "not good" and we should not be going back to 1976 on standards.

"The American people are not the cause of the warming of the earth," he said.

Kemp should check his encyclopedia. Malthus'' theory, in basic English, was that people and animals will likely continue to breed like rabbits and forget to raise enough food to feed themselves.

Kemp's use of the word neo-Malthusian shows why he added absolutely nothing to the Dole campaign when Popeye could have. He is simply out of touch.

After the break Snow brought out Howdy Doody himself, Ralph Reed who vies for Look alike of the Year with Doody and/or Alfred E. Newman of Mad Magazine fame. Reed, who ditched the Christian Right after he realized he could be indicted for his and the CC's campaign shenanigans.

Snow gets big personal kudos from me for bringing on Reed, my favorite laugh tracker.

But he didn't give Reed enough time darn it. They only thing Ralph said was that he thinks the congress should sunset the current tax system on December 30th 2001. Maybe Reed forgot that December has 31 days. Or maybe he was in the 2001 Tax Odyssey. Reed is, of course, for the elimination of the marriage penalty now and calls for an internal debate on whether the graduated income tax should be replaced by a flat "or other" tax.

Reed was even more disingenuous than ever. He is now a highly overpaid campaign consultant operating our of liberal Southern metropolis Atlanta, Georgia. What he cares about now is money, not ideology although he did dis Bush Junior intimating Bush was not conservative enough for him.

To counter Reed, Snow brought out Congressman Martin Frost (Democrat, Texas) Who? Frost, a no-nonsense bore said that the US should make certain that the budget really is balanced (which is isn't) and then we could look at the marriage penalty and the social security tax cuts suggested by Ted Kennedy.

Frost pointed out that under a flat tax wealthy earners would get a $50,000 windfall on $500 thousand incomes.

And Snow, God love him - he's becoming a liberal -- said we are living with the biggest gap between rich and poor in the nation's history but then tried to blame that on Clinton. Frost countered that we're still dealing with the Reagan years -- as if George Bush hadn't even exited. Did he?

Reed piped up saying that education is going to be a "huge" issue in 1998. "Is your child safe, drug free... and I find overwhelming support of school vouchers. Of course Reed is for vouchers because they would recreate natural segregation in the nation's schools and keep black-loathing pseudo-Christian supporters happy. But Reed, no dummy came up with this excuse -- "If George Wallace was standing in the schoolhouse door in the 60's, it's now the LIBERALS standing in the MINORITY school door not letting THEM out.

Ha, ha, ha. What a great line. He must have stayed up all night to memorize that one. You'll hear that one again, I promise.

Snow: Education reed, what should they do

Frost made some weak attempt to fight the voucher issue. But Reed came back with, "my kids go to pub schools etc. In Denver 25% of African Americans are okay in math and only 10 percent in English - those schools could have been designed by the Klan." or Reed for that matter. In one breath he had put down black kids and proved he hated the Klan. He went on, "Those vouchers can be used anywhere, yeshiva..." Ha, ha, ha, ha- now he's proving he wants Jews to have opportunity too. Then why isn't his group called the Christian-Jewish Coalition?

Frost made an idiot of himself saying "let's repair those school buildings."

Snow, trying to help him out and insult him at the same time said, "You think bad roofs are responsible for poor education?"

Frost then segued into a "lets get better teachers, and forgive their student loan debts" routine we've hard so often.

Unbelievable Segment

Showed a commercial of Gorbachev selling pizza for Pizza Hut. "Will Yeltsin endorse Stoli ad Alka Seltzer?" asked Snow.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS:

For Bill Clinton -

Juan Williams: Get up and say you will enact camp finance reform.

Margaret Carlson: Ride the dogs coat tails a little less. get away form the dg

Fred Barnes: Get to Social Security and Medicare so you won't be Rutherford B. Hayes

For Al Gore -

Juan Williams: No more photos with Buddhist monks, or Toasting with the Chinese.

Margaret Carlson: Get a warm and fuzzy dog.

Fred Barnes: Emulate Clinton, move to the right, hire Dick Morris and get rid of global warming and racial stuff.

For Newt Gingrich -

Juan Williams: Stay in hiding, do the Republicans a favor.

Margaret Carlson: Keep off the 30 pounds its better to be thin and unpopular than to fat and unpopular.

Fred Barnes: Keep pushing conservative ideas to fool Clinton into adopting them for his own

BIG WINNERS FOR 1997-

Juan Williams: Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen is the big winner in 98 and he becomes a presidential contender.

Margaret Carlson: Senator John McCain, had no friends on capitol hill, legislation will catch up on campaign finance and he will have a great year

Fred Barnes: Al D'Amato will win and emerge as the king maker of the for the GOP convention in 2000.

ON ACTRESS HUNTER TYLO (sp?) FOR GETTING $5 MILLION FOR GETTING PREGNANT-

Juan Williams: What kind of stupidity is this?

Margaret Carlson: It won't help women, but it does lay down the marker - "do not fire pregnant women."

Fred Barnes: Is there nothing that judges will not stay out of?

ON MARKETING KWANZAA -

Fred Barnes: Efforts to market Kwanzaa is arrogantly exploitive of African people . .

Margaret Carlson: Ridiculous. It's supposed to be non-commercial, all gifts are supposed to be home made.

Juan Williams: Right, , it was created by Ron Karenga as a separatist holiday and black retailers are saying hey this is abbot money

Snow: - Are we entering a "Religions 'R Us?"

Fred Barnes: Kwanzaa isn't even a religion, its some black nationalist thing, it should come before the presidential race relations commission

Snow asked whether the panel thought that Republicans would do anything about racism. They all avoid the question and simply launched into a discussion about the flat tax.

Snow then read some viewer mail -- a first. He just had to read a letter from some moron that criticized him for not taking racist Abigail Thernstrom seriously. Snow said he would not do it again and actually apologized -- most likely to please Roger Ailes.

Snow promised us to make FNS the fasted, liveliest and wittiest show on Television and to prove it he promised to feature that titillating Joe Biden next week.

What a non sequitur!

MCLAUGHLIN GROUP

John McLaughlin disappointed this week devoting the whole show to awards. What a bore.

But here they are, just in case you're interested.

WINNERS

Barnes: Rudy Giuliani who proved that cities don't need massive federal aid. Hah - NY gets about 2 billion a year directly or indirectly from the feds Fred.

Clift: Labor which has re-emerged.

Buchanan: "I was gonna say unions!"

Kondracke: Clinton

McLaughlin: Zemin, and his mega coup.

Has anyone else noticed that pundits are lining up to kiss cross dresser, wife-cheating mayor Rudy Giuliani in case he runs for president? Don't bother, he won't. Being Mayor of New York is a better job.

LOSERS

Barnes: Hong Kong

Clift- Ron Carey this after saying unions have re-emerged as winners.

Buchanan: Al Gore and Socks the White House cat. -- Read Arianna Huffington's new book, "Greetings From the Lincoln Bedroom," to see just how talented Socks really is.

Kondracke: Big Tobacco

McLaughlin: Tobacco and Gary Kasporov

One gets the feeling that McLaughlin stays up nights trying to be "original."

BEST POLITICIAN

Barnes: Governor elect Gilmore, a Republican from Virginia.

Clift: Tony Blair

Buchanan: Tony Blair

Kondracke: Rudy Giuliani

McLaughlin: Primakov, Yeltsin's foreign minister for cooling down the Iraqi conflict and putting Russia in the position of peacemaker.

You wonder what McLaughlin is smoking these days.

WORST POLITICIAN

Barnes: Bill Weld

Clift: Bill Weld

Buchanan: Jacques Chirac who had 80 % of parliament calls an election and gets wiped out.

Kondracke: Bibi Netanyahu who has his own party against him.

McLaughlin: Al Gore and "controlling legal authority."

That's getting old John, and by this week's performance so are you.

MOST DEFINING POLITICAL MOMENT

Barnes: When GOP Rep. Steve Largent got up in front of Gingrich and said "I'm not gonna be intimidated by you."

BRAVO FRED

Clift: When Reno decided not to prosecute Gore.

Buchanan: The defeat of fast track

McLaughlin: The IRS hearings called for by Bill Ross. Huh?

TURNCOAT OF THE YEAR

Barnes: The French

Clift: Susan Molinari and her husband Rep. Bill Paxon

Buchanan: Harold Ickes and Dick Morris

Kondracke: Dick Armey, Tom DeLay and the entire leadership under Gingrich.

McLaughlin: Lobbyist Paul Eckstein - the "close friend" of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt who basically called him a liar in front of Congress.

McLaughlin was awake on that one.

MOST BORING

Barnes: Zemin

Clift: Alan Greenspan, boring but beautiful

Buchanan: The McLaughlin Report from abroad and the Royal Family

Kondracke: Ellen DeGeneres - when can be we free of her?

McLaughlin: George Stephanopoulos - RIGHT ON AGAIN! But he should have added GEORGE MAGAZINE

MOST CHARISMATIC

Barnes: Princess Diana

Clift: The Promise Keepers

Buchanan: Princess Diana

Kondracke: Tony Blair

McLaughlin: McCarthy of Promise Keepers - oh brother!

BUMMEST RAP

Barnes: Some General used as a scapegoat by Bill Cohen.

Clift: The Paparazzi -- for being accused of killing Diana

Buchanan: Clinton - He did not sell plots at Arlington.

Kondracke: The accusation that the US is responsible for the suffering undergone by the people of Iraq.

McLaughlin: Didn't like Kondracke's comment and then added General Ralston because of the "cowardice" of the president and the congress who yielded to congressional witch hunters.

FAIREST RAP

Barnes: Saddam for starving the Iraqis

Clift: That the Christian Coalition is a political organization.

Buchanan: Something about Mickey Mouse

Kondracke: That Clinton fell asleep.

McLaughlin: Sprewell's punishment.

BEST COMEBACK

Clift: George Bush and is parachute jump.

Buchanan: Dan Rather, Newt, but Hillary Clinton is the winner. And we agree, but not as a comeback.

Kondracke: The Stock Market

McLaughlin: Prince Charles -- Oh brother, John must be planning to be in London soon.

MOST ORIGINAL THINKER

Barnes: Abigail Thernstrom - yuck.

Clift: George Soros

Buchanan: The Book "The Costs of War" which challenges the pros and cons of war.

Kondracke: Alan Greenspan

McLaughlin: "Doh" of Heaven's Gate

MOST STAGNANT THINKER

Barnes: Al Gore on global warming

Clift: Bob Dornan, who still shows up on the House floor.

Buchanan: John Hope Franklin and the entire civil rights commission - tongue in cheek.

AND THEN MCLAUGHLIN SHOWED HIS TRUE COLORS INTERJECTING: " and black racism or racists"

C'mon John, get a life. McLaughlin also added Fidel Castro for clinging to the "discredited theories of statism and communism."

BEST PHOTO OP

Barnes: The hearse of Princess Diana - ha, ha, ha, ha

Clift: Jesse Helms and Madeleine Albright holding hands

Buchanan: Princess Diana inspecting land mines

Kondracke: The McLaughlin wedding

McLaughlin: Jiang Zemin wearing a tri-corner hat in Williamsburg. Ha, ha, ha, ha

ENOUGH ALREADY

Barnes: Marv Albert

Clift: The ups and downs of the stock market

Buchanan: Summit meetings

McLaughlin: Global warming. I agree, the issue, though important, is the victim of the grandest spending scheme by anti-treaty corporations and is a weight around Gore's neck. Cut loose Al.

THE WORSE LIE

Barnes: Senator Torricelli saying he witnessed the Kefauver hearings.

Clift: Don't worry about global warming

Buchanan Larry Lawrence saying he was almost killed in the merchant marine.-- Something that has still not been proven a lie.

Kondracke: Dick Armey saying he had nothing to do with the attempted coup on Newt.

McLaughlin: Ron Carey

CAPITALIST OF THE YEAR

Barnes: Steve Forbes

Clift: John McLaughlin for marketing his own show

Buchanan: Mike Eisner who converted half a billion dollars in stock option at Disney for cash.

McLaughlin: (knowing where the bread is buttered) Bill Gates "who has made America a powerhouse that may reshape global society.

Hey John, I think we already did that -- without Gates.

MAN OR WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Barnes: Mother Theresa and Billy Graham

Clift: Dolly the Sheep

Buchanan: Saddam Hussein

Kondracke: Lady Diana

McLaughlin: Alan Greenspan for making Wall Street and Main Street prosperous

MEET THE PRESS

Time Russert welcomed Rahm Emanuel who talked a lot about Saddam, UNSCOM and Iraq.

The noticeable thing about Emanuel was how nervous he was. He voice quavered almost the entire interview.

Emanuel said that the cat and mouse game between UN inspectors and Saddam has been going on for weeks and that Saddam might use his people to further develop chemical and bio weapons. He would not, however, put a time line on a US military response.

Russert threw a " what if" at him about what would happen if Saddam threatened to use chemical or bio weapons and Rahm didn't take the bait saying that "one does not get into hypotheticals -- on this show."

On the projected surplus of $50 billion in the US treasury Emanuel said "Let's not be reckless. We believe in paying for everything as we go."

Emanuel was good at getting around the fact that the White House will probably not touch Social Security in 1998 -- an election year for the House and a third of the Senate. He said it was a two step process -- attack the deficit and the entitlement programs by ensuring them and strengthening them. He assured Russert that the President would deal with Social Security reform within 3 years.

Then Russert threw a hard ball. "Do you care if FBI Director Louis Freeh quits?"

Russert, like me, knows that the President has had it with Freeh and wishes he would turn in his badge, but Emanuel was true and stuck to complimenting Freeh, as little as possible -- "He is staying in that job at this point," said Rahm.

Russert ran up the tired rationale on campaign finance that 46 people have taken the 5th and others have fled the country adding that Clinton had attended 238 fund raisers often canceling staff meetings.

"Would you say you fund raising was excessive?" queried Russert.

No, he did not and he made sure Russert knew that no staff meetings nor anything else was canceled so the President could attend fund raisers.

On Ira Magaziner, Emanuel was short and to the point - "Ira is a valued member of the President's staff. The Judge also indirectly praised Mr. Magaziner."

Rahm said the president's priority would be the economy and education. He wouldn't answer Russert's question on what the runner-up name for the Dog "Buddy" was.

Then the questions started with panelist David Broder, Bill Safire (puke), Gwen Ifill and lovable Mary McGrory.

Broder said the big story of the year was the economy and the edge of anger leaving society and well as Dolly the Sheep. Gwen added that the good economy allowed everyone to be happy with themselves and watch Tiger Woods and allow the President to worry about his legacy. Mary said the biggest story was the death of Diana and then went on about the Queen and her mistake in not coming out in public grief without Tony Blair urging her to.

Bill Safire rambled about "what did not happen" of course speaking about his and his two friend's concerns that the President wasn't in jail yet. Safire, who many think has gone off the deep end, cannot seem to get off his conspiracy theories and the fact that nearly everything he has written this year was either made up, or untrue. This time he blamed American prosperity for clouding the minds of Americans who, he seemed to be saying, would have lynched Clinton and Gore before now. Ha, ha, ha- what a pathetic chap he's turned out to be.

Broder neatly pointed out to Safire that the President's popularity was directly tied to the economy -- which seemed parroting to me.

Safire did at least say that the press, including him, over covered the Diana story. Broder said he'd join the "Safire Caucus" saying that Diana was an example of how entertainment values twisted the news. "We are trending toward entertainment , not journalism," he lamented.

Ifill tried to get in something on why the race discussion was not happening, but the panel ignored her.

Mary spoke of getting into the habit of defending the indefensible and used Marv Albert and his peers as an example. She also cited Louis Woodward. "She killed a baby," said McGrory, and then was defended by a "she didn't mean it defense.

Safire then got the Paul Jones matter up saying that he thought the President would go to trial on the matter. Of course, everyone has been saying that all week.

But wise Mary McGrory stopped that with "The Dow Jones is more important than Paula Jones."

Then blitzed Clinton with, "If he's going to Mount Rushmore, it will be on an excursion."

Safire asked "What will happen to Newt?" He has worked out how to get thrown out as speaker and that's to run for president.

Everyone thought that was a big joke.

Safire, still smarting from Newt's own snub of him, said "I think Newt's future is a return to teaching and I think Paxon will be 'our' new Speaker. He then looked like the political moron he is saying that he is keeping his eyes on Dan Quayle who has "moved to the center." Oh, please. What do you owe Quayle anyway Bill?"

Broder rushed to fellow columnist Safire's aid saying that Newt could have chance because the field is so crowded with 10 to 12 candidates. He also stabbed Trent Lott saying he has turned out to be weak.

When Russert brought out not-very-funny Mark Russell, we tuned out.

THIS WEAK (Misspelling on purpose)

How many times can you see Doris Kearns Goodwin and not puke? She has to be the most overexposed hysterical historian on television only surpassing Michael Beschloss by a nose.

Get a life Doris, you're great but getting annoying.

The talk was of Diana, and of course Doris waxed eloquent and threw in a baseball joke or two.

The This Weak roundtable focused on leadership with Sam Donaldson wondering whether Clinton should get on the radio ala Roosevelt's fireside chats.

Hey Sam, Clinton IS on the radio every week.

Linda Douglass, the new babe on ABC said that Clinton seemed to be fumbling for something to do. And 'friend" George Stephanopoulos said the President was doing a lot of little things but that didn't end up as one big program. George was following the warning that he had been too much of a White House defender for ABC's tastes in past months.

George Will was more cantankerous than ever saying about the projected fed surplus, "Well, whose money is it!?"

Stephanopoulos offered that it could be spent on school construction and raising the minimum wage supporting Clinton and Kennedy at the same time. But Will shot back that spending wasn't the answer. That's funny coming from him who, along with me, sent our sons to massively expensive Georgetown Prep at the same time a few years ago.

Donaldson opened the door for Linda Douglass to remind the world that Newt was gonna spend tens of millions getting half the committees in Congress investigating the White House just in time fore the 1998 election cycle.

Douglass also offered that the Newt strategy was working because it has bankrupted the Democratic Party in legal fees.

Donaldson made the dumb prediction that the President would settle with Paula Jones. No way said Stephanopoulos and took all bets. He knows what he's talking about

Donaldson, again true to the common thought said that if Bush Junior won as governor of Texas again, he would get the GOP presidential nod. Stupid conjecture.

Stephanopoulos let out some inside word that Justice Stephens would retire next year and the Clinton would appoint Judge Cabranos, a Hispanic, to the Supreme Court putting the Republicans in a very awkward position. I'll say. it will be worth watching that racist Hatch on this one.

Everyone agreed that the Republicans would gain in both houses in the 1998 elections. But someone pointed out --
"Only if the economy stays strong."

Donaldson, never skipping the chance to mutter a moronic comment asked "Are we going to have a world wide depression.?"

Huh? Where did that come from Sam?

We tuned out This Week then, and went to see "Titanic."

And that's the way it was, Sunday December 28th on Pundit TV.