Vacation Pundit Pap
for Sunday, August 11th
First Lady Andrea Greenspan Plays in Russert's House
by JJ Balzer
Aug. 11, 2002 -- New York (APJP) -- Yes, it's vacation season -- and that means that the pap is less interesting and of lower quality than usual. Even Pretend-a-dent Junior's on vacation, which means not much is going on in the Beltway.
Nevertheless, I tuned in Meet the Press, expecting Tim Russert to trash DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe for daring criticize the Texas Dauphin and his court (jesters) for politicizing September 11th. After all, that is the Son King's divine right.
Instead, we were treated to no less than the First Lady herself -- that's right, Andrea Mitchell, wife of President Alan Greenspan -- presiding over the most (self-) important pundit show in America.
Andrea made issue one the tough talk coming from George W. Fustercluck -- and welcomed Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Carl Levin (D-MI).
After showing a few video clips of Iraqi opposition leaders shortly after meeting with officials of the Smirk Misadministration, Andrea asked Levin about the possibility that Smirk's plan to topple Saddam would turn into "nation-building" (horrors! that phrase! Smirk opposed "nation-building" during that presidential scam-paign! run for cover!) -- and Levin replied that His Fraudulence does need to think this through (think? W?), but not because of the billions it will cost. Instead, Levin is concerned because Saddam is likely to retaliate against an invading army with weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), and while we all want to see this "mass murdering villain" deposed (and that's a fact), it's time to "stop and think".
Andrea actually suggested Shrub is rushing in, and again Levin said that he needs to slow down -- the containment currently in place in the form of sanctions may well lead to his downfall anyway. Levin added that it is not likely that Saddam would strike first with WMDs -- but would likely use them in retaliation for an invasion.
Andrea turned to the suggestion by some of Club Chimpy's resident hawks that an invasion of Iraq would be a walkover -- and Levin explained why it would NOT be a "cakewalk". Andrea said Saddam has called the Iraqi resistance a "non-power" (sadly, he may not be far from the truth), and Levin said that the issue is what exactly replaces Saddam when he's gone - in other words, a democratic government rather than another Saddam.
Andrea turned to Sen. Joe Biden's (D-DE) dispirited and dispiriting prediction that a showdown with Iraq is inevitable; Levin said that is not the case. When Andrea brought up Saddam's threats, Levin deflected to a solid critique of Smirk's "simplistic rhetoric." Andrea replied with Big Time Cheney's comment that containment is "not possible" when a nation gets WMDs (huh? That completely undermines most Cold War theory), and much of Smirk's coterie wants to take out Saddam. Levin said we should not look away from what is going on inside Iraq and inspections of Saddam's armaments must resume -- but that is very different than an attack that would prompt the use of the very weapons we want contained.
Levin also said that because an attack against Iraq would be a momentous undertaking, Smirk should get Congress' go-ahead -- noting that Smirk can't get international allies, and even Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX), a man prone to sycophantic shilling for His Illegitimacy, has come out strongly questioning the war against Iraq, and getting Congress' go-ahead will not be easy.
More notable than Levin's passionate in his advocacy of continued containment was this last, telling assertion: there will be no war without the advice and consent of Congress. This means that Senate Dems are ready to turn any "October surprise" in the form of military action of Iraq into a serious issue of an imperial Residency.
Andrea turned to the war on terrorism and the scoop in this morning's New York Times: Iraq has turned over sixteen Al Qaeda fighters to Saudi Arabia. Should the Saudis allow US officials to interrogate Al Qaeda operatives in their custody? Yes, said Levin, who also brought up the Saudis' continued support for madrassas, anti-Semitism, and their resistance to allowing the FBI and CIA to "participate" in the fight against terrorist networks on Saudi soil. There was also the matter of not being able to use Saudi facilities against Iraq; Levin said there are alternatives.
If Levin had been invited to Smirk's (so-called) economic summit, what would he say? Levin said Smirk himself has to speak out and demand that execs who exercised options and pocketed "ill-gotten gains" return that money to companies and shareholders -- and also demand that corporations list options as an expense, because not doing so has been a driving force in the scandalous collapse of large companies. Levin also slammed corporate crooks for hiding their money offshore.
Andrea then took a cheap swipe at Hillary, asking if she should return Sam Waksal's contributions (probably not knowing that instead, the Clinton campaign gave them to charity) -- and while Levin said yes (he should have deflected altogether), he returned to the issue of Smirk not having spoken out.
Levin then challenged Smirk to speak up.
That forceful denouement might be the big "talking point" of the week, especially with August 14th -- the date corporations must file CEO-certified earnings statements -- looming.
Andrea again said Iran has turned more than a dozen Al Qaeda fighters over to Saudi Arabia -- and welcomed Saudi Arabian statesman and ambassador Abel al Jubair.
Regular viewers of the Sunday shows and political junkies may recognize that name, but for those who don't, Al Jubair bears describing. No turban. No beard. Not even a mustache. Impeccably tailored suit. Sounds as if he is Oxford-educated (I don't know whether or not he is). Al Jubair is the most Westernized spokesperson for the House of Saud -- and seems aligned with the movers and shakers for internal reform.
Al Jubair said that they would be punished in Saudi Arabia, and it will be "severe". But shouldn't there be access to these suspects? Al Jubair said that Saudi Arabia has been very cooperative in the Khobar Towers matter. (Huh? Whuddabout the current batch of evildoers?)
Andrea then gave al Jubair an open door to slam LaRouchie cultist and Rand foreign affairs "expert" Laurent Murawiec for an anti-Saudi PowerPoint presentation that Slate blew the lid off earlier this week (http://slate.msn.com/?id=2069119). Al Jubair's response: "It's shocking, it's pure fiction!" He added that Rand has (rather smartly) disassociated themselves from Murawiec -- and al Jubair called the presentation "flaky", pointing out it was not undertaken by a real Mideast scholar, and the closest Murawiec has come to the Mideast is pumping gas!
This was far and away the finest invective we've seen all year on a pundit show. Our only disappointment was that al Jubair didn't get out the rhetorical House of Saud shiv for just about the most dangerous man in the Snippy Junta and the man who invited Murawiec, namely Richard Perle.
Andrea asked the obvious question: why did Rumsfeld allow it? Andrea then erroneously referred to it as a Rand study, and focused on Murawiec's mention of anti-Western rhetoric emanating from Saudi Arabia and the possible "targeting" of holy places. Al Jubair called it "fiction... he doesn't know the first thing" about the region or the nation. But Andrea persisted in pointing out troubling (to say the least) truths about Saudi Arabia, specifically slamming the fundraising that benefits Hamas and terrorists. Al Jubair did what any diplomat would -- put a positive spin on the situation, saying that Saudi Arabia provides funding for charities and opposes fundraising for terrorists and specifically for families of suicide bombers. Saudi Arabia, he added, has provided the UN and law enforcement with the names of what he called "evildoers" -- fundraisers for terrorists.
Al Jubair would appear on other weekend news and public affairs shows and pointedly refer to Al Qaeda combatants as "evil" and "evildoers." Yes, it's a slick PR move -- but one that any savvy political public relations person would have suggested.
Andrea then turned to Saudi Arabia's position on Iraq. Naturally, al Jubair slammed Saddam for invading Kuwait and crimes against his own people (he should have made more of Saddam's designs on his Saudi neighbor and their oil holdings). So why Saudi Prince Faud's opposition to allowing Saudi Arabia to be used as a staging area for war against Iraq? Al Jubair said that Smirk trying to push the world into a war against Iraq is not very smart (yeah, baby -- but then, neither is Smirk).
Andrea played footage of Big Time saying that even weapons inspectors may not be enough -- and then snidely asked if Saudi Arabia, our "biggest ally" among Arabs in the region, was really on board in seeing Saddam overthrown.
Oh, please, Andrea -- every Arab nation in the region knows that Saddam is trouble. Dumb question.
Andrea then played Rumsfeld's "Israel's spoils of war" comment on Tuesday -- and al Jubair said that Israel should return occupied territories. What about the peace process? Al Jubair said that for the time being, some violence looks inevitable -- but the goal of Palestinians is land for peace. Andrea then asked about Israel negotiating with bombers -- and al Jubair pointed out quite correctly that the British did it with the Irish, and it worked.
Following a long break, Andrea did a Clinton and focused on the economy (and corporate crooks) like a laser beam. She mentioned recent poll numbers (we did not catch which poll):
23% of people have zero confidence in financial reporting;
61% believe this is a widespread problem.
Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ), the former chairman of Goldman Sachs, said he is in the same corner as Andy Grove of Intel: "the climate of excess has gone too far" and Congress has had to act -- and needs to take action beyond the current band-aid legislation, including outright confiscation of ill-gotten cash from crooked executives. John Castellani, chairman of the Business Roundtable, agreed (heck, what else can he do?) -- saying the Business Roundtable is "outraged" and "it has spoiled the environment for all of us." (Now THAT was telling -- translation: "Someone got caught and there goes the whole Ponzi scheme - why couldn't they do a better job of covering up?") What about perception or the free ride to rip off investors? John Sweeney, top dog at the AFL-CIO, said he agrees with President Greenspan -- this is out-of-control greed, and the meltdown of 401(k)s brings up fears by many over health care and retirement security. We need to demand that public officials pass the laws that will reform corporation. Walter Wriston, ex-Citigroup chief, said that excesses always come with a boom -- and now they're coming to the surface. Integrity and character of the heads of corporations count, and one cannot legislate that -- so businessmen have to step up and both prove and demand integrity.
Andrea previewed the cover story on tomorrow's issue of Fortune, "You Bought, They Sold", reading excerpts describing top corporate execs who cashed out before their companies' bubbles burst. Corzine wants sensible rules governing stock options -- including mandatory expensing and confiscation of ill-gotten gains. There must also be diversification rules for 401(k)s, not to mention broader access to pension plans. Andrea said Castellani and the BR had opposed reforms, and Castellani said that was not the case. Andrea clarified, saying that she was referring to the 1990s; Castellani said that corporate audit committees should be made up of independent people, and the emphasis must be on long-term earnings (the leopard seems to have changed his spots reeeeal fast). Andrea brought up the now-notorious $6000 shower curtain owned by one now-indicted corporate greed-head ; Castellani tried to laugh it off. Wriston repeated himself -- adding that executive employment contracts are too lenient. They both seemed a little embarrassed by the line of questioning.
Andrea said that Corzine has spoken out about the moral lapses of executives -- but he also had run a company that made the excesses possible. Corzine, probably the most levelheaded politician guest MTP has had on in months, said that there had in fact been many good mergers and acquisitions and great financing plans. And yes, he added, it is true that there were some unscrupulous guys. Sweeney said it's not about a few rotten apples -- it's about a batch of them, and it's about time the government paid attention to working families.
Andrea then confronted Wriston about an op-ed in the Street Wall Journal in which he whined about "talking heads" on a "witch hunt". Wriston gave a mealy-mouthed answer about two good accountants coming up with different results for books. Auditors and corporate directors must stand up and "be accounted" -- and then Wriston slammed too much regulation. Castellani described the Snippy Economy as a "four cylinder engine running on two" -- not exactly a ringing endorsement. Sweeney said he had not been invited to Smirk's phony-baloney business summit -- but that labor leaders are going. He talked about manufacturing jobs being lost (translation; "fast track" legislation is about to backfire). Corzine said that fiscal policy is on the wrong track -- we went from surpluses to deficits as far as the eye can see, and there is not a coherent economic policy from Team Smirk.
So there you have it -- a couple cowering apologists for corporate greed paying lip service to "moral rectitude" and "business integrity", while Corzine and Sweeney reminded viewers that this affects working people. One can only wonder if the GOP is even paying attention.
And Andrea, who is still prone to anti-Clinton cheap shots, was far more fair to progressive, Democrat (or Democrat-leaning) guests than the porcine Mr. Russert.
Which means we'll probably not be seeing much of her on Sunday mornings to come.
JJ Balzer is a former television news producer. He lives in New York City.
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