Flush twice... it's a long way to Sally Quinn's place!

Pundit Pap
for August 31, 2003
Whatever Happened to "Silly Season"?
by JJ Balzer

August 31, 2003 -- BOULDER, CO (apj.us) -- It's been a quiet, peaceful couple of weeks in Boulder, and I was hoping for a quiet Sunday morning free of issue-driven content, as the late August period leading up to Labor Day is traditionally the height of pundit television's "summer silly season."

In the case of The McLaughlin Group, it was. With the Iraq qWagmire deepening, the presidential race getting more interesting, and the California recall circus at full-tilt-boogie, Rev. John and his wacky panel talked about that ever-pressing, troublesome issue over which there has been so much hand-wringing and petulant debate: sports utility vehicles.

Yawn.

Sure, you see them all over the place out here -- there is this geographic phenomenon known as the Rocky Mountains less than a mile from where I am staying, and people around here do like to ski (moguls and snowboarding are practically graduation requirements at the University of Colorado). But people still prefer to get around out here in smaller cars and on bicycles. There's even a variation of an old joke going around concerning one large gas-guzzler that is the object of near-universal scorn in this town:

What's the difference between a Hummer and a porcupine?
The porcupine has its pricks on the outside...

Here's a quick look at a couple shows I caught before going out to enjoy a glorious brunch:

This Week
Cast of characters: host George "Steph" Stephanopoulos, California Governor Gray Davis, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

This Week seems to get better with each passing week. It's as fast-paced as FOX News Sunday and seems far less stage-managed, rehearsed, and ersatz-hard-hitting as the Tim Russert flavor of Meet the Press. Now if only they'd dump George Will...

... oh, that's right: a little birdie tells us Will will go the way of the whigs as This Week continues its transformation into a Sunday show that might actually be worth watching. It's about damn time..

Gray Davis was Steph's first guest, and Steph started by confronting Davis with less-than-flattering poll numbers and claims that he not only spends too much time campaigning but somehow botched the budget and energy crises. Davis fired back with a salvo criticizing the anti-free-election GOP for trying to get a play-over.

In hindsight, would Davis do things differently? Yes, said Davis, who also reminded Steph that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Grand Theft Auto) was spending millions on a campaign to recall Davis (so much for the criticism that Davis campaigns too much).

Steph pushed the GOP "expedience ahead of principal" argument (referring to an increase in the state's car tax) -- and Davis fired back that he had opposed the car tax, and he's fighting to roll it back.

Steph then turned to the news that Austrian bodybuilder and gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger is being slammed by fringe right-wing groups including the so-called Traditional Values Coalition as well as more progressive organizations including gay rights groups. Davis bragged about signing the toughest financial privacy law in the country (yes, it was a non-sequitur, but in the Age of Ass-KKKroft that point can't hurt).

Steph quoted a leading Democrat who characterized Arnie as a "sexual predator" based on a controversial 1970s interview the defunct skin magazine "Oui" conducted with the bodybuilder-turned-wooden-actor. Davis said he has not read the interview and again passed on an opportunity to bash Arnie, and applauded"discerning" voters (translation: why should I bash the loser when the Terminator's taking a beating -- I'm not going to participate, voters know he's not qualified).

After Steph played a video clip of Arnie's "no new taxes" clip (with his heavy accent, it almost did sound like Arnie said, "No new Texas!"), Davis reminded viewers that candidates are obliged to explain where they will cut programs to fill gaps. Davis said that he proposed taxes on the wealthy and cigarettes; when the GOP whined like a pen full of injured swine, car taxes automatically shot up.

Steph said that Arnie says he will "clean house in Sacramento" and played a clip of Arnie essentially saying Sacramento politicians were bought by special interests; Davis adroitly pointed out that Arnie is in fact taking money from special interests. Davis also took a moment to scoff at another attack meme from the right, namely that Davis is not acting in the public interest by allowing Indian tribes more oversight of their gambling interests; Davis said that in fact he wants experienced experts to regulate gambling and he will take responsibility for vetting them.

Davis said that he hopes the recall does not get to question number two and that this is an effort to overturn a free election; when Steph asked him about Cruz Bustamante, Davis said that Bustamante will bring voters to the polls who otherwise would not vote, and about 10 days before the election, he will announce how he intends to vote -- and why. Davis continued riffing on the GOP's campaign to undermine elections: "The election is over and the people have spoken." Davis also thanked Dianne Feinstein for both supporting his bid to defeat the recall and making two TV spots, reminding Steph and viewers that she had once been the target of a recall effort over her opposition to assault weapons.

Will he resign if the numbers turn sour? No way -- Davis said he is obliged to the voters who elected him, and he plans to crack down on corporate crime and advance his health agenda.

Steph ended where he began, again bringing up the 26% approval score in a very recent poll. Davis replied by saying that God never gives you more than you can handle; he's going to handle the situation, and voters will back him.

Following the break, Steph welcomed Dick Durbin and John Kyl to talk quagmire. Durbin set the tone for the segment by reminding viewers of the near-daily news of dead soldiers in Iraq.

Steph asked if more soldiers should be sent into Iraq and mentioned the spiraling costs of our presence there. Kyl said that Iraqis don't want troops near their religious sites, and pushed the Smirk spin points of "better intelligence" and "stopping terrorists."

Steph reminded Kyl that Gen. Abizaid called for more troops; Kyl pressed Junior's latest talking point calling for more foreign troops to be deployed in Iraq.

Steph asked Durbin if he supports a larger international force with more UN input; Durbin said that forces should be under US command, but there should be UN input, and Steph and Durbin did a little back and forth on Richard Armitage's suggestion that a UN force be commanded by a US general. Durbin also pressed the point that more Americans are dead after Whistle Ass in effect declared the war over that were killed during what are now being called in retrospect by the Texas Twit's Junta "major combat operations."

Kyl said that US generals should call the shots, not international diplomats (a little red meat to fool isolationist viewers into thinking that Kyl is still "on message" although he does agree that it's time for international action); Durbin called for an honest assessment of the war, pointing out that while we won the initial victory in record time, Republican Senator Dick Lugar has said that we could be stuck there for five years, and maybe it's time to pull in forces from Islamic and Arab countries to help keep the peace.

Steph reviewed the potential hundred BILLION dollar bill for occupying Iraq, and Kyl admitted the huge price tag is a problem (read: a political problem for the administration), and called for international financial support for Iraq. Durbin wants a mechanism of accountability for aid going to Iraq -- and reminded viewers that Smirk is raiding the Social Security Trust Fund to pay for his war.

Then Steph pulled out rhetorical twin weapons of mass disruption for Chimpus Maximus -- first, that niggling fact that no evidence has so far surfaced that Saddam Hussein made WMDs since 1991, and second, reports that Saddam's lackeys duped the US into believing there were big-ass supplies of WMDs available to Iraq's now-deposed dictator. Durbin said that if our intelligence community was misled, it is a deeply troubling development. Kyl said that every morning, he was briefed about the war, and there were constant assertions that Iraq was going to use chemical weapons, which, of course, did not happen -- but then Kyl claimed that there were WMD "programs." Durbin argued that when Powell appears before the security council asserting that there were specific amounts of WMDs and there were none, the American people and the world were in effect misled -- and that is a problem.

We zoned out most of the round table, although we perked up our ears when Fareed Zakaria called the bombing of the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, an attack that killed at least 75 people including Shia Muslim leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim, a bigger setback to Iraq stability than the UN bombing (and the underlying Sunni-Shi'a friction). We also couldn't help but notice as Joe Klein called this the biggest foreign policy crisis since Vietnam.

Meet the Press
Players: obese stealth Republican Tim Russert, presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)

Tim began by trying to embarrass Kerry over his "also-ran" status in New Hampshire and Iowa -- and Kerry's decision to make his official announcement in South Carolina (as if there weren't solid political reasoning behind the surprising and bold move). Kerry admitted his campaign had not put him in first place in New Hampshire and Iowa, and said that he is focused on running a strong campaign. When Tim brought up one poll showing a 22-point gap between Kerry and Dean, Kerry saluted Dean for his strong showing -- and then started "campaigning" by saying that Dean will raise taxes on the middle class -- and Kerry pledged to do the opposite. Kerry also indirectly criticized some Democrats by saying that some candidates run the risk of putting off those that Dems seek to reach out to such as waitresses and construction workers.

Tim tried to get Kerry to say that Dean is not ready to lead the US (don't make us laugh, Tim -- was Junior ready to lead" the nation?); naturally, Kerry would not rise to Tim's silly bait and said that's up to the voters, then slammed Smirk before talking about his plan for peace and the environment. Kerry pledges the if elected, he will make his first act an appearance before the UN to mend fences.

Kerry then tried to rip Dean for supposedly backing off a pledge on campaign fundraising -- and said that while he wants to stick only to individual contributions, if Dean goes outside that promise, he will not "unilaterally disarm."

Tim tried to paint Kerry as "unfocused" on issues and too "nuanced," quoting a few high-profile Democrats including Joe Biden, who said that Kerry should say what he thinks. Kerry denied what sounded more to us like GOP spin points than genuine criticism..

Should we withdraw from Iraq? No Should we send more troops? No Should we reduce funding for troops? No -- we should increase funding by whatever amount it takes to "win [the peace in Iraq]... it is essential" that we win. But the military is "overextended" -- Kerry does not want more American troops in Iraq, but does want to see more foreign troops, and made a forceful point that Smirk's failure to secure a broader international coalition has been "disastrous" -- it is time to go to the UN, and "tomorrow is not too early." Iraq needs forces separately focused on combat and civil missions.

Tim said that "we tried that in Somalia" -- and Kerry said that is not what he would do -- there is a need for three UN-led missions: security, humanitarian aid, and infrastructure repair and protection. Kerry said he does not want our troops to be targets -- we don't want dead troops as a result of "false pride" and "insufficient planning" that should leave "every American angry at the Administration's arrogance." (We only wish that Kerry had used the favored Neocon phrase "flypaper" to turn it inside out, pointing out that America's young men and women are the "flypaper" and too many are getting killed.)

Tim seemed d a little indignant that Kerry would dare suggest that an American not be in command in Iraq -- but Kerry said we are in danger of losing Iraq, putting special emphasis on the word "quagmire." Tim seemed skeptical about the word -- which gave Kerry the chance to talk about his experience on the battlefield, and the US needs to do the most to protect our soldiers and our interests: get foreign help, which will minimize the image of the US as an occupier. Tim raised the specter of "US troops under the command of a blue-helmeted commander" (a favorite concept for inflaming isolationist anti-UN nutballs), but Kerry slapped Tim down by saying that is not part of his plan.

After an assertive answer about changing course to essentially take away the advantages and tools that Al Qaeda has, Tim tried to make him look uncertain, quoting some anti-Kerry columnist saying that he had been wishy-washy on Saddam. Kerry demolished the notion by reminding Tim that he had wanted Clinton to go to the UN and demands that Saddam be held accountable -- and forcefully and rigorously demand proof from Saddam. And Kerry ratcheted up the issue, criticizing the hapless Smirk for failing to exhaust all avenues to resolve the problem -- and also blasted George the Lesser for failing to plan to secure nuclear facilities.

Tim: "No regret over your vote." Kerry: "My regret is that the President didn't do what he promised to do."

Kerry then reeled off a slew of the Misadministration's WMD lies. Tim stopped Kerry, saying that Kerry had repeated some of Smirk's own claims, and then played old footage of Kerry saying Saddam had WMDs and was "developing" delivery vehicles "according to the CIA." (It was a stirring -- though highly conditional -- speech.) Tim finished by saying that Kerry is suggesting Smirk (gasp! horrors!) lied.

Kerry stole the playing field from Tim, saying that's exactly his point -- the information he and the rest of Congress was given justified the notion that the President should have the power to put weapons inspectors back into Iraq. Kerry reiterated the fact that the President had failed to do the job of exhausting all possibilities prior to war and failed to plan to secure alleged WMD sites. Tim sputtered that Kerry had agreed with Smirk and intelligence. So "was the CIA lying?" Kerry said the he doesn't know if the CIA was duped or if politics was at play -- and either way the failure lies with Whistle Ass.

Tim then attacked Kerry over his tone, claiming that a surging Dean has somehow left Kerry :"ambivalent," quoting among others the hilariously slanted and unreliable Deborah Orin in the right-wing New York Post.-- including a specious claim that Kerry wished he had been a nay-sayer from the start. Kerry said the claim was absolutely wrong, and reminded Tim that Smirk said that Saddam was reconstituting his WMDs -- and it was right to hold Saddam accountable. Kerry also made it clear that after hearing Powell, Dean said that he believed Saddam had WMDs and that Saddam should have been held to account.

Tim then tried to turn Cuban-Americans against Kerry by suggesting that Kerry would end the trade ban with Cuba. Kerry said he is against trading with Cuba ("... don't give him a reward for nothing") but wants to lift the travel ban. The big question, said Kerry, is how to "remove Castro" -- and Kerry reminded Tim that Castro uses isolation to protect a police state that intimidates the Cuban people.

Tim then tried to "prove" that Kerry had "flipped" his tax position. Kerry demolished Tim's spin by pointing out that he wants to protect middle-class taxpayers and stop a "bum-rushed" tax cut for the rich. Tim said Kerry wants to raise taxes on the rich -- and Kerry, in an indication that this point is starting to resonate with working Americans, said that if that's what Timmy wants to call it, then so be it. Kerry also said he will reduce the deficit by half. Tim said that it doesn't add up. Kerry said it does -- he's gone to the team that did it with Bill Clinton. Tim asked if he's included prescription drugs in his plan -- and Kerry said he's included drugs and Iraq! Tim tried to claim Kerry wants to raise payroll taxes -- but that just gave Kerry a chance to say not only that he won't but he won't allow Social Security to be privatized. He also wants to make Social Security more progressive by making the pay-in system more progressive, and that means looking at the wealthiest people in America first. (In other words, Kerry will not raise payroll taxes for the vast majority of working Americans.)

Tim then tried to cast Kerry as anti-affirmative action, citing a statement he made last year. Kerry said he does support a court ruling that put four white firefighters on the job -- but he stopped Tim, saying that he supports affirmative action while saying it needs some tweaking.

We delighted when Tim quoted part of a Kerry article in Vogue in which he depicted Smirk as stage-managed. Kerry went into a litany of Smirk's regressive "backwards" positions, especially on North Korea and loose nukes. And while Kerry did say that the Bushling is 's essentially the same guy as he was at Yale, what's important is that his agenda is wrong and that he uses "the politics of wedge" and such false claims as "'quotas' that aren't quotas", not to mention the fact that he seeks to pack the court with right-wingers.

Tim irrelevantly tried to tie Smirk to Kerry by saying that they were both members of Skull and Bones -- and Kerry said there's one thing that's not a secret: he opposes Smirk..

All in all, Kerry not only stood up to Tim's effete attacks (as did Howard Dean a few weeks back) but was able to slip many of his prime talking points into the segment.