Our penultimate Sunday together for 2013. I'm not a religious person, but I do really love the Christmas season: the stories emphasizing generosity of spirit and family; the traditions passed on from my parents to my kids; just the general joy of the season. There are things I'm not as crazy about: the commercialism, the consumerism. But I try to minimize the bad and focus on the good.
It's a little harder to do that with the Sunday shows, but still, how else can you view this group of people willing to stay in DC so close to the holidays to be booked on TV?
ABC's "This Week" - Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.; Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo. Roundtable: Democratic strategist and ABC News contributor Donna Brazile, ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, Willett Advisors chair and former counselor to the Treasury Secretary Steven Rattner, and Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren. Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart.
NBC's "Meet the Press" - Sens. James Inhofe, R-Okla., Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.; Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Roundtable: New York Times columnist David Brooks, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Republican strategist Ana Navarro.
CBS' "Face the Nation" - Michael Morrell, a former deputy CIA Director and member of an intelligence review panel created by President Barack Obama. Book panel: Rick Atkinson, author of "The Guns at Last Light," Michael Connelly, author of "The Gods of Guilt," Terry McMillan, author of "Who Asked You?" and George Saunders, author of "The Tenth of December." Year end round up with CBS News correspondents Margaret Brennan, Nancy Cordes, Major Garrett and David Martin.
MSNBC's "UP with Steve Kornacki" - Donita Judge, The Advancement Project; Wendy Weiser, director, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice; Christina Bellantoni, PBS Newshour; Richard Socarides, fmr. White House senior advisor during the Clinton Administration; Mike Pesca, NPR; Stuart Milk, LGBT Rights Advocate, Pres & Co-Founder, Harvey Milk Foundation; Nick Acocella, writer, editor, publisher PolitiFax; Kate Nocera, BuzzFeed.com; Dave Itzkoff, The New York Times.
MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - (Guest host: Joy Reid) Danielle Moodie-Mills, Co-Host of Politini / Advisor at the Center for American Progress; Aisha Moodie-Mills, Co-Host of Politini / Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress; Dave Zirin, Sports Editor at The Nation Magazine; Debbie Dooley, Co-Founder of the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots; Michael Saltsman, Research Director at the Employment Policies Institute; Heather McGhee, VP of Policy and Outreach at DEMOS; Richard Kim, Executive Editor at TheNation.com; Marcus Mabry, New York Times Lede Blog Editor.
MSNBC's "Disrupt with Karen Finney" - Victoria Soto, MSNBC Contributor; Margie Omero, Democratic pollster; Raul Reyes, NBCLatino contributor; Ryan Grim, Huffington Post; Lee Fang, The Nation; Joe Madison, Sirius XM radio.
CNN's "State of the Union" - Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; Reps. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and Aaron Schock, R-Ill., and Peter Swire, former Office of Management and Budget privacy director and member of Obama's intelligence review panel. Roundtable: The Washington Post’s Dan Balz, New York Times’ Mark Leibovich, Mark Halperin of Time Magazine and CNN “Crossfire” host Newt Gingrich.
CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Anne Marie Slaughter, president and CEO of the New America Foundation, Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens, The Economist’s Zanny Minton Beddoes, and Ian Bremmer, founder and president of the Eurasia Group. U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne. President Obama's first director of National Intelligence, now retired, Naval Admiral Dennis Blair.
CNN's "Reliable Sources" - Lola Ogunnaike, Arise TV; Matea Gold, The Washington Post and Matt Lewis, The Daily Caller. Ryan Lizza, The New Yorker, Alicia Shepard, the former ombudsman for NPR, and Michael Calderone, The Huffington Post. Jim VandeHei, the chief executive of Politico.
"Fox News Sunday" - Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark. Pastor Joel Osteen. Panel: George Will, Kirsten Powers, Charles Krauthammer, Juan Williams.
So let me wish you and yours a merry Christmas and my best hopes for the New Year. And tell us, what is catching your eye this morning?
