WARNING: ABSOLUTELY NOT SAFE FOR WORK/CHILDREN. I'M NOT KIDDING. It's crass and vulgar (and I apologize to those who clicked to play the video this early on a Sunday), but I also think it's a completely apt analogy for the American Sunday news
April 22, 2012


WARNING: ABSOLUTELY NOT SAFE FOR WORK/CHILDREN. I'M NOT KIDDING.

It's crass and vulgar (and I apologize to those who clicked to play the video this early on a Sunday), but I also think it's a completely apt analogy for the American Sunday news shows as it is for the UK news show: almost entirely white, male, privileged and conservative, they completely ignore the elephant in the room. And it's not just a vague feeling we're getting, it's statistically provable. And just like the elephant in the video, it's damaging them as much as it's harming us, even if they can't or won't acknowledge it. Look at today's schedule. You'd think the most important thing in the entire world has to deal with is Secret Service agents hiring hookers. Look, I don't know if this is shocking, but there's a reason why prostitution is called the world's oldest profession. It has been around for as long as there have been human beings and you'd have a hard time convincing me that there weren't alpha Australopithecus getting a little sumpin' sumpin' on the side. This is no doubt a black eye for the Secret Service, but life goes on (and so will the hooker parties, more than likely). It's an inside-the-Beltway scandal that is good for some cocktail banter, but in the lives of 99 percent of us, it matters not.

But that's the way our corporate media likes it.

ABC's "This Week" – Secret Service scandal: Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. Roundtable: General election politics, Romney's veepstakes: Keith Olbermann, ABC News' George Will, political strategist and ABC News contributor Donna Brazile, political strategist and ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan.

NBC's "Meet the Press" – Secret Service scandal: Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Peter King, R-N.Y.; General election politics: David Axelrod, adviser to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. Roundtable: general election politics: Washington Post’s EJ Dionne; the New York Times’ David Brooks and Helene Cooper; and NBC’s Chuck Todd.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Michael Duffy, Time; Howard Fineman, Huffington Post; Andrea Mitchell, NBC; Kasie Hunt, AP. Topics: Mike Duffy's New Book: "The President's Club" is discussed. An Inside look at the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity. Meter Questions: Romney better off if Supreme Court strikes Individual Mandate? YES: 6 NO: 6; Will the GOP Candidate move to the center for the general? YES: 7 NO: 5.

MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Afghanistan, foreign policy: Peter Beinart, author of the book, “The Crisis of Zionism”, Senior Writer, Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and founder of the blog Open Zion; Rula Jebreal, Journalist, Author, and Screenwriter; Eli Lake, Senior National Security Reporter for Newsweek/Daily Beast; Sonali Kolhatkar, Host & Executive Producer of Uprising Radio, Director of the Afghan Women's Mission.

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Latino voters; greening our cities; sexual assault in the military; whatever happened to the tea party: Angela Maria Kelley, VP for Immigration Policy and Advocacy, Center for American Progress; Izzy Ortega, The Heritage Foundation; Raul Reyes, lawyer and columnist for USA Today; Majora Carter, president of the Majora Carter Group; Beth Terry, author of “Plastic-Free”; Ariana Klay, former Marine officer assaulted while on active duty, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-California).

CBS' "Face the Nation" – Secret Service scandal: Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla.; Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas; Ralph Basham, a former director of the Secret Service. General election politics: Eric Fehrnstrom, adviser to GOP president candidate Mitt Romney; Stephanie Cutter, deputy campaign for Obama. General election politics: Panel: Washington Post's Melinda Henneberger, the National Journal's Major Garrett and CBS News' Norah O'Donnell and John Dickerson. Poverty in America: Cornel West and Tavis Smiley

CNN's "State of the Union" – President Obama's re-election: Axelrod. Latino voters, Romney's veepstakes: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). Secret Service scandal: Cummings. Roundtable: Jeff Zeleny, New York Times, Dana Bash, CNN.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - French elections: Anne-Marie Slaughter, Edward Luce, Bret Stephens and Emmanuel Saint-Martin. The future of growth in Brazil, Russia, India, and China: Investor Ruchir Sharma. Getting a green card while HIV positive: Andrew Sullivan.

CNN's "Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz" - The evolution of Huffington Post: Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post. Reporting in war zones: Bob Woodruff, ABC. Coverage of Mitt Romney's Mormon faith: Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post; Ben Smith, BuzzFeed; Bill Press, Current TV.

"Fox News Sunday" – Secret Service scandal: Lieberman; Economy, general election politics, veepstakes: Gov. Mitch Daniels, R-Ind. Roundtable: Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard; Joe Trippi, Democratic strategist/Howard Dean's campaign manager; Karl Rove, former WH Senior Adviser/American Crossroads; Juan Williams, Fox News analyst.

So what's catching your eye this morning?

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