I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and for those who celebrate it, are enjoying Hanukkah. The holidays very frequently put us into contact with family members and/or friends with whom we don't agree politically. My husband's oldest friend is one such person in my life. A perennial Fox News viewer (and not because he's conservative; he's just too lazy to change the channel. I'm not kidding.), he was full of disdain for government bureaucracy and positive that President Obama was so obsessed with ensuring the success of "Obamacare" that he would be taking away his Medicare (which had just allowed him to get a liver transplant) to make sure it would happen (don't bother trying to figure out the logic. He's stupid as well as lazy). He was also a recipient of one of the free cell phones so that they could get in contact with him immediately if a liver became available. He proudly said he was putting one over on Obama by keeping it after the transplant. I tried to explain that it wasn't an "Obama program" and as a Medicare and food stamp recipient, he qualified for it any way. It didn't matter to him, though, because he was so sure that the way he understood things (courtesy of his friends at FNC) was correct.
That's how conventional wisdom works. We hear incorrect things often enough, they start becoming the accepted version, just like these movie quotes above. Granted, they're finicky little differences, but the analogy still holds true: what we accept as conventional wisdom very rarely is accurate. So listen carefully for what sounds suspiciously like conventional wisdom on the shows today. Don't accept them, like my husband's friend. Be thankful for a community like ours that challenges them.
ABC's "This Week" — Tom Donilon, former national security adviser to President Barack Obama. Powerhouse roundtable: Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, and former Obama White House Senior Adviser David Plouffe. Special panel: ABC News Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser, USA Today columnist and ABC News consultant Christine Brennan, ESPN investigative reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada, co-author of “League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions and the Battle for Truth”, and former Buffalo Bills offensive lineman and Pro Football Hall of Fame member Joe DeLamielleure. Singer/activist Bono.
NBC's "Meet the Press" — Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. Roundtable: New York Times Columnist David Brooks; Democratic Mayor of Baltimore Stephanie Rawlings-Blake; NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell; and Political Director & Chief White House Correspondent for NBC, Chuck Todd.
CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn.; Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis. William Kristol of The Weekly Standard and former White House Chief of Staff under President Obama, Bill Daley. Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of “The Bully Pulpit,” A. Scott Berg, author of “Wilson” and Peter Baker, author of “Days of Fire.”
MSNBC's "UP with Steve Kornacki" -- Guest list not provided.
MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" -- Guest list not provided.
MSNBC's "Disrupt with Karen Finney" -- Guest list not provided.
CNN's "State of the Union" — Rogers; Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.; former Gov. Howard Dean, D-Vt. Panel: CNN Contributors Kevin Madden and Donna Brazile plus Corey Dade of TheRoot.com.
CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" -- Guest list not provided.
"Fox News Sunday" — Michael Hayden, a former chief of the CIA and National Security Agency. James Capretta, American Enterprise Institute, Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress. Panel: Brit Hume, Jane Harman, President of Woodrow Wilson Center & Fmr Congresswoman (D-CA), George Will, Evan Bayh, Former Democratic Senator from Indiana.
So what's catching your eye this morning?
