Randy Newman - It's Money That I Love

Wouldn't it be refreshing to have Newt Gingrich--currently on his reputation repair tour, enabled by Dancin' Dave Gregory--just be honest about his ill-fated campaign? Or frankly, any of these politicos. Where is the discussion of inequality? Where is the discussion of Mitt Romney's reverse-Robin Hood tax schemes? Where is the discussion of the great food insecurity here in the wealthiest nation in the world? How is it that a man who offers nothing more than the exact same policies that George W. Bush touted can be considered a viable candidate? Well, my friends, it's because this is equally the theme song of all the networks carrying these Sunday shows as well.

ABC's "This Week" - Afghanistan, Defense spending, National Security: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Roundtable: BC News' George Will, former Michigan governor and host of Current TV's "The War Room" Jennifer Granholm, Fox Business Network anchor Liz Claman, Washington Post national political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, and National Journal editorial director Ron Brownstein.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Decision 2012: Former GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich; Gov. Martin O'Malley, D-Md.; Roundtable: Mayor of Los Angeles and Chairman of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Antonio Villaraigosa; Vice Chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and former head of Hewlett-Packard, Carly Fiorina; author of the new book "Our Divided Political Heart," the Washington Post's EJ Dionne; and from the New York Times, David Brooks. Advice to Class of 2012: Maria Shriver, author Michael Lewis.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Joe Klein, Time; Helene Cooper, New York Times; Major Garrett, National Journal; Kasie Hunt, AP. Topics: Obama attempts to disqualify Romney's Bain credentials as Rove runs new ad. Do veterans make better Presidential Candidates? Meter Questions: Will TV ads more effectively portray 2012 as a referendum of Obama rather than a choice? YES: 9 NO: 3; If race is politicized, will it hurt Romney's candidacy? YES: 10 No: 2.

MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Panelists: Michael Brendan Dougherty, Business Insider; Michelle Goldberg, Newsweek/Daily Beast; John McWhorter, Columbia University; Liliana Segura, The Nation. Guests: Lt. Col. Steve Beck, U.S. Marine Corps casualty assistance officer and Associate Professor of Naval Science at Carnegie Mellon University; Barry Scheck, Co-Founder, The Innocence Project and Co- Author, “Actual Innocence: Five Days to Execution and Other Dispatches from the Wrongly Convicted”. Topics include: Memorial Day, Gallup’s new morality poll, new report out on exonerations.

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Margaret Cho, comedian; Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative; Bill Schneider, Distinguished Senior Fellow & Resident Scholar, Third Way. Topics include: 2012 latest political news; Wedging women; Asian-American voters, Sexual abuse at Tutwiler prison in Alabama

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Senatorial politics: Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.; Decision 2012: Ed Gillespie, adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign; Robert Gibbs, adviser to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. Roundtable: Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, co-authors, The President's Club, Robert Merry, author of Where They Stand: The American Presidents in The Eyes of Voters and Historians, Douglas Brinkley, author of Cronkite.

CNN's "State of the Union" - Presidential race, Bain Capital: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; VA backlog: Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash; PTSD and brain injuries in vets: Peter Chiarelli, retired Army vice chief of staff; Struggles of returning vets: Paul Rieckhoff, executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America; Tim Tetz, legislative director of the American Legion.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - China, Russia, Obama v. Romney: Bill Keller, Peggy Noonan, Chrystia Freeland and Ross Douthat. Deficit: Alan Simpson, Erskine Bowles.

CNN's "Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz" - Andy Cohen, Bravo; Cory Booker scandal: Roger Simon, Politico; Anne Kornblut, Washington Post; Changing media landscape: former president of ABC News David Westin

"Fox News Sunday" - Afghanistan, foreign policy: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Contraceptives mandate: Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Catholic archbishop of Washington. Panel: Jeff Zeleny, New York Times; Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal; Kirsten Powers, The Daily Beast and Fox News.

What's catching your eye this morning?

Jeremy Rivkin and the evolution of empathy

Ah...empathy. I think a highly developed sense of empathy is what defines us as liberals. I do not need to be a minority, or on food stamps or elderly to empathize with the struggles they have. I can empathize with all sorts of people. But there appears to be an empathy gene missing from Republicans. Rather than imagining and empathizing with those who aren't as fortunate as they, Republicans treat them with suspicion and worse, contempt. How else can you explain their policies? Would that we could be the ones to ask questions of these guys. How I'd love to ask Paul Ryan of the real consequences of his budget plan. Is he prepared to let so many people suffer in the richest country in the world? Or Mitch McConnell, how does he feel about hurting so many children? Or John Boehner? Where in the world is their empathy?

ABC's "This Week" — Budget, debt ceiling: Reps. John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Roundtable: George Will, Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, Gavin Newsom.

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Economy, elections 2012: Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Roundtable: Mayor of Newark, NJ, Cory Booker (D), Republican strategist Mike Murphy, CNBC's Jim Cramer, and the Wall Street Journal's Kim Strassel

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune; Kathleen Parker, Washington Post; Liz Marlantes, Christian Science Monitor; John Heilemann, New York magazine. Topics: Jeremiah Wright returns -- will negative ads dominate 2012? America's Non-White Majority in the context of our American Tradition

MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Panelists: MSNBC Policy Analyst Ezra Klein; Former Obama Labor Dept. Chief Economist Betsey Stevenson; Former Federal Home Loan Bank Board Litigation Director Bill Black; Karl Smith, Asst. Prof. of Economics and Government at UNC-Chapel Hill. Topics include: The 2012 presidential-race battles over debt and Bain’s effect on jobs; A look at how much America has at stake in the Euro Zone crisis; This weekend’s G-8 talks.

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Panelists: Glen Johnson, Politics Editor of Boston.com; Salamishah Tillet, Assistant Professor of English and Africana Studies at Univ. of Pennsylvania; Dafna Linzer, Senior Reporter for ProPublica; Kayla Williams, Author of “Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army” and a fellow at the Truman National Security Project; Julie Zeilinger, Founder of the The FBomb, a feminist blog for teenagers and author of “A Little F’d Up: Why Feminism Is Not A Dirty Word”, former Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ), author of “We Can All Do Better”. Topics include: Year of the young woman; Women in combat; Clemency for Clarence Aaron; Bill Bradley’s new book

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Debt ceiling battle: Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Mark Warner, D-Va. Afghanistan: Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. and Tom Friedman. Syria: CBS news correspondent Clarissa Ward. Roundtable: Chief White House correspondent Norah O'Donnell and Political Director John Dickerson.

CNN's "State of the Union" — Budget and debt ceiling battle: Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas; Presidential election: David Axelrod, adviser to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign; Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee chairman; Upcoming NATO meeting in Chicago: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary-General. Roundtable: Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times and CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - European economy crisis, upcoming G8 summit: Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti

CNN's "Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz" - Campaign ads: National Review senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru, Newsweek/Daily Beast columnist and CNN contributor John Avlon, and RealClearPolitics’ Erin McPike. Facebook IPO: PandoDaily.com’s Sarah Lacy. USA Today new online editor: Larry Kramer. Former Daily Show producer: Mike Rubens.

"Fox News Sunday" — Ryan; former White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee. Roundtable: Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard; Joe Trippi; Karl Rove; Evan Bayh

So what's catching your eye this morning?

Happy Mothers' Day to all my fellow mommies! I want to take a moment to remember all the moms who will be away from their babies on this day. The women who are stationed in Afghanistan, and like SSgt Staub, now on her fourth tour of duty. Or moms like Sybrina Fulton, who will have to celebrate her first Mother's Day without her beloved son, Trayvon Martin. Being a mother is a soul-defining thing, at least it has been for me. My whole sense of self--my identity, my politics, my worldview--was permanently altered by these little tiny creatures who were completely dependent upon me. They have made me the caretaker of the world that will be entrusted to them someday. And I fight every day to make it a little better...for them. So join me in saluting the mothers out there and hope that these men and women on the Sunday shows think about the sacrifices being made every day by mothers to make the world a better place for their children.

ABC's "This Week" – Same sex marriage: Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Roundtable: Republican strategist Mary Matalin, former New York governor and host of Current TV's "Viewpoint" Eliot Spitzer, Faith and Freedom Coalition founder and chairman Ralph Reed, Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen, and Politico senior political reporter Maggie Haberman.

NBC's "Meet the Press" – JP Morgan Chase $2B loss, financial regulations: Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase; Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.; Andrew Ross Sorkin, host, CNBC's "Squawk Box"; 2012 Election: Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee chairman. Roundtable: Lt. Governor of California Gavin Newsom; Chairman of the American Conservative Union Al Cardenas; Washington Post columnists Kathleen Parker and Jonathan Capehart; and MSNBC’s Chris Matthews.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Nia-Malika Henderson, Washington Post; Andrew Sullivan, Gloria Borger, CNN; Howard Fineman, Huffington Post. Topics: Obama's Reversal on Gay Marriage. How Obama is following the Bush '04 Playbook against Romney. Meter Questions: Is Obama's Gay Marriage Reversal a net political plus? YES: 7 NO: 1; Did the Bin Laden raid inoculate Obama from the GOP's foreign policy attacks? YES: 10 No: 2.

MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Panel: Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues; Michaela Angela Davis, Image Activist and Writer. Topics: Dodd-Frank; The resignation of an EPA official over using the word ‘crucify’ to describe how he would go after oil companies violating environmental laws; The rise in Americans’ expected retirement age.

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Panels: Chloe Angyal, editor of Feministing.com; Michael Tomasky, Newsweek and The Daily Beast; Ronald Scott, author "Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics"; Janny Scott, author of "A Singular Woman"; Anthea Butler, Professor of Religion Studies at Univ. of Pennsylvania; Rev. Vivian Nixon, Co-Founder of the Education Inside Out Coalition. Topics: Michelle Obama and Ann Romney on the campaign trail, President Obama and Mitt Romney’s mommy issues, Mitt Romney and the political effect of boys behaving badly, moms in prison

CBS' "Face the Nation" – Same sex marriage: former Solicitor General Ted Olson; Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass.; Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry; Republican strategist Mark McKinnon; singer Clay Aiken; Tony Perkins, president, Family Research Council. Terrorism: Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.. Panel: Norah O'Donnell, Democratic strategist Anita Dunn, Republican commentator Bay Buchanan and Melinda Henneberger, Washington Post.

CNN's "State of the Union" – 2012 Elections: Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., John Cornyn, R-Texas; Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y; Same sex marriage: Gov. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.; Mitt Romney and the evangelical right: Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Gary Bauer, president of American Values. Terrorism: Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - The fallout from Francois Hollande’s win in France; Peter Mandelson, Josef Joffe, Elaine Sciolino and David Frum's feisty debate on Europe; how Israel has anointed a "King" and BlackRock Chairman & CEO Larry Fink's take on the global economy. World Bank's Robert Zoellick on rumors that he will be named Secretary of State if Romney is elected.

CNN's "Reliable Sources" - President Obama's evolution on same sex marriage: Daily Caller’s Matt Lewis and founder of AmericaBlog.com John Aravosis. 2012 Election coverage: The Washington Post’s Nia-Malika Henderson, former media correspondent for the PBS NewsHour Terence Smith, and Daily-Download.com founder Lauren Ashburn. Foiled terrorist plot and AP's scoop: New York Times Mark Mazzetti. The disconnect between what the media focuses on and what really matters to the public: Tom Brokaw.

"Fox News Sunday" – National Security and terrorism: Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Panel: Brit Hume, Fox News; Liz Marlantes, Christian Science Monitor; Paul Gigot, Wall Street Journal; Juan Williams, Fox News

So what's catching your eye this morning?

Sara Bareilles -- King of Anything

Oh Grampa McSame, how I've missed you! The King of the Sunday shows returns to talk most earnestly with George Stephanopoulos. And the King of Also-rans Newt Gingrich comes to sulk and not one but two shows. But the segment that has my dander up? Fareed Zakaria interviews former Bain Capitalist Ed Conard on why defending the 1 percent helps the 99 percent. Who made this guy the king of anything?

ABC's "This Week" – Jobs, Economy, Chinese dissident Chen Guancheng, Afghanistan: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; David Axelrod, adviser to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. Round table: George Will, former Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee, Romney campaign adviser Bay Buchanan, radio and television host Tavis Smiley, and Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren.

NBC's "Meet the Press" – 2012 campaign, foreign policy, jobs: Vice President Joe Biden; Round table: Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH); Chief Economist from Mesirow Financial Diane Swonk; and NBC's Chuck Todd and Tom Brokaw.

NBC's "The Chris Matthew Show" - Topics: One year later: the Osama Bin Laden raid. Is Romney the most conservative nominee since Goldwater? Obama camp says so. Panel: Katty Kay, BBC; Rick Stengel, Time; David Ignatius, Washington Post; Helene Cooper, New York Times.

MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Chen Guancheng, Dodd Frank Act, EPA regulations and GOP obstruction with former EPA Administrator Alfredo Juan Armendariz, Panel: Eric Schneiderman, New York attorney general; Raj Date, deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Catherine Rampell, The New York Times; Alexis Goldstein, Occupy the SEC; James Fallows, The Atlantic; David Frum.

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Topics: Economic recovery; Stand Your Ground in domestic violence cases; Bringing the arts to underserved communities; The demise of facts in political rhetoric. Panel: Misty Copeland, Soloist at American Ballet Theatre; Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Violinist; Alice Stewart, former Rick Santorum Press Secretary and former Michelle Bachmann Communications Director; Perry Bacon Jr., theGrio.com; Daniel Gross, ; Nona Willis Aronowitz, Good magazine; Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Annenberg Public Policy Center

CBS' "Face the Nation" – Politics, 2012 Election: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.; Jobs, 2012 Election: Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; former Gov. Howard Dean, D-Vt. US/China relations: Zbigniew Brzezinski. Round table: Peggy Noonan, WSJ; Michael Gerson, Washington Post; David Corn, Mother Jones and CBS News' John Dickerson

CNN's "State of the Union" – 2012 Election: Newt Gingrich; Afghanistan: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.; Battleground states: former Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va.; former Gov. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio. Round table: National Journal’s Major Garrett, Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Alice Rivlin

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - US jobs, European recession, global economy: The Financial Times' Martin Wolf and TIME’s Rana Foroohar. Defending the 1%: Former Bain Capital Managing Director Ed Conard. LBJ presidency: historian Robert Caro.

CNN's "Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz" - Anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death: Jonah Goldberg, Dana Milbank and Chrystia Freeland. New books by Bill Bradlee and Dan Rather on journalism: University of Maryland journalism professor Mark Feldstein and NBC News's Fred Francis. Murdoch phone hacking scandal: Columbia Journalism School’s Emily Bell.

"Fox News Sunday" – 2012 election: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Round table: Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard; AB Stoddard, The Hill; Liz Cheney, Keep America Safe; Juan Williams.

So what's catching your eye this morning?

Rob Thomas - Little Wonders

Apologies to all. Some sort of technical glitch (no doubt created by me) showed the post published when it wasn't. We resume our normal Sunday morning fare.

Another Sunday, another week of self-important navel-gazing by our media corps, still basking in the afterglow of the Nerd Prom, otherwise known as the White House Correspondents' Dinner. I expect no miraculous discussions, no acknowledging of issues that real Americans care about. If we do have any, it will be truly a little wonder.

ABC's "This Week" – Obama's terrorism strategy: John Brennan, Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser; Economic Recovery with Live Panel: George Will; Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard; former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich.; Paul Krugman; Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google; David Walker, former comptroller general.

NBC's "Meet the Press" – General election strategies: Robert Gibbs, adviser to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign; Ed Gillespie, adviser to Mitt Romney's campaign. Economy, foreign policy, immigration, and potential VP picks with panel: Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen; Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and GOP strategist Alex Castellanos.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Helene Cooper, David Ignatius, Rick Stengel, Katty Kay. Topics: One year later: the Osama Bin Laden raid. Is Romney the most conservative nominee since Goldwater? Obama camp says so. Did the Bin Laden raid inoculate Obama from the GOP's foreign policy attacks? YES: 10 NO: 2; Romney better off if Supreme Court strikes Individual Mandate? YES: 6 No: 6 .

MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Panel: Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY); Daron Acemoglu, MIT Economics Professor. Topics include: President Obama/Democrats and the labor movement, May Day, the UK Recession and a discussion of the book “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty”

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Dorian Warren, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Public Affairs at Columbia University; Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project; and Bill Schneider, Distinguished Senior Fellow & Resident Scholar at Third Way. Topics include: Resurrecting the Reagan playbook, the death penalty, battleground Virginia and the GOP budget.

CBS' "Face the Nation" – Immigration: Former Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss.; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; California politics: Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif. War on Terror with panel: Graham Allison, Time Magazine; Peter Bergen, Time Magazine; David Ignatius, Washington Post; CBS News Senior Correspondent John Miller.

CNN's "State of the Union" –
Terrorism: Brennan; Veepstakes, President Obama, and whether Mitt Romney’s wealth will hurt his chances among Blue Collar voters: House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio; Economy, general election: Govs. Bob McDonnell, R-Va., and Brian Schweitzer, D-Mont. Panel: Time magazine’s Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs on their new book “The Presidents Club,” and the political news of the week.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Evan Osnos, New Yorker; Husain Haqqani, former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S.; Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor; Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit.

CNN's "Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz" - Coverage of Obama and Romney: Mark Jurkowitz, Change the Ratio founder Rachel Sklar, and Newsweek/Daily Beast contributing editor and CNN contributor David Frum; HBO's new series "The Girls" and accusations of racism and nepotism: Jezebel.com founder Anna Holmes and Huffington Post's TV critic Maureen Ryan; filtering information: Clay Johnson, the author of a book “The Information Diet”. Update of "Fox News Mole" Joe Muto.

"Fox News Sunday" – War on Terror: Brennan. Religion and key policy issues: Victoria and Joel Osteen; roundtable with Fox News' Brit Hume, the Christian Science Monitor's Liz Marlantes, the Wall Street Journal's Kim Strassel and the Washington Post's Charles Lane.

So what's catching your eye this morning?

Rob Thomas - Little Wonders

Apologies to all. Some sort of technical glitch (no doubt created by me) showed the post published when it wasn't. We resume our normal Sunday morning fare.

Another Sunday, another week of self-important navel-gazing by our media corps, still basking in the afterglow of the Nerd Prom, otherwise known as the White House Correspondents' Dinner. I expect no miraculous discussions, no acknowledging of issues that real Americans care about. If we do have any, it will be truly a little wonder.

ABC's "This Week" – Obama's terrorism strategy: John Brennan, Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser; Economic Recovery with Live Panel: George Will; Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard; former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich.; Paul Krugman; Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google; David Walker, former comptroller general.

NBC's "Meet the Press" – General election strategies: Robert Gibbs, adviser to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign; Ed Gillespie, adviser to Mitt Romney's campaign. Economy, foreign policy, immigration, and potential VP picks with panel: Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen; Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and GOP strategist Alex Castellanos.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Helene Cooper, David Ignatius, Rick Stengel, Katty Kay. Topics: One year later: the Osama Bin Laden raid. Is Romney the most conservative nominee since Goldwater? Obama camp says so. Did the Bin Laden raid inoculate Obama from the GOP's foreign policy attacks? YES: 10 NO: 2; Romney better off if Supreme Court strikes Individual Mandate? YES: 6 No: 6 .

MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Panel: Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY); Daron Acemoglu, MIT Economics Professor. Topics include: President Obama/Democrats and the labor movement, May Day, the UK Recession and a discussion of the book “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty”

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Dorian Warren, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Public Affairs at Columbia University; Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project; and Bill Schneider, Distinguished Senior Fellow & Resident Scholar at Third Way. Topics include: Resurrecting the Reagan playbook, the death penalty, battleground Virginia and the GOP budget.

CBS' "Face the Nation" – Immigration: Former Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss.; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; California politics: Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif. War on Terror with panel: Graham Allison, Time Magazine; Peter Bergen, Time Magazine; David Ignatius, Washington Post; CBS News Senior Correspondent John Miller.

CNN's "State of the Union" –
Terrorism: Brennan; Veepstakes, President Obama, and whether Mitt Romney’s wealth will hurt his chances among Blue Collar voters: House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio; Economy, general election: Govs. Bob McDonnell, R-Va., and Brian Schweitzer, D-Mont. Panel: Time magazine’s Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs on their new book “The Presidents Club,” and the political news of the week.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Evan Osnos, New Yorker; Husain Haqqani, former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S.; Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor; Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit.

CNN's "Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz" - Coverage of Obama and Romney: Mark Jurkowitz, Change the Ratio founder Rachel Sklar, and Newsweek/Daily Beast contributing editor and CNN contributor David Frum; HBO's new series "The Girls" and accusations of racism and nepotism: Jezebel.com founder Anna Holmes and Huffington Post's TV critic Maureen Ryan; filtering information: Clay Johnson, the author of a book “The Information Diet”. Update of "Fox News Mole" Joe Muto.

"Fox News Sunday" – War on Terror: Brennan. Religion and key policy issues: Victoria and Joel Osteen; roundtable with Fox News' Brit Hume, the Christian Science Monitor's Liz Marlantes, the Wall Street Journal's Kim Strassel and the Washington Post's Charles Lane.

So what's catching your eye this morning?

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?

David Brock on the conservative dominance of the Sunday shows in February 2006.

Six years in an age of 24-hour news cycles is forever. Six years ago, we were discussing the embassies destroyed in Denmark and Norway over the publication of political cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed. Sarah Palin was a little known former mayor of Wasilla, running for the governorship of Alaska, touting the "Bridge to Nowhere". The housing market was hurtling ever upwards with little thought of the bubble bursting. And six years ago, Media Matters came out with a study that showed what we liberals have known all along: the Sunday shows are completely weighted towards the conservative point of view.

Fast forward to 2012. We have a new Democratic president; both a tea party movement and an Occupy/"We are the 99 percent" movement; Face the Nation is an hour long; MSNBC joined the Sunday show game with two shows. But fundamentally, who gets the lion's share of the national dialog? Conservatives. Still.

Evaluating the four Sunday morning talk shows--ABC's This Week, NBC's Meet the Press, CBS's Face the Nation and Fox News Sunday--for the eight months from June 2011 through February 2012, FAIR found a distinct conservative, white and male skew in both one-on-one interview segments and roundtable discussions.

According to the study, published in the April issue of FAIR's magazine Extra!:

Of one-on-one interviews, 70 percent of partisan-affiliated guests were Republican. Those guests were overwhelmingly male (86 percent) and white (92 percent).

The broader roundtable segments weren't much more diverse: 62 percent of partisan-affiliated guests were Republican. More broadly, guests classified as either Republican or conservative far outnumbered Democrats or progressives, 282 to 164. The roundtables were 71 percent male and 85 percent white.

U.S. government sources--current officials, former lawmakers, political candidates, party-affiliated political operatives and campaign advisers--dominated the Sunday shows overall (47 percent of appearances). Following closely behind were journalists (43 percent), most of whom were middle-of-the-road Beltway political reporters.

"The Sunday morning shows are the showcase debate programs for the national news networks," said FAIR's Peter Hart. "It's a shame they aren't interested in having many actual debates."

Well, bless them for quantifying what I've been saying every Sunday for six years. But what struck me about FAIR's report isn't the confirmation of conservative bias, but how small the pool is of people asked to opine on the nation's issues:

Unlike the one-on-one interviews, these roundtable segments include some voices from outside the two parties; partisan sources—who leaned Republican, 180 to 109—accounted for less than half of the guests. But the nonpartisan guests didn’t alter the right’s advantage, with Republicans and/or conservatives making 282 appearances to 164 by Democrats and progressives (categories that are less interchangeable). Middle-of-the-road Beltway journalists made 201 appearances in roundtables, which serves to buttress the argument that corporate media’s idea of a debate is conservative ideologues matched by centrist-oriented journalists.

Women were just 29 percent of roundtable guests. The ethnic diversity was similarly woeful: 85 percent white and 11 percent African-American, with 3 percent Latino. Other ethnicities made up an additional 2 percent of roundtable guests.

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Top Ten Stupidest Things Uttered by Karl Pilkington, as curated by hcottam16

Stupidity, in and of itself, isn't upsetting. Stupid can be pretty damn funny, as evidenced by the entire media career of Karl Pilkington, a radio producer plucked from obscurity by comedians Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and now the star of the greatest selling podcasts, as well as television shows and books. But stupidity uttered by our politicians and pundits who shape the national dialog is maddening. And we're going to be subjected to a whole lot of stupid this morning. The Sunday shows' favorite guest, John McCain, is on yet again, this time to wax sincerely on North Korea. Cathy McMorris-Rogers regularly displays her lack of cognitive prowess, but she'll get another turn of 'Blame the Democrats'. And Timothy Geithner, a man who in equal parts is responsible for the economic near-collapse and its muted recovery, will get to push the same old policies. With all due respect to the Secretary of the Treasury, that's just stupid.

ABC's "This Week" - Economy: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Republican presidential race: Panel: ABC News' Cokie Roberts; former Obama domestic policy adviser Melody Barnes; Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot; advisor to the Romney campaign Kevin Madden; and Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation.

NBC's "" - Economy: Geithner; Gender politics: Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. Panel: General election: former Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN), Republican strategist Mike Murphy, and NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie and Chuck Todd.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Dan Rather, HDNet; Pete Williams, NBC News; Nia-Malika Henderson, The Washington Post; Kathleen Parker,The Washington Post. Topics: Assesing the political fallout if the Supreme Court strikes healthcare. Trayon Martin's tragic death has brought the issue of race to the forefront.

MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Taxes and representations of women in the media: David Cay Johnston, Reuters; Heather McGhee, Director of Demos; Tom Perriello, Center for American Progress Action Fund; and fmr. Congressman (D-VA); Betsey Stevenson.

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Topics: Taxes; auto politics in 2012; transgender in America; new HUD rule on fair housing, White House executive order on job protection; President Obama’s LGBT political calculations. Panel: Joy-Ann Reid, TheGrio.com; Rick Newman, U.S. News & World Report; Allison Kilkenny, Citizen Radio co-host; Randa Fahmy Hudome, former Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy under George W. Bush; Mara Keisling, founding Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. Guest: Kate Bornstein, transgender activist and author

CBS' "Face the Nation" - North Korea missile test, the women's vote: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.); the economy, tax policy: Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. Trayvon Martin/race: Michael Eric Dyson, Georgetown University; Toure, Time; Jack Ford, CBS; Mark Strassmann, CBS. Panel: "Mommy politics" Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist; Ruth Marcus, Washington Post; Norah O’Donnell, CBS; John Dickerson, CBS.

CNN's "State of the Union" - GOP unity, 2012 politics: Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus; the Trayvon Martin case, civility, the 2012 campaign: Bill Cosby. Gender politics: Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. Panel: Dan Balz, The Washington Post and Matt Bai, The New York Times.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Job growth, the Buffett Rule, the Ryan plan: White House National Economic Council director Gene Sperling. World Bank leadership: Nigeria’s Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Africa’s “Dirty Wars” with the New York Times' Jeffrey Gettleman.

CNN's "Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz" - "Fox Mole" revealed: Joe Muto, former Fox News producer; Santorum drops out, politics 2012; Trayvon Martin coverage, Ashley Judd lashes out at the media; remembering Mike Wallace: CBS News' Bob Simon and Steve Kroft.

"Fox News Sunday" - President Obama's 2012 campaign: Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod; Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign: Romney advisor Ed Gillespie; Chris Wallace pays tribute to his late father, "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace.

So what's catching your eye this morning?

Patti Smith - Easter

Happy Easter! In my house, we're more of the bunny-delivering-candy Easter celebrators than the sunrise-service-Jesus-has-risen types. So while I stash some plastic eggs around the backyard for my kids to find, take a look at the line up. I'm pretty sure there's no way I'm gonna get through the morning without blaspheming more than a little bit. I don't know what it is about religious leaders that make me so nuts--maybe because I hear so few of them actually following the words of Christ. And today, being Easter Sunday, is chock full of them. It's going to take a whole lot of Peeps to get through this.

ABC's "This Week" - Culture wars, church v. state: Pastor Rick Warren, founder of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. Panel: George Will, David Chalian, Michael Eric Dyson, Chrystia Freeland, and Peggy Noonan.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - 2012 Election: Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio. Panel: Reps. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., and Raul Labrador, R-Idaho; William Lori, incoming archbishop of Baltimore; Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of the Rev. Billy Graham and founder of AnGeL Ministries.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - : Panel: Dan Rather, Pete Williams, Nia-Malika Henderson, Kathleen Parker. Topics: Assessing the political fallout if the Supreme Court strikes healthcare. Trayvon Martin's tragic death has brought the issue of race to the forefront.

MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" - Topics: General election; Obama and the judiciary; Elizabeth Warren. Panel: Jonathan Alter, Michelle Goldberg, Richard Kim, Esther Armah. Nan Aron, President of the Alliance for Justice

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" - Topics: Panel: Dorian Warren, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Public Affairs, Columbia University; Julian E. Zelizer, Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University; Karen Finney, MSNBC contributor and Former DNC Communications Director; Dr. David Olson, Medical Advisor, U.S. section of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF); Jonathan Katz, AP Correspondent in Haiti from 2007 to 2011 and Author of “The Big Truck That Went By”; Emery Whalen, Executive Director of the John Besh Foundation; Syrena Johnson, 2011 Chef’s Move scholarship recipient; Rachel Lloyd, Executive Director and Founder of Girls Mentoring Services

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Religion roundtable: Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York; Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; Rev. Luis Cortes Jr., president of Esperanza. Religion and politics: Sally Quinn and Andrew Sullivan. Politics roundtable: Michael Gerson, Ruth Marcus, Norah O'Donnell.

CNN's "State of the Union" - Obama's re-election strategy: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla; Independent and swing voters: Mark Penn, Linda DiVall. Supreme Court, "judicial activism": Kenneth Starr, Former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal. Politics and religion: Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Rep.Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Ralph Reed, Chief Political Correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network David Brody.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Iran and Israel: Ehud Barak, Israeli Defense Minister. Afghanistan: Ahmed Rashid; Peter Bergen. Debts and deficits: Philip Coggan, the Economist. Female genital mutilation in Liberia and elsewhere: Author Leymah Gbowee.

CNN's "Reliable Sources" - Morning news shows; Keith Olbermann on "Late Night": David Zurawik, the Baltimore Sun; Marisa Guthrie, the Hollywood Reporter; Sharon Waxman. Obama and Romney and the press: Erin McPike; John Aravosis; Debra Saunders, San Francisco Chronicle.

"Fox News Sunday" - 2012 Elections: Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich; Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Ron Johnson R-Wis. Panel: Brit Hume, Fox News; Mara Liasson, National Public Radio; Steve Hayes, The Weekly Standard; David Drucker, Roll Call

So what's catching your eye this morning?