Okay, I admit for being a sucker for Fourth of July shows. Stirring songs and fireworks wend their way into my cynical soul and I shake free those constraints to really, really love celebrating our independence. I grew up with a family tradition of a picnic under the stars and the fireworks show at the Hollywood Bowl. At least, that's what I used to do. Last night, I had to content myself with the Boston Pops on TV while comforting my frightened puppy; my husband got to take the kids to a bluff not far from our home where they could watch three different fireworks shows along the bay.

This morning, it's me cowering, wishing I could hide under the sofa at the prospect of the Sunday shows. It's safe to say that Sarah Palin's inexplicable "I'm saving Alaska by quitting early" move will be at the forefront of the conversation, especially on FoxNews Sunday, having bagged successor Lt. Gov. Parnell. VP Joe Biden will be on This Week, but he'll be followed by the intolerable roundtable featuring Tony Blankley and George Will, opining on Iraq, Palin and Franken. The only saving grace? We are spared David Gregory and Meet the Press, which is pre-empted for Wimbledon coverage.

ABC's "This Week" - Vice President Joe Biden.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Pre-empted by coverage of Wimbledon tennis.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Gloria Borger, Bob Woodward, Joe Klein, Tina Brown. (repeat)

CNN's "State of the Union" - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell; Mullen; Queen Noor of Jordan.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Fareed speaks to British Foreign Secretary David Miliband about why Iran is so angry at Great Britain. Plus, a discussion on aid in Africa -- are celebrities throwing money at the problems or making an actual difference?

"Fox News Sunday" - Mullen; Reps. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and John Boehner, R-Ohio; Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell; former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark.; and former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove.

So, what's catching your eye this morning?

Download | play Download | play (h/t Heather)

I've never hidden my deep and abiding love for Rachel Maddow as a pundit and am so glad for the recognition she's due. Armed with facts and wit, she can run circles around all these other talking heads without breaking a sweat. Maybe that's why the MSNBC bookers saw fit to match her to four conservatives on Race To The White House: Substitute host Joe Scarborough, Tony Blankley, Michelle Bernard (who has of late been the omnipresent guest on all MSNBC shows), and former Scarborough Country and Hardball producer Noah Oppenheim, now the author of The Intellectual Devotional.

But the taker of the proverbial cake has to be Scarborough, who compensates for his general wrongness of position by a steady stream of snide and dismissive remarks. In a discussion focused around the media-driven narrative that Barack Obama has flip-flopped in his positions (they LOVE that word, have you noticed?) and is rushing to the center, Rachel is the lone voice from the left pointing out that his rhetoric has not changed radically and that he has always advocated a centrist ("post-partisan," I think it was called) position and Scarborough both sneers at Rachel for pointing this out and cheers Obama for taking a more "responsible" stance. When poll after poll finds that the majority of Americans think we should get out of Iraq, Scarborough thinks it will reassure Middle America if Obama slows down the withdrawal.

Were I running John McCain…er, were I, were I running Barack Obama’s campaign, I would tell him to do this. Because I think this actually reassures Americans, okay this guy said what he needed to say to win the far left in the primary and now as he moves to the general election, he’s getting more responsible on FISA, he’s getting more responsible on troop withdrawal. Doesn’t this make middle Americans in Ohio and West Virginia and Pennsylvania like Barack Obama more?

Yeah, everyone feels much better when we move to the right...that's why the GOP brand is suffering so much. Rachel tries again:

I think the important thing to recognize here is that there's a difference between taking a centrist position because it's good for the general election and changing his position. What I'm saying about this Iraq stuff is not that Barack Obama secretly has a left position on Iraq that nobody else recognizes. I'm saying his position on Iraq is very centrist and has been all along and is not changing. This was the position his campaign was taking through the primaries and we have ascribed a much more liberal policy to him, but when you go back and you look at the tape and you go back and look at the statements from his campaign, all the way back through the spring, all the way back when they were attacking Hillary Clinton for having a plan for withdrawal that wasn't subject to conditions on the ground, it shows you that this is where he's been all along. You can call it centrist, but it's still consistent.

And The Scar's response?

You might support Obama, but you have the "Clinton cackle" down, Rachel.

Classy to the last, Joe.

Download | play Download | play (h/t Heather)

I admit that I don't watch The McLaughlin Group very much. The constant screaming over each other makes it hard for me to understand anyone's point and frankly, reminds me a little too much of dinners at my house when I was a teenager. But every once in a while, you'll get an unintended revelation that just proves once again, that our punditocracy are just bloomin' idiots.

In discussing that few Iowans appear to be warming up to Romney, largely because they have issues with his Mormonism, host John McLaughlin insists that Romney must make a speech à la John Kennedy that his faith will not influence his politics. However, Washington Times' Tony Blankley just thinks that Romney hasn't given Republicans a reason to vote for him. The funny exchange is at the end:

Blankley: He hasn't yet shown an ability, religion aside, to be a competitive candidate.

McLaughlin: Look Americans -- particularly Republicans like you [referring to Blankley] -- they love authoritarianism.

Blankley: I don't love authoritarianism. Even though I love you, John.

McLaughlin: Keep quiet now. They don't want a President. They want an imperialist.

That sums up the Republican party in a nutshell, dunnit?

As he is inclined to do, the president assembled a group of sycophantic media guests to boost his ego at the White House yesterday, the latest in a series of gatherings between Bush and like-minded allies who enjoy telling him exactly what he wants to hear — and agrees with every word he says.

At yesterday’s press gaggle, Press Secretary Dana Perino read the names of the invited guests:

Michael Barone (U.S. News), Tony Blankley (Washington Times), David Brooks (New York Times), Ron Kessler (NewsMax), Charles Krauthammer (Washington Post), Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard), Larry Kudlow (CNBC), Morton Kondracke (Roll Call), Kimberly Strassel (Wall Street Journal), Kathryn Lopez and Kate O’Beirne (National Review).

When she was done, some White House reporters literally laughed. Out loud.

It has come to this. The Bush Bubble is so strong, and the president is so loath to talk to people who might confront him with ideas that conflict with his own, that the White House press secretary draws laughter by reading the lists of “reporters” (read: sycophantic media allies) Bush is willing to hang out with.

Where or where will our beloved Tony Blankley end up?

The Nation:

"A nasty succession battle is now heating up at the paper, punctuated by allegations of racism, sexism and unprofessional conduct, that has implications far beyond its fractious newsroom. According to several reliable inside sources, Preston Moon, the youngest son of Korean Unification Church leader and Times financier Sun Myung Moon, has initiated a search committee to find a replacement for editor in chief Wesley Pruden--a replacement who is not Pruden's handpicked successor, managing editor Francis Coombs. Preston Moon wants to wrest control of the paper from Pruden and Coombs, according to a Times senior staffer, in order to shift the paper away from their brand of conservatism, which is characterized by extreme racial animus and connections to nativist and neo-Confederate organizations. A Harvard MBA, Preston Moon is said to be seeking to install an editorial regime with more widely palatable politics...."

Archibald has a lot more...

Why isn't he on MSNBC talking about this?

On KCRW, Left, Right and Center, Tony Blankley tried to use the new trick of Valeri not being an active operative in the CIA by using Joe WIlson's Wolf Blitzer segment. Lawrence O'Donnell corrects Blankley by making the obvious point that Valeri Plame had to be an operative or else there would be no case:

Here's the link to the audio, It starts at about the 6:00 minute mark. Thanks to The Cheese Sandwich for the hat tip.

LAWRENCE O'DONNELL:
Here’s what I think is definitive on this question. Patrick Fitzgerald has represented to the courts that he is pursuing a serious, national security, criminal violation. It seems to me in this grand jury, witness number one -- and Tony you’ve been a prosecutor, you know how they assemble cases -- witness number one would have been a CIA administrator who comes in and testifies about how Valerie Plame does indeed fit the law’s requirements. Because if witness number one doesn’t do that successfully for the prosecutor, there is absolutely no reason to call witness number two, because there is no crime to investigate.

Tony?

TONY BLANKLEY:
Yeah--well--I mean--that’s one way to approach it.

Blankley acts like an ass, and O'Donnell once again corrects him saying that any witness can walk out of the that grand jury and tell you exactly every question they asked and every question they gave.

Hardball May 24, 2005

Matthews: But isn‘t this a defeat of the leaders? I mean, you had Harry Reid working in league with the People for the American Way, the most pro-choice, most fanatical liberal groups in the country, who are pestering all members like yourself with this absolutism.

Washington Post 1982:

The administrative assistant to House Speaker Tip O'Neill, Chris Matthews, has told staff members not to bother with Times reporters. "The Rev. Moon can buy a newspaper, but I can't buy the idea he's a newspaperman," says Matthews. "We work hard enough responding to legitimate press inquiries."

Chris now seems to like Tony Blankley and the Washington Times and has him on the show all the time. Reid and the Democrats were never lead around by "fanatical" groups like Bill Frist is with Focus on the Family and the FRC. It was the far right that pushed for this fight. PFAW got involved to help protect minority rights. That's a big difference. Trying to defend against the "nuclear option" that is instituted by a fanatical right wing group is very different then trying to set the agenda for a country. Harry Reid was fighting on principle not on theology.

by The Poorman:

<Vitale>It’s that time of year again, baby! The vast field of wingnuts has been whittled down to just sixty-four competitors, four groups of sixteen, all vying for the top prize - the right to say that they are the wankiest, pantloadiest douchebag in all of wingnuttery! You can throw out the regular season, all you facts and figures and polling numbers, because it all comes down to this - who can bring home six W’s against the toughest competition there is! Round 1 time, who’s gonna be the upset victims, who’s the underdogs, and who’s gonna be the Cinderella? It’s all about who can get the most support from the fans! It’s awesome baby!</Vitale>

1st Round (1) Peggy Noonan (16) Kaye Grogan (8) James Taranto (9) Joe Scarborough (5) David Horowitz (12) John Derbyshire (4) Mark Steyn (13) Neil Boortz 1st Round (6) James Glassman (11) Brit Hume (3) Ann Coulter (14) Hugh Hewitt (7) Victor Davis Hanson (10) Rich Lowry (2) Rush Limbaugh (15) Kim de Toit

1st Round (1) David Brooks (16) Glenn Reynolds (8) William Safire (9) Oliver North (5) Max Boot (12) Bill Bennett (4) Bob Barr (13) Jerry Falwell 1st Round (6) Bill O’Reilly (11) Neil Cavuto (3) Krauthammer (14) Matt Drudge (7) Lucianne Goldberg (10) Roger Ailes (2) Sean Hannity (15) Andrew Sullivan

1st Round (1) Pat Robertson (16) Tony Blankley (8) Nick Schultz (9) Robert Novak (5) Dennis Prager (12) Dennis Miller (4) Ben Shapiro (13) Cal Thomas 1st Round (6) John O’Neill (11) Powerline (3) Phyllis Schlafly (14) George Will (7) Jeff Gannon (10) Mort Kondracke (2) Pat Buchanan (15) Roger L. Simon

1st Round (1) William Kristol (16) Armstrong Williams (8) Michael Ledeen (9) Michael Savage (5) Tony Snow (12) Gollum Luskin (4) Howie Kurtz (13) Larry Kudlow 1st Round (6) Jerome Corsi (11) Charles Johnson (3) Brent Bozell (14) Michelle Malkin (7) Vox Day (10) Hitchens (2) Jonah Goldberg (15) Marian Coombs

I think we can have some serious debate about the seeding in each of the brackets, but all are worthy participants in the March classic.

Kurtz brief history on where these" pundits" come from and other partisan hackery: here

The commentariat is increasingly populated by political refugees. From Bush 41's White House and campaign, Tony Snow joined Fox, Mary Matalin went to CNN and Bill Kristol, who happily advises the current administration, launched the Weekly Standard. From the Hill, Newt Gingrich became a Fox commentator, his spokesman Tony Blankley took over the Washington Times editorial page, and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough became an MSNBC talk show host. From the Clinton White House, George Stephanopoulos became host of ABC's "This Week," Dee Dee Myers signed with NBC and Vanity Fair, and Carville and Begala joined CNN.

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Tony Blankley of the Rev. Moon's Washington Times was all the "giggle", about his recent visit with President Bush at the Oval office. Responding to Chris Matthews questions, Blankley all but exploded with glee. He asked the President such tough questions like: How his dog was reacting to the new puppy?