Sigh. ABC's This Week can't quit you or the word "exclusive," John McCain. And the dulcet wingnut tones of DeMint/Lieberman on Fox News Sunday will make yer Sabbath hangover feel like a Swedish massage by comparison.

NBC is celebrating Independence from Great Britain Day this year by broadcasting tennis from Great Britain. At least they have an actual "exclusive" on it.

ABC's "This Week" - EXCLUSIVE Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

NBC's "Meet the Press" and "The Chris Matthews Show" - Pre-empted by coverage of Wimbledon tennis.

CNN's "State of the Union" - Said Tayeb Jawad, Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States; Reps. John Boccieri, D-Ohio, Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Mike Coffman, R-Colo.

"Fox News Sunday" - Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of fund set up to compensate Gulf oil spill victims.

What catches your eyes and ears this morning?

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It's getting boring watching the MSM try to fit the teabaggers in a particular category that makes them feel comfortable. I saw a shift towards the more realistic on The Chris Matthews Show this weekend. A major topic was the right wing fringe inhabiting the tea party movement and the panel wondered how dangerous could these people really be?

Well, they can be very dangerous. Dr. Tiller was just murdered, but since the nut didn't identify himself with the tea party movement, he's not being drawn into the conversation. But he should, because right wing violent speech helped produce him.

At least Joe Klein calls out FOX News for their culpability in stirring the pot of hatred which can be looked at as basically seditious.

Klein: We've had movements like this throughout history....the difference now is a television network, I'm going to call it FOX. The presence of FOX, which allows its commentators like Sean Hannity, like Glenn Beck to rouse the tea party. Sean Hannity was in an event this week where the tea party was raising money to have people sit in the same stands with him. And the biggest difference in the past when there were right wing movements started we had ...the responsible Republican party would slap it down and there is no responsible leadership in the Republican party now.

Norah is sort of confused because she sees soccer moms at tea party rallies who are just worried about the deficit, but then she remarks there are these militia groups, these hate groups who believe Obama is coming after their guns.

Klein: I did a little bit of research...I looked up the definition of sedition, which is conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of the state and a lot of these statements-- especially coming from people like Glenn Beck and to a certain extent, Sarah Palin--are right up close to being sedition.

John Heilemann agrees with Klein and calls out Limbaugh for using the word "regime" to describe the Obama White House.

David Neiwert and I have been writing about this topic for a long time and I'm glad the MSM is finally recognizing the truth even if it's taken a really long time for them. When we finally release our new book, you'll see the evidence in a nice, neat package that will blow your mind. The Tea Party movement is bringing the hidden far right fringe out in the open with the help of FOX News and these people are dangerous.

Remember, conservatives can never say or do anything wrong. And there is never an end to how far right one can go. Klein makes the observation that violence might change that perspective, but the jury is still out.

Kathleen Parker writes in the WaPo about the tea partiers from a right wing perspective:

But words matter, as we never tire of saying. And these are especially sensitive times, given our first African American president and unavoidable fears about the worst-case scenario. If Jodie Foster could bestir the imagination of Hinckley, a Sarah Palin in the Internet age could move regiments.

Such fears are not unfounded. I hear daily from dissatisfied Americans who feel their duty is not only to protest but to fight if necessary. Here is one recent example, in response to a column I had written about America's true centrist nature:

"Sorry, honey, but we don't need the squishy middle right now. We need the hyper patriots, the combat vets ready to defend the constitution with arms if necessary."

The distance between such thinking and recent examples of overt hostility seems too little. In this space, the unthinkable becomes plausible. [..]

The only palatable answer is what conservatives say they love best: self-control and personal responsibility. When someone spews obscenities, shout them down. When politicians and pundits use inflammatory language, condemn them.

When you choose to remain silent, consider yourself complicit in whatever transpires.

Gee, what are the odds Dick Cheney will once again accuse the Obama administration of making the nation vulnerable to terrorist attack again this morning when he makes a fresh round on the talk-show circuit with an appearance on ABC's This Week?

Fortunately, Joe Biden will also be out there, making two appearances in one day (on "Meet the Press" and "Face the Nation"). Right-wingers love to make fun of Biden, but stacked up against Dick Cheney, just about anyone looks good.

ABC's "This Week" - Former Vice President Richard Cheney sits down with guest anchor ABC News’ Congressional Correspondent Jonathan Karl.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Vice President Joseph Biden.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Vice President Joseph Biden, former Rep. Harold Ford, Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., David Brooks, Rachel Maddow.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: John Heileman, New York Magazine; Katty Kay, BBC Washington Correspondent; Gloria Borger, CNN Political Analyst; Bob Woodward, Washington Post.

CNN's "State of the Union" - National Security Adviser Jim Jones; Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Paul Volcker, Obama's key economic advisor and former fed chairman, on a crisis even more serious than financial reform. Then, Iran increases its nuclear capabilities - what options are left? Finally, a discussion with South African President Jacob Zuma. 20 years after Nelson Mandela was set free, where does the country stand?

CNN's "Amanpour" - An exclusive interview from Haiti with U.N. Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie. Christiane speaks with Jolie about adoption in Haiti and child trafficking in the midst of the disaster. Iran's Rallying Cry: 31 years after Iran's Islamic revolution there are massive pro- and anti-government rallies. The government vowed opposition protests would be crushed. We look at Iran's Islamic republic at odds with itself.

"Fox News Sunday" - "As Washington recovers from its historic snowfall, a political storm continues to rage over homeland security. Should John Brennan, the president's chief counterterrorism adviser, step down? We'll get reaction from Gen. Jim Jones, White House national security adviser, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C."

What piques your interest this morning? Leave your tips in the comments.

Can you believe it? It takes a devastating earthquake to not have John McCain, Joe Lieberman or Lindsey Graham on a Sunday show. Hallelu-damn-jah! However, don't be alarmed if you surf between the channels and see the same people--basically, this week is devoted to the crisis in Haiti and the American team designated to respond: former Presidents Clinton and Bush, Deputy Commander of the US Southern Command Lt. Gen. Ken Keen and Rajiv Shah of USAID. They'll be appearing on the five major news shows. If you want a little change of pace, you may want to tune into Fareed Zakaria GPS, where Naomi Klein will appearing, warning against the creation of another chapter of the Shock Doctrine in Haiti.

ABC's "This Week" - Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush; Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, deputy commander of the U.S. Southern Command; Rajiv Shah, U.S. Agency for International Development administrator.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Clinton, Bush, Keen, Shah.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Clinton, Bush, Keen, Shah.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Andrea Mitchell, Howard Fineman, John Heilemann, Kelly O'Donnell. Topics: Revelations from the '08 Campaign about Obama, Clinton and Edwards; Sarah Palin in Primetime: Why Are Big-Name Republicans Afraid of Her?

CNN's "State of the Union" - Clinton, Bush, Keen, Shah, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - A different look at Haiti - how the nation's past plays into its present troubles. Plus - the gigantic Wall Street bonuses, and the question: what will it take to make Wall Street get it? Finally, nation-building in Yemen --it just might make Afghanistan look easy.

CNN's "Amanpour" - Iran Jail Deaths, Aid to Haiti.

"Fox News Sunday" - Clinton, Bush, Keen, Shah, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

So what's catching your eye this morning?

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(h/t Heather)

So Tweety, all worked up about next year's mid-term elections, asks his panelon this week's "Chris Matthews Show" how many House seats will the Dems lose in the upcoming election and quotes some of Charlie Cook's predictions.

He blames high unemployment and healthcare reform for impending losses, and then notes how many seats Reagan lost and how many Clinton lost. What it's going to be like "after next November when the Democrats have to pay the piper for high unemployment, for questions - in fact, anger that you've all expressed in the last section about the healthcare bill and all those kinds of problems?"

TIME editor Richard Stengel praises Rahm Emanuel, saying how brilliant it was that Rahm put Democratic conservatives in conservative districts. (Buttering up the chief of staff for access, Richard?)

Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker says House Democrats are concerned because they "walked the plank for Nancy Pelosi on cap-and-trade and now they've got to go with health care, the people are raising Cain about it at home, and so they're in a terrible bind and yes, they want to be team players so I think you're going to see a lot of fallout come this term."

Matthews says any House Democrat who puts their "yea" on health care reform "has got to be thinking 'I'm a target'".

CNBC's Trish Regan says that's because health care reform is an unpopular program (well, Trish, I'm guessing it is among your constituency, but there's a lot more of us than there are of them) and claims that voters are "more worried about spending and the deficit" and says there's a feeling their politicians are not doing what they want.

She says President Obama needs to make this health care program more popular, and Matthews agrees.

Andrew Ross Sorkin, the Wall Street beat reporter for the New York Times, says "People are voting with their wallets next time. That's what this is. This is all about 'am I richer, am I poorer' and you know, everybody remembers how rich they were - ah, I don't know how rich they were, but only a year or two ago and unless Obama can get Democrats and get us back to that place next summer, I think it's going to be a tough road."

Matthews says, So the Republicans are promising to get it back for you?

Sorkin: Absolutely.

Then Parker add this final dollop of smug Villager "wisdom."

"There was never a constituency for health care. Let's remember that. When you have eighty five percent of Americans who are pretty satisfied with their policies, their insurance coverage and their health care, where was this constituency that we have to overhaul the system? It never was there."

Whoa, Nellie! Are you kidding me? Hey Kath, did you happen to notice that health care was the main issue in last year's election? Have you been reading all those health-care sob stories on the front page of your own paper? Can't wait until your ass-kissing paper closes and you're out on the street, hustling freelance work to cover your bills. Imagine, life where you can't afford a pedicure!

Matthews agrees. "Right. And I see trouble for the Democrats."

I'm going to make a different prediction. If the Democrats pass healthcare reform with a real public option, Democratic popularity will grow and we'll do well in the next election, with minimal losses.

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It was somewhat gratifying to see Chris Matthews' right-leaning panel on his Sunday show -- which was, as expected, eager to deny the role of racism in the ugly animus that's been directed at Barack Obama -- at least admit the truth:

David Brooks: What Rush and Glenn Beck are doing is race-baiting. 100 percent. That's race-baiting.

...

Kathleen Parker: What Rush Limbaugh and Beck did in those two clips is to empower racists.

But it was even more interesting to watch Brooks in particular somehow manage to stumble upon the core of the problem:

Matthews: Would the White House like the leaders of both parties to say, 'Cool it'?

Brooks: Well, I think they would. First, I think Father Coughlin was objecting to FDR, and he -- that's what we're seeing, Father Coughlin, that's what these guys are --

Matthews: And he was far right.

Brooks: He was far right. The White House understands, you've got 10 percent of the country over here on the wacky right, 10 percent on the wacky left, that's not what they can pay attention to. And they're not going to pay attention to it. They're sticking with the independents -- that's what the health care, why it's tending toward the center.

The one danger -- the main danger of all this, the Glenn and the Rush and all that -- they're not going to take over the country. But they are taking over the Republican Party.

And so if the Republican Party is sane, they will say no to these people. But every single elected leader in the Republican Party is afraid to take on Rush and Glenn Beck.

Brooks' percentages are off -- it's more like about 5 percent on the left and 30 percent on the right side, and this latter fact is actually what he identifies as the problem; the right has been so overwhelmed by its wingnutty elements that they have largely taken over the GOP at this juncture in time. And there's no prospect of the David Brookses ever getting it back -- in no small part because they refuse to acknowledge the magnitude of what they're up against.

But at least they recognize the problem. That's a start.

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I love navel-gazing on the part of the media, where they decide collectively that they were right to create a meme which takes over the media. On this weekend's The Chris Matthews Show, pundits Howard Fineman, Michael Duffy and Ceci Connolly agree that it was appropriate for them to ask President Obama about the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., because "it's an important issue."

MATTHEWS: It’s all about identity politics again, and at the same time these people on the far, far right are talking about whether he’s a citizen or not, this comes up.

DUFFY: And when the White House Press Secretary calls it a ‘distraction’, you know it was a mistake. And his mistake was pretty simple, which was that he didn’t really have all the facts, and was not in a position to talk about it. He was right to take it up, because it is an issue that is important, and it’s one in which he is completely versed, and you can see from the rest of his statement, that he knows exactly what to say. But I also think it came at the end of that press conference, which was about a completely different subject, and I think he was a little punchy by then. He was talking about you know what would happen to him in the White House, and it was a joke and he kind of lost the seriousness of the moment and I think got off track…

MATTHEWS: Yeah, I agree with that, the moment was important. I think he was a little angry, a little fatigued. These guys get up at five in the morning and this was eight at night. Is this going to be around a while?

Get the meme? Obama the angry black man being asked to speak on behalf of the entire African American community--and you know he is versed in this. Howard Fineman sort of treads along the edges of why even asking Obama his opinion of Gates' arrest was racist (because, honestly, can you imagine the media doing this to President McCain, had he won? I don't think so), without fully realizing it:

FINEMAN: ...(T)he progress that he made—the Sotomayor nomination—she did convince people, by her bearing, by her knowledge, by her experience, that she was eminently qualified and in that sense, was beyond this. Both of her race, but beyond it. This is not what Barack Obama’s political advisors wanted him to be doing up there. Because it turns it into a racial conversation, per se, at a time when he’s being president of all the country. And trying to be president of all the country and this feeds into the narrative of what I call the RNC—the Rush Newt Cheney RNC—which is all about fear, accusation and division. Barack Obama as president has to be about national unity.

Apparently to Howard, Barack Obama has been doing a good job up until this point of not making white Americans realize that he's African American and making them feel comfortable with other people of color. But now, Howard's worried that Obama has lost his white constituency:

FINEMAN: He went to great lengths as a candidate, to say that he could be president of all America. He understood all the different cultures and wanted to learn about all the different cultures of America. This kind of thing sets him back with working class whites.

Sigh. Can I remind you bobbleheads that it was YOU collectively that raised this subject? This was a local issue, albeit with a semi-famous person involved. This is not a federal issue, nor did it need to be addressed by the President of the United States, especially since the only justification for it is that Obama and Gates outwardly share a skin color (although both are of mixed-race heritage). Isn't it reasonable to assume that the President of the United States has enough on his plate without being thrust the mantle of spokesman for the entire African American community and trying to make white people more comfortable with the age-old issue of racial profiling?

As far as Gates is concerned, there was no clear cut right or wrong on his arrest; both sides escalated the situation beyond where it should have gone. But in terms of pulling Barack Obama into the debate and letting it take over the news cycles for days and days when very real issues (um Afghanistan, any one? Health care reform? The economy? Any of those ring a bell?) are left undiscussed is simply giving red meat to the right wingers eager to derail any actual progress in this country. And the responsibility for that falls on bobbleheads like these clowns, not Obama.

Transcripts below the fold

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"President" Newt Gingrich on Da Ali G Show

Oh look, President Newt Gingrich is on the Sunday shows. Again. Gosh, I'm so glad that the media is around to tell us just who embodies the change for which we voted. And looking around, it's no better on any other show: former Bush attorney Ed Gillespie on This Week, former governor Mitt Romney on Fox News and every single milquetoasty DINO booked (I'm looking at you, Feinstein and Specter) is paired with a camera-hogging, sound-byte ready (if fact-negligible) Republican like John Kyl, Mitch McConnell or Lindsey Graham. Hello: reality-based community to media--it's 2009, not 2000. Catch the hell up already.

ABC's "This Week" - Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and John Cornyn, R-Texas; Ed Gillespie, former Bush White House counselor.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Pre-empted for the French Open.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Gloria Borger, Dan Rather, John Heilemann, Katty Kay. Topics: Has President Obama solidified a lasting majority for the Democratic Party? How should Republicans respond to Obama, and who are their promising stars? Meter questions: Will Senate Republicans attack Sonia Sotomayor as a liberal or show deference to her? YES: 10 NO: 2; Is Obama winning the national security policy debate with Cheney? YES: 11 No: 1.

CNN's "State of the Union/Reliable Sources" - Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas; Gillespie; Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's ambassador to the U.S.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - In a speech in Cairo this Thursday, President Obama called for a "new beginning" for relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world. Fareed brings together a panel of experts from around the Muslim world and the region to react to and analyze the speech...and what it means for U.S./Arab relations. Plus, author Michael Lewis on the economic crisis and the future of Wall Street.

"Fox News Sunday" - Sens. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass.

So, what's catching your eye this morning?

Oasis -- Don't Look Back In Anger

It's more of the Republican Legacy Tour this Sunday. The main event will be beleaguered former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Face The Nation. He's getting it from all sides: the left, unwilling to forgive him for his lies in getting us into war and now the R(ush) N(ewt) C(heney) Party, unhappy with his recent honesty regarding the health of his own party. And the man who puts the N(ewt) in RNC will be on Meet The Press, to continue to show that despite the fact that he was forced to leave Congress in disgrace for his own hypocrisy years ago, he's the best they have to be the "new" face of change for the Republican Party. And of course, the compliant media keeps their focus on the GOP for yet another week.

ABC's "This Week" - Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell; author Alvin Poussaint.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Michael Duffy, Katty Kay, Jennifer Loven, David Ignatius. Topics: Will the right or the left be a bigger thorn for Obama on national security? Has Obama already begun his reelection campaign with travel to red states? Meter Questions: Is Obama winning the national security policy debate with Cheney? YES: 11 NO: 1; Can Obama keep Pakistan's government in power? YES: 2 No: 10.

CNN's "State of the Unionk/Reliable Sources" - Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge; Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Fareed sits down with Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in an exclusive interview. Musharraf is the guest for the hour and they discuss his years in power and resignation, Pakistan's deadly struggle against the Taliban, strained relations between India and Pakistan, and Benazir Bhutto's death.

"Fox News Sunday" - Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

So, what's catching your eye this morning?

Glenn Greenwald has a must-read piece this week exploring how the concept of "balance" corrupts any sense of honest media analysis. Case in point: The Washington Post's Dan Balz trying to equate Barack Obama's attacks ("erratic","uncertain","lurching") to John McCain's attacks ("he's an untrustworthy, un-American terrorist sympathizer").

Balz’s article is about the increasing use of “character attacks” in the presidential race, and rather than state the truth — that the McCain/Palin ticket is now relying almost exclusively on some of the ugliest and most outright dangerous character smears seen in a modern presidential election — Balz instead pretends that this is a phenomenon of which both sides are guilty in equal measure.

This clip from the Chris Matthews Show is yet another fascinating example. Tweety, Howard Fineman, Gloria Borger, David Ignatius, and Cynthia Tucker simply can't bring themselves to state the obvious.

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In a rational world, a legitimate attack on your opponent's unsteady and erratic leadership during times of crisis is light years away from the vicious, dangerous types of character assaults we're hearing from the McCain camp. I mean think about it: They're not even trying to sell policy anymore. Instead, they're linking the terms "Barack Hussein Obama" and "terrorist" to the point where John McCain is forced to remind his traveling lynch mob that Obama is not, in fact, a "scary Arab." And when he does, he gets viciously booed.

We shouldn't underestimate the significance of John Lewis' recent remarks. There's a reason McCain told Rick Warren that he's one of the wisest people he knows.

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