December 30, 2018

I've spent the last week thinking about Pat Toomey's late-to-the-game hand-wringing last weekend.

Little has made me feel more angry and more frustrated by the state of affairs in this country than this faux-concern.

Toomey KNEW this was a problem before Mattis was fired. Chuck Todd KNEW.
EVERY. SINGLE. REPUBLICAN. in both houses of Congress KNEW this was a problem before the election.
And EVERY. SINGLE. MEDIA. OUTLET. KNEW and focused instead on Hillary's emails instead.
Not one of those myriad of people--politicians, pundits, journalists alike--thought it was important to be honest and straightforward with the people of this country. Not one of them is being honest with us now.

And not a bit of that has to do with Donald Trump. It has everything to do with the infrastructure that we entrust our information and governance to. And it's failed us massively. And that infrastructure does not improve no matter what happens to Trump. We have to do something, starting with these Sunday shows, to repair this system so that we may trust in it again.

I don't know that it helps by stomping our feet and saying we're not going to watch. Abdicating our responsibility to demand better doesn't lead to better information, but complacency. Be loud about your disapproval. Make that your resolution for 2019.

ABC's "This Week" — Kevin McAleenan, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection; Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.; retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Panel: Mary Bruce and Matthew Dowd of ABC News; Mary Jordan of The Washington Post; and National Review Institute Fellow Reihan Salam.

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif. Panel: Craig Fugate, former administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; Kate Marvel, scientist at Columbia University and NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and columnist for Scientific American; Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., co-founder of the Climate Solutions Caucus; Michèle Flournoy, former under secretary of defense for policy; and Anne Thompson of NBC News.

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.; Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.; Gayle Smith, CEO, The One Campaign. Panel: Peter Baker of The New York Times; historian Michael Beschloss; historian Doris Kearns Goodwin; and Jill Lepore, author of “These Truths.”

CNN's "State of the Union" — Kellyanne Conway, White House counselor; Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C.; former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, D-Va. Panel: Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich.; former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.; Linda Chavez, former Reagan White House official; and Symone Sanders, former national press secretary for Bernie Sanders 2016.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" — Special edition: "Presidents Under Fire: The History of Impeachment”.

CNN's "State of the Union" — Sally Buzbee, executive editor, The Associated Press; Matt Murray, editor in chief, The Wall Street Journal; Kathleen Carroll, board chair, Committee to Protect Journalists; Rachel Abrams of The New York Times; Irin Carmon of New York magazine; Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker; Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director, Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania; and David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun.

"Fox News Sunday" — Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La.; Conway. Panel: Marc Thiessen of The Washington Post; Philippe Reines, former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton; Anne Gearan of The Washington Post; and Charles Hurt of The Washington Times.

Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" — Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Christian Whiton, former State Department senior adviser in the Trump and George W. Bush administrations; Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York. Panel: GOP strategist Ed Rollins; James Trusty, former prosecutor in the Department of Justice; Jon Sale, former federal prosecutor and assistant special prosecutor for Watergate; and former Sen. Al D’Amato, R-N.Y.

So what's catching your eye this morning?

Can you help us out?

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