I Know Where I've Been--from Hairspray, 2007
It's easy to get discouraged by the whole world of stupid out there, what with Glenn Beck's co-opting MLK's 8/28 speech for a lily white crowd on restoring "honor", a concept Beck wouldn't understand if it sat on his face and started to wiggle. But yesterday morning, I cuddled up next to my seven year old and we watched Hairspray while waiting for the rest of the house to wake up. Being a child born long after the struggles for civil rights in the 60s, she needed me to explain to her why having black kids dancing with white kids on TV was such a big deal. And it occurred to me that for all the sturm und drang we're experiencing right now, I will someday cuddle with my grandchild and have to explain to him or her why having a black president seemed so horrible to some, why gay marriages were so scary, why there was so much fear and hatred. Because I know where we've been and as glacially slow as it seems at time, as many steps backward as occasionally occur, we do move towards progress. And we will move past this time, towards progress and honor--not Glenn Beck's version, but of treating Americans equally.
Christiane Amanpour is taking an interesting stance this morning, ignoring the corporate media memes of the story du jour, and has opted to spend her hour discussing education with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and other educators. She has also invited new Emmy winner Jamie Oliver, presumably to discuss nutrition for school age children. Truly, there is nothing more important in my eyes than the investment in the future we make in educating our children, and nutrition has a major part in their development. When you consider that in many socio-economically deprived areas, school lunches are the only meals some children have, it becomes that much more important.
But then we go from smart to very, very stupid. Fox News Sunday has opted to glorify King of the Unthinking Glenn Beck for the hour. Ugh. And Face The Nation has Tea Party extremist Joe Miller. If that's not enough stupid for you, you could always go with David "Fact Checking Is Not My Responsibility" Gregory who will focus on the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina by talking to actor Brad Pitt. Or Chris Matthews, who will sit on the edge of the chair with glee over the political savvy of his panel and ignore that they said the exact opposite thing the week before.
ABC's "This Week" - Education Secretary Arne Duncan; D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee; Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers; celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
CBS' "Face the Nation" - Joe Miller, Republican Senate candidate from Alaska; Rep. Kendrick Meek, Democratic Senate nominee from Florida; Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss.; Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.
NBC's "Meet the Press" - Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.; New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu; actor Brad Pitt.
NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show" - Panel: Joe Klein, Kelly O'Donnell, Katty Kay, Reihan Salam. Who Gains from the Divisions in the Country? Will The Right Stuff For The GOP This Year Actually Help Obama in 2012?
CNN's "State of the Union" - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan; Gov. Charlie Crist, independent Senate candidate from Florida; Meek.
CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - This week GPS is all about ideas. Are China and the U.S. on a collision course? Is a confrontation inevitable? U.S. Geo-strategist Robert Kaplan tells us the answer and explains why the South China Sea will soon be the most important place on earth. Then, What in the World? Do you know the significance of the number 311? It's not just a phone number any more. It might be a key number for reducing America's nuclear arsenal.
"Fox News Sunday" - Glenn Beck, commentator for Fox News Channel.
So what's catching your eye this morning?
