Orrin Hatch -- giving the "V" for victory sign. Can he beat George W. Bush for the GOP presidential nomination?

Sunday, June 27, 1999 -- Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) launched his run for the GOP presidential nomination by addressing more issues in twenty minutes of prime pundit airtime than George W. Bush has since the mainstream media anointed him the Chosen One of the Republican Party.

Yes, there was the expected talk of a "rift" between Clinton and Gore over Gore's comments on Clinton's private life, an attempt by Fox to breathe life into the moribund Chinagate scandal, mad ranting from John McLaughlin (who, week by week, becomes more and more of a self-parody) and a very impressive appearance by Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura.

Here it is in glorious GasBagORama:

Fox Spin Sunday
Starring Tony "Tripp" Snow

"The George Bush Express: can it be stopped?... Monica, China, partisan savagery" and Lanny Davis v. Dick Morris were announced as the topics du jour at the top of the show by Tony Snow.

Monica? What gives? Her name came up a few times -- most notably in Tony's final word (more on that below). Conservatives seem so desperate for any way to bash Clinton and Gore these days that they have to dredge up Ms. Lewinsky's name yet again!

Tony turned to Kathy Wolff for the "headlines" which always precede FNS proper. Wolff set up some heavy pap -- by saying that a so-called story Fox News recently ran, claiming that the Executive Branch knew something about Chinagate in 1995, has been "confirmed" in the form of a (disputed) story in Sunday's New York Times.

This "story," of course, is nonsense -- the entire nation knows there were questions about who knew what as far back as the Reagan Administration.

Topic one -- Dubya. Guest one -- Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who is now in the running for the presidency.

Hatch gave a surprisingly strong interview -- he came across with more aplomb than all of the other GOP wannabes except for John McCain and John Kasich.

Orrin complained -- rightly so -- that his fellow Republicans still lambaste him for reaching out to "the other party." He was too polite to tell the rest of the story -- that some in the GOP consider Hatch an outright traitor for trying to work closely with Democrats and have been badmouthing him for daring to rain on Dubya's parade.

Tony asked Orrin about those voters who would "never vote for a Mormon," a question that is ultimately irrelevant since the vast majority of people vote their pocketbook, not their faith. And Orrin rose to the occasion, briefly touching on the solidity of his faith before turning to the "real issues" he is interested in

Juan Williams asked about some on Capital Hill attacking Bush, but Orrin talked instead about "working with Democrats" toward "doing what is right for the country." Would he resign from the Senate, asked Juan? Orrin said he legally could run for both offices. When would he go to New Hampshire and Iowa? "Pretty soon, as soon as we announce [officially]."

Tony: "Name one policy where you disagree with George Bush." Orrin first said he pretty well agreed with many of Bush's views (as if BushBaby's actually expressed any), but then talked about the big difference between himself and Bush: Hatch rose out of poverty, even working as a janitor (we've heard a lot of the "j" word from Hatch during the course of the past week) on his path to success.

And here we'll tell you the spin that the Beltway is abuzz about -- Hatch is already setting himself up as the anti-Bush, knowing full well that the premature "coronation" of "King Dubya" runs a huge risk of backfiring as fact after fact about BushBaby's playboy past go public. Hatch is setting the stage for his own ascent by immediately contrasting his own personal history from that of George W. Bush.

Hatch poses a far bigger threat to BushBaby's campaign than the press is letting on -- mark our words.

Guest two: John McCain, scheduled to make a major policy speech in New Hampshire later this week. Tony tried to nail him on a campaign money brouha, ha involving Georgette Mosbacher being in contrast to his calls for campaign reform, but McCain torpedoed Tony's attack question by saying he is raising his money "a thousand dollars at a time." Yes, McCain may be for reform, but talking about contribution figures on the four-figure scale doesn't seem to us like all that tactful an approach.

Juan said that McCain is distinguishing himself from the rest of the GOP by fighting soft money -- but doesn't this hurt his party? McCain blew it -- he said that people don't know that the People's Liberation Army can give unlimited soft money. He knows this is an outright lie. His answer surprised even us -- McCain should have known better than to push uncorroborated and dishonest swill like this.

Tony asked a goofy question about McCain being a sort of Jesse Ventura (is this a hint that McCain might run on the Reform ticket?)! McCain made a strong point about ethanol subsidies -- and lest anyone think this is a minor issue, this was a shot at both Dubya and his dad, who caved to large agribusiness companies including ADM in a corporate welfare deal to die for.

McCain also made a comment skewering Bush deploying "a thousand Washington lobbyists out in Iowa in their bib overalls over their suits."

Tony steered McCain back to Chinagate and the not-so-new "who knew what when" questions. McCain implied a cover-up by the Clinton Administration. Tony: "Will we ever know the truth?" McCain: "Who knows... I don't know if we'll ever know at all." Hatch: "This Administration knew in 1995... That's the kind of crap that shouldn't go on." "Crap!" Hatch sounded like Jesse Ventura! Hatch also mentioned Osama bin Laden and concluded "We're not taking counterintelligence seriously."

Of course, neither Orrin nor McCain stated the full truth -- that if the Clinton team knew, they would have to keep it quiet so as not to tip off suspected foreign agents about an investigation (you just know Newt would've shot his fat mouth off), and that Chinagate and the failure to take counterintelligence seriously have their roots in GOP administrations.

Spots: First Union, IBM, Fox shows.

"President Clinton is saying Kosovo is out, domestic issues are in." The next guest -- FNS fave Sen. Joe Lieberman (Turncoat-CT). Tony asked Joe about partisanship: is Clinton a victim or contributor? Lieberman said that Clinton wants to break across party lines to get some things done to "bolster his legacy." But Joe then stuck up for Bill on gun control -- he called what happened in Congress "awful" after he reminded Tony that Americans want gun control.

Talk turned to the hot-button wonk issues -- Social Security and Medicare. Lieberman called prescription drug coverage "another costly benefit," invoking the specter of bankrupting of the program.

Mort Kondracke stumbled when he turned to the Dem race for the nomination, saying that Joe had not committed to Gore or Bradley -- and Joe said he had committed to Gore "in private."

Care for another serving of crow, Mort? He then brought up the boring right-wing spin of Gore sticking up for Clinton during the Lewinsky flap and impeachment coup attempt, and now criticizing the President's conduct as "indefensible." It gave Lieberman an opening to claim that Gore was more able to express his criticism of Clinton. Big deal.

Fred "The Weasel" Barnes pumped up the importance of irrelevant poll numbers showing Gore "way behind" Republicans. Lieberman: "Now that the President has not been thrown out of office... [the public is] taking it out on the Vice-president."

Huh? The majority of Americans OPPOSED the impeachment coup. Lieberman sounds like a Murdoch-Ailes talking head! He added that Clinton "stumbled badly in this course of conduct" and then "didn't tell the truth to the American people." Who writes his material -- Brit Hume?

But Lieberman boosted Gore for having been given more real responsibility than any Veep he can recall, praising his hands-on experience.

There was a little talk about Fox's phony new Chinagate "scandal" story. Tony asked why a National Security Advisor "wouldn't tell the President" about espionage -- a loaded question that presumes there was proof beyond a doubt of spying.

Tony and Fox News were pressing this story time and time again throughout FNS in yet another attempt to bring down Clinton AND Gore over spying, campaign cash and a massive "compromise" of our national security -- when the facts taken as a whole show that the Reagan and Bush teams were culpable, and Clinton's team were left to clean up the mess without tipping America's hand.

Spots: Mercury, local spots for phone competition, Sandals resorts, local shows.

The next topic: Bob Woodward's new "exposè" of the Clinton Administration. Guests: Lanny Davis and Dick "Foot Fetish" Morris.

Davis talked about dinner with Bob Woodward and said he should have made it clear that he was off the record. Morris said that he felt that the Woodward book was truthful

Of course -- so that he can spin what Woodward says into more damaging sound bites.

Tony asked an inane question about whether the best time to talk to ex-executive branchers is right after they leave.

We could see where this segment was going -- nowhere except to give Morris a chance to badmouth the Clinton Administration. Morris would want you to believe that the press was out to praise Clinton at all turns in the way he answered one question about how he "handled" one reporter.

Probably the same way Morris' dominatrix mistress "handled" him. Who says you can't learn anything from a whore?

Talk turned to Al Gore -- and Davis praised Gore's generosity to the press. He can't understand why "the press is so hostile to Al Gore." Morris claimed that Clinton's team "is firing a shot across his bow about distancing himself from him," but Lanny gave the lie to that. So Morris brought up his favorite subject -- Monica Lewinsky -- saying Gore is right to distance himself from Clinton.

Will Hillary run? Morris: No, she's 5 points behind now, she'll be 10 in the fall. Davis: Yes, the polls are meaningless and she'll be the next Senator from New York.

Spots: ADM vitamin E, Fox Shows, and local spots for Toyota and an anti-Pataki ad denouncing his blockage of a health care bill in New York!

Topic one of panel time -- reports are out on how much cash Presidential contenders have raised. The spin: make Gore look vulnerable. Much was made of how much money Bill Bradley has raised ($11 million to Gore's $18 million), how "upset" Hollywood is with Gore, and Fred Barnes lied about the R-rated movie "South Park," saying it is aimed at "13-year-old boys."

Baloney -- the target audience for "South Park" is 18-to-31-year-old males with a cynical streak, a warped sense of humor, and enough smarts to see through the spin of paid liars like Fred Barnes.

Talk turned to Dubya -- and Juan said that he will come under attack from the right wing. We say Juan's understating the scenario. There was much talk about abortion -- too much talk proportional to its importance as an issue except among hard-righters, religious zealots and pro-choice activists.

Tony then tried to make much of a questionable Fox Opinion Dynamics poll showing the public leaning "Republican." Fred Barnes then said something about "the liberal press, and it is liberal" -- as if just saying something makes it so.

Tony finally turned to Chinagate, playing two contrasting statements by Clinton about what he knew about espionage at defense labs -- and the New York Times story claiming the Administration "knew" in 1995. Mort referred to the miniaturized MIRV warhead as "the crown jewel of our defense" -- a favorite misrepresentation by the right wing of these advanced warhead.

We always thought that the crown jewel of our defense was the best-trained, all-volunteer people who make up our Armed Forces, from the top of the Joint Chiefs on down to the specs, seamen and privates.

Spots: Microsoft, Fox shows.

Tony's parting words were on Monica Lewinsky: "she went down on her knees and became a star." He made plenty of mention of shopping and eating sprees We can't believe Tony would waste our time on such irrelevant twaddle conveyed in such a mean-spirited way.

This Weak
With Sam "Blowhard" Donaldson and Cokie "Beltway Insider" Roberts

Governor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota and House Speaker Dennis Hastert were the guests -- and both Sam and Cokie gushed about Ventura, the "fascinating" celebrity-turned-politician.

The opening video set-up piece featured highlights of Ventura's visit to Washington to discuss the "obscure" issue of milk pricing -- but believe us, this is not an obscure issue in Minnesota, a key dairy state.

We greatly enjoyed the Ventura interview. We don't agree with all of his views, but he refuses to play the Pap-and-Spin game, or fall for the loaded questions of Sabbath gasbags. Ventura's unvarnished honesty made for one of the best pundit segments we've seen this year -- and one of the most watched. Pollsters and image-shapers from both of the major parties have been watching Ventura like a hawk and crunching poll numbers to learn from the man who "shocked the world" by ousting two establishment major-party candidates.

The first thing we (and Sam) noticed was that the Governor was not wearing the requisite custom Paul Stuart or Bergdorf suit but a black T-shirt with the Navy Seal logo on it. And Ventura began the interview by saying unequivocally that he would serve out his term as governor -- and did not rule out a run for higher office. He did spend a good deal of time talking about Clinton's having "lied to me" about Monica Lewinsky -- yet sounded quite the savvy politico (as Sam did point out) when he said that he had "not lied to my knowledge."

Ventura said he is going to the Reform Party convention -- and that Perot should step aside and allow a fresh candidate to run, especially in light of the drop in votes he received between 1992 and '96. Would he accept a "draft" to run from the party? No, Ventura said -- "I wasn't drafted, I enlisted." He did say he might run as Veep if Powell runs for the presidency -- and he said that he doubts that Pat Buchanan would ever be a Reform Party nominee because he is too into "personal" and social issues, and that the Reform Party did not focus on those issues.

George Will asked Ventura if he thought a "colorful" third-party candidate was needed -- and Ventura made the question look stupid by talking about concern for issues and saying that there's no excuse for people not to get out and vote.

And he's right. We wonder what the turnout is going to be in the next election. So do the two "big" parties, faced with the uphill task of energizing an electorate totally fed up with stunts like the attempted impeachment coup.

Ventura followed up on this point by slamming "the same old rhetoric... We're being flooded with candidates [and] the same old rhetoric... Now they're starting political ads [when one election is over] and rolling toward the next one."

Does he disagree with George W. Bush on any issues? Ventura said he's concerned about Minnesota issues -- and that it's too soon to be running any Presidential campaigns! Right on, Jesse.

Ventura also said that "we're getting the far left and the far right" in political debates, and that he is a "true centrist." He did not directly implicate the role of the press and think tanks in this dichotomization of political debate at the expense of moderate views -- and really should have.

Spots (GE, Merrill Lynch) preceded a question from Sam about whether there should be a flag-burning ban. Jesse said "Absolutely not... It would infringe on privacy. If you buy that flag, doesn't it belong to you?... Most military people believe we defended the country... It's the nation, not the symbol." He also objects to the posting of the Ten Commandments in schools: "What about people who don't believe in it?" He said it is the role of parenting to build virtues and values.

He also emphasized the privacy of the individual -- and also pointed out that the sign on his property that says "I don't call 911" is meant to be taken in a humorous vein.

Cokie asked Ventura why he wrote an autobiography, and Ventura replied that he did it to set the record straight in light of "completely inaccurate" TV movies and tabloid news reports.

Will: "Let me test the limits of your friendliness." Will then talked about the "coarsening" of public and private discourse, then cited some of Ventura's more abrasive comments. Is he part of the problem? "The problem is that when you are elected you are no longer allowed to have a sense of humor... Everything you say is used against you." He also talked about the feedback he gets from voters who tell him, "Don't ever change."

So much for the relevance of Will's prissy first question.

Ventura also praised today's youth: "for every bad kid out there, there are thousands and thousands of good kids."

Ventura expressed criticism of Congressional gun control legislation, saying his son would be prohibited from purchasing a gun but were he drafted would have to learn how to use a gun. But he is not opposed to mandatory training for gun purchasers.

The Hastert interview was preceded by a too-long roundtable segment which first focused on Medicare reform -- specifically, Clinton's initiative to see to it that prescription drugs are covered.
Will tried to characterize it as "welfare" -- oh, please!
Sam slammed Clinton for "running away" from means testing -- when you know that if Clinton were still pushing for it Sam would find a way to slam him for it, perhaps as "more big government."
Kristol all but said that he supports means-testing.
Will parsed words, blathering about "entitlements" meaning rights.
Talk turned to "steamrolling" campaign finance reform (Will) and the possibility that McCain might make it a presidential issue (Kristol).

It was all a bore -- followed by spots for GE, AT&T, ABC shows, and local spots for Aon and Mazda, after which we were "treated" to more roundtable blather about polls!
Sam said a poll said that 51% of Americans say that the nation is on the wrong track because of morals.
Cokie called it a problem for Democrats (naturally) even with a good economy. Will said that two homicidal acts (the Oklahoma City bombing and Littleton) shaped the current mindset.
George Stephanopoulos said that when Clinton was up against Bush, "wrong track" numbers were above 70%.
Kristol tried to argue the importance of "right track/wrong track."

We would point out that NOBODY asked questions about the methodology of the polling!

Sam flogged poll numbers saying that 68% of Americans disapprove of Clinton's personal conduct [again, we'd ask about the methodology]. This led to tiresome discussion of Gore "distancing" himself from Clinton. The spin: Clinton is bad, Gore was bad to say that Clinton is the greatest president of our century during the height of the impeachment sham, Gore is bad, it's bad for Gore, Gore is making bad mistakes, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad...

You get the idea.

Kristol made a snide comment about "Gore distances himself from Clinton," which got laughs from the panel. But the laugh is on the panel -- because America has distanced themselves from these self-important Beltway pundits with a proven track record of getting it wrong week after week -- spinning flawed poll numbers, playing politics and inflating their own importance.

And the Hastert interview, conducted by Cokie (and preceded by spots for Texaco, Dell and ABC shows) was even more boring than the roundtable. Was ABC trying to make him look like a monotonous, uncharismatic wonk by scheduling him on the same program as Ventura -- this on top of Cokie trying her level best to depict Hastert as ineffective if not totally irrelevant?

And Hastert did himself no favors, starting off with a weakly dismissive assessment fiasco over gun control legislation, showing through his non-answers that Tom DeLay is the real Speaker of the House.

Cokie, then turned to the Russert-Blitzer "sound bite ambush" play book. She was more intent on bullying and humiliating Hastert than talking issues. She first played about two minutes of excruciating footage: an ABC News camera team asking people who Dennis Hastert is. About nine "I have no ideas" were followed by one man who correctly identified him.

Of course, this speaks far worse of Americans who are more interested in what Julia Roberts is wearing in the way of designer footwear this week than what their elected officials are doing to walk all over the very people who voted them into office.

Hastert responded by saying that he's always been comfortable working behind the scenes and he wants to "make the House work."

A polite answer -- too polite for his own good. He added in response to a question from Cokie about raising his profile, "I'm not a tough person."

Talk about an understatement.

We actually felt sorry for milquetoast Hastert, especially after Cokie pulled out a video clip of Patrick Kennedy saying that he liked working for Hastert but that he was "window-dressing for a far-right extremist caucus."

So we tuned out. Honestly, could you blame anyone for doing the same?

Face the Nation

The first guests were Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) and Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX), both members of the Senate Finance Committee.

Bob Schieffer asked Shalala: "Are higher-income people going to have to pay more for Medicare under the plan that the President will unveil next week?"

Shalala said no, and added that the Medicare commission didn't make that recommendation either. "Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been opposed to that for different reasons -- Republicans because they see it as a tax increase, Democrats because they see it as a major threat to the kind of egalitarianism of the Medicare program. It's interesting -- the public is more relaxed about the issue."

Regarding prescription drug benefits, she said we can't afford not to introduce that into the Medicare program. "We need to modernize that benefit package -- drugs are increasingly a critical part of the health care in this country." She added that the President said that "first he was going to do something to extend the solvency of the system. We've already extended the solvency by 15 years. He is talking about a quarter of a century to make sure we are well into the baby boom generation. Second, we need management reforms, competitive reforms.... Those reforms are an inextricable part of what he's recommending -- solvency, competition, management reforms, as well as pharmaceutical benefits."

Gloria Borger: "Aren't there going to be higher premiums, though, and aren't wealthier beneficiaries going to have to pay more for prescription drugs than lower-income beneficiaries?"

Shalala: "This prescription drug benefit will be universal, the pricing will be the same for everyone. Low-income people will get better breaks because they... can't afford to have premium increase."

Schieffer: "Isn't this going to be enormously expensive?.... Where do you get the money for this?"

Shalala: "We'll demonstrate where we get the money.... This will not be as generous as people think.... People will share in the cost, it will have a limit on how much the government will pay for, and it will be very carefully designed so that it doesn't spin out of control."

Gloria asked how it will work. Shalala: "First, it's going to be universal. Second, it's going to be voluntary. Third, there will be some sharing in the cost."

Gloria: "Are you going to raise tobacco taxes... to help pay for that?"

Shalala said the President will be the one talking about the financing package. "What you should know is that this is going to be designed in a rigorous way. We've had a lot of experience with fraud and waste in all the parts of the Medicare program. We've done a good job in slowing down the growth and reducing fraud and eliminating waste in the program."

Schieffer asked her to comment on the plan floating around in Congress that would force drug manufacturers to sell drugs to individual Medicare recipients at the same price that they sell them to HMO's in bulk.

Shalala said they are not supporting that legislation. "We need a healthy pharmaceutical industry.... We need them to continue to invest in research and development.... The way in which this ought to be managed... is through the private sector.... We can't afford to undermine a very important industry."

Schieffer: "... you are saying no price controls here?" Shalala said they have never favored price controls. Getting discounts is another issue.

Schieffer asked Sen. Phil Gramm to comment on all of that. Sen. Gramm, of course, said the President didn't use the "golden opportunity to reform Medicare" that was presented to him. He thinks that under the President's proposal, the payroll tax will have to be doubled.

Huh?

He just went on with his usual rhetoric.

Schieffer asked Sen. Bob Graham to comment on the prescription drug benefit. Sen. Graham said that the Medicare program needs to be modernized from just a sickness and accident program to one that focuses on how to keep people well and increase the quality of life o older Americans. And to do so efficiently.

Schieffer asked if this isn't going to be too expensive.

Sen. Bob Graham believes there is a way to do it. "First we need to continue the assault on fraud... Number two, we need to use competitive bidding.... Third, the President has committed to a federal suit against the tobacco industry, and the Senate has already voted to put all of the proceeds of that litigation into the Medicare trust fund, with prescription medication being a priority use of those funds.... And we are going to need to put some of the... non-Social Security surplus... into the Medicare program."

Gloria asked Sen. Phil Gramm why he thinks the White House "backed-off of a plan to make wealthier recipients pay higher premiums than lower-income recipients."

Sen. Phil Gramm thinks they did that because "this is an election year" and he thinks that their proposal on Tuesday will be a "political document that is totally out of touch with reality, that could never be afforded, but that could make a very good campaign platform."

Gloria asked Sen. Bob Graham if Democrats are afraid of losing the senior citizen vote.

Sen. Bob Graham: "No. This is about providing one of the most important programs for almost one out of six Americans into the 21st century."

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Next guest was Dr. Nancy Dickey, President of the American Medical Association.

Schieffer asked her what is going on that the AMA has decided to let some doctors form unions.

Dr. Dickey: "I think this is a sign of the degree of problem the healthcare system has today when doctors... suddenly say we can't impact how we care for our patients, we can't have the authority to use the medical training that we have, we somehow need to increase our voice, and one of the ways available to us is through collective bargaining in unionization." She added that "the only people who are legally allowed... to form a union are those who are employed by someone else.... The vast majority of doctors are still self-employed and it would take a legislative change for them to organize."

Gloria asked her to comment on what some are saying that this really isn't about winning back control for doctors, but it's really about allowing doctors to earn some more money.

Dr. Dickey: "The issues have universally been concern about having the ability to write the prescriptions for the drugs we think our patients need, not ones that are on a limited list based on how cheap they are; the ability to send our patients to... the best possible specialist... instead of the ones who signed on to take the cheapest rate for their surgery. Doctors are concerned that we cannot take care of our patients today and what we do oftentimes, even by the contract, is dictated to be what's cheapest not necessarily what's best. We'd like to be able to get back to practicing medicine."

Gloria asked where their leverage will come from since the doctors are saying they won't strike, which means there's no collective bargaining.

Dr. Dickey: "By law... if you have a recognized group, then the employer has to sit down with the employee and negotiate in good faith. Today we oftentimes can't get anyone to even sit down at the table with us. Secondly [it] protects you against retaliation.... Today if the doctor were to go to the press or was to be critical of the employer and the treatment of patients, he or she may find themselves out on the street. But the protection... means that a union could go to the public and tell them what the problems were with a particular employee and they will be protected against retaliation."

Schieffer asked how this impacts on care. Dr. Dickey said they will not compromise patient care. And that's why they "want an AMA-affiliated union, rather than a traditional union, because our ethics and professionalism are going to come first."

Ads: KPMG, Lucent Technologies, Compaq, Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab, Ford ("we are really concerned about the environment").

Bob's final word was about "how tangled up we're becoming over what's important in this country" and referred to a New York Times story which tells "how more and more parents are paying professional instructors $70/hour to teach 10-year old little leaguers how to hit a baseball.... The parents say it's about self-esteem." But Bob believes "they are missing one of the best parts of being a parent and the whole point of what baseball is about... -- learning to deal with failure. In baseball even the best fail more than they succeed." He also mentioned that baseball has allowed fathers and their kids to find something they can talk about even when they have nothing else to share.

CNN Lame Edition

Well, Wolf Blitzer has finally thrown all concealment away when it comes to his being the spokesperson of the GOP.

Today, he absolutely outdid himself in distorting the truth and spreading propaganda. And what's worse -- he was plugging the return of the prime-time version of Lame Edition! CNN is rewarding Blitzer big for his irresponsible, fake-"ruckmaking" yellow journalism.

The main focus of Lame edition this week was Kosovo and the proposed medical prescription coverage of the elderly on Medicare.

Blitzer started by explaining that the Democrats want everyone on Medicare to have prescription coverage, but the Republicans only want those covered who don't have thirdrd party coverage.

Then he cut to Brig. Gen. Craddock, asking him about tomorrow being the 10th anniversary of a big speech by Milosevic explaining why Kosovo is "so important" to Serbia. Wolf asked if more danger lies ahead in terms of revenge and house burning. Craddock explained that when they found a group of Albanians attacking Serb homes, they discovered that a lot of looted goods were in those homes, and Kosovar Albanians were just trying to retake their possessions. So the US troops came up with a way to broker the exchange of goods taken. They put out an amnesty request on the goods taken, and if Albanians could show proof of ownership such as by picture or owner's manual with serial number they would hand back the goods taken. Craddock said that this has been very successful and has since put the word out to other NATO troops to do the same.

Blitzer then asked: "Is this your job?"

Well, let's see, Wolf: they're peacekeeping forces in Kosovo out to find the best way to keep the peace. So, they've established a method to return property to rightful owners without involving gunfire. Maybe you don't, but I'd say that falls under the job description.

Craddock answered "If not us, then who? That's good soldier thinking of the best way to solve a complex problem."

Blitzer: "Have you found many if any scenes of atrocities?"

Craddock "We've been lucky, we've found fewer here than other places, but they number 15-20 sites."

Blitzer decided to spin what was just said when he was interviewing Ambassador David Sheffer: "General Craddock said he found little to no war crimes."

Sheffer :"Actually, there were 10-20."

So Blitzer takes it from being 15-20 reported massacre sites reported by Craddock to being few or none at all. And this wouldn't be the only instance of slanting the reporting by Blitzer today.

Moving back to the President's Medicare initiatives, Blitzer said "according to Republicans, Clinton's initiatives will be dead on arrival." Oh, I see: all of the questioning that he did from here on out was moot because he has announced for the GOP that they don't plan to work with the President at all!

He interviewed Gene Sperling, asking him "I take it that the President will move closer to the Republicans to the 'lockbox' protecting the Social Security for future generations."

Sperling: "Let me phrase that slightly differently. It's the President that has said in 2 state of the union addresses that Social Security needs to be saved for future generations with the lockbox."

Now, observe the total "lack of comprehension" by Blitzer: "Okay, so you are moving closer on the lockbox proposal to the Republicans. What about the 2 proposed Republican tax cuts : Capital Gains cut in half, removal of estate taxes and the marriage penalty tax?"

Sperling: "I have to object to your characterization because at the beginning of this year, the Republicans had a flat 10% tax cut that would have taken 70-80 billion dollars away from Social Security, so they are moving closer to us with these being the President's initiatives."

Blitzer: "Will the President work with the Republicans on the 3 tax cuts?"

Sperling: "1st things 1st; you have to save Medicare & Social Security first and cannot squeeze military or education in the process. Republicans have been very short on setting aside money for Social Security & Medicare. Tax cuts should be fair. Across the board cuts only benefit the rich. We should be targeting the families working the hardest and struggling the most."

Blitzer "Sounds like on those 3 tax cuts you won't be going very far."

He cut the interview and welcomed Senators McConnell and Torricelli -- totally ignoring everything that Sperling had said!

Blitzer asked if this is going to be the "summer of gridlock." Pay close attention and you can see the total setup attempt by Blitzer to make Democrats look bad.

Blitzer: "Sen. McConnell, will you work with the President" this summer?

McConnell: "Well, I'm glad to see the President is finally coming around" on the Medicare issue.

Torricelli: "We will have a compromise that will allow those who don't have prescription coverage."

Blitzer: "Sen. McConnell, do you think that to get the Republicans elected they need progress this summer on Medicare, social security and gun control?"

McConnell: "We are not here to play games. We should pass the Y2K legislation and lock up the surplus for social security." Notice the lack of mention of gun control! And you've gotta love their stand on Medicare: they want only those without 3rd party coverage covered, but what they don't say is that this coverage will come with a "voluntary modest" premium -- so those who don't need it won't pay for the premium. Unless they're greedy.

Blitzer: "Sen. Torricelli, a lot of Democrats hope that the Republicans don't pass legislation in order to view them as a Republican do nothing Congress. Are you one of those Democrats?"

Notice that Blitzer had put a GOP spin on the question and tried to lock Torricelli into agreeing with his assessment that it will be the Democrats forcing the GOP into doing nothing.

Torricelli: "No, and I hope the Republicans will work with the President and pass the prescription drug benefits, but I predict that they won't. The prescription drug benefits will be the 3rd leg of the stool that constitutes Democratic victory in 2000. Republicans have already inflamed Americans with opposition to reasonable gun control, opposing all of the President's initiatives for education and hiring new teachers and repairing schools. Republicans have spent the last 30 years trying to explain their opposition to Medicare in its beginning, and now that many have forgotten that, Republicans will be reminding them."

McConnell: "When the President says targeted tax cuts, it means you probably won't get one. 48 million Americans pay no taxes at all. Those making 50k or more supply 91% of Federal taxes."

Nice bit of propaganda by the GOP! The truth is that a good number of those who don't pay taxes are those who are in the top 2% income bracket.

Torricelli then said that he differs from the President saying that we should move those who make 60 -70k salaries from the 28% tax bracket to the 15% tax bracket. He then added that he believes that the President does underestimate the bipartisan acceptance of such a proposal.

Could that be from past experience??

Now came the kicker of the program. Realizing that they have nothing else to say against Al Gore as Presidential candidate, the only way to say bad things is to create a fictional infighting by the Democrats.

All of the members of Wolf's Round table, especially Susan Page and Tucker Carlson, created this perception that Al Gore and President Clinton are locked into an adversarial battle of egos. They insist that because Gore has distanced himself from the scandal, and indeed said that what the President did was inappropriate, they Clinton is now "hurt by this accusation." They portray a bitter feud developing between "Clinton's legacy and Gore's race for the White House."

How quickly they forget that President Clinton himself has said that he -- of all people -- admitted how inappropriate his behavior was and didn't take offense at Gore's comments at all. He agreed and understood. But that doesn't play well for the GOP, so they have to invent infighting with Gore and Clinton to take attention away from the fact that their main GOP candidate -- George W. "Bush Lite" Jr. -- can't take a stand on any issues until he consults his daddy. That became so apparent that Bush Daddy told the Press that he's not in the "consulting business."

Yeah, right.

So one can understand the need for Blitzer to be the all-out spokesjerk for the GOP, and the need to totally distort the show against the President and Al Gore. But in reality all it does is show the depth of the GOP desperation to grab at anything for the 2000 elections. They forced the race to start early, and now are glaringly lacking in any progress on the issues. In fact, all of their actions have demonstrated that they haven't learned one lesson from the past couple of years and continue to be the pimps for the Right Wingnut extremists, ignoring the will of the People. Blitzer has sold his soul to the devil and sold out CNN Lame Edition to the "hard right." He's become slut number one for the extremist wing of the GOP.

The McLaugh-In Group
with Colonel John "Klink" McLaughlin

Issue One: Is John McLaughlin out of his mind? Now the GE commercials start before the show!

Issue Two: Doctors of the world unite! "Look whose wearing the union label now." The AMA, John shouted with horror, voted to unionize this week. We, of course, think that's great. McLaughlin, of course, believes that they organized simply because their salaries have stagnated! He claims that the average doctor earns $200,00 a year.

But this is incorrect. The average doctor earns only a bit over $125,000 a year and spent 12 years in school to do it.

Michael Barone said that doctors are looking for more money. Eleanor Clift said she thinks that we need this counterweight to the HMOs -- and added that only 20% of doctors, the ones working in HMOs, are affected. Larry O'Donnell said that many doctors, who work for cities and counties, are already unionized under public employee unions. "Colonel" McLaughlin proclaimed he is afraid that he will have to pay more for his health care.

Yeah -- right -- as if he wouldn't go to Jack Welch himself for a free MRI if he needed one. And we think he does -- a brain scan to check for Dementia Klinkosa.

Eleanor retorted that this is about younger doctors; they are the ones who are getting screwed.

We agree. Congress is in the back pocket of the insurance industry.

Joel Klein of the Justice Department is growling that doctors should not be able to unionize under law. But the panel said he thinks that they will succeed in this move.

McLaughlin said he thinks that in the end this will put the doctors in trouble. He claimed that Eleanor wants the "Hillaryization" of health care.

As if that would be such a bad thing! McLaughlin's rants only make Clift -- and Mrs. Clinton -- look good.

Issue Three: Viva Las Vegas! McLaughlin then proceeded to attack the online gaming industry.

Now, we're not really for it -- but we will admit we won 238.00 trying it once before we lost it back!

Congress put together the NGIC, said McLaughKlink, a commission to study "gaming." You've got to love that spin-laden term, "gaming." Puh-leeze -- it's called gambling! Congress , he continued, decided to make insurance companies offer counseling to gambleholics. Steve Wynn, owned of Vegas resorts (including our own "Doc" Gonzo's favorite, the Bellagio), gave $250 thousand in soft money to Dick Gephardt. Eleanor reminded the panel that the Vegas moguls have friends on both sides -- including Trent Lott, who gave them a tax break only this year!

McLaughlin asked if Clift is ashamed that her party backs gaming. Blankley said that 74% of Americans love gambling then this moral discussion is ludicrous -- the smartest thing he's ever said on McLaugh-In

The entire discussion reminded us of a teenage girl sleep over.

McLaughlin ended up defending gambling and Barone, the idiot, said that if you offered more tax incentives to save, people would not gamble. Which we answered with a resounding "tee, hee, hee."

Issue Four: CIA - Central Incompetence Agency! McLaughlin called the bombing of the Chinese Embassy a tragedy despite warnings that were made repeatedly by one of its own analysts.

"My God, who relies on the Internet!" screamed McLaughlin. (They reportedly got the address of the embassy from a Serb web site) McLaughlin then said, "You know that that embassy was loaded with encryption gear..." and that they were probably spying -- he suggests.

Issue Four: Where's the Party?

McLaughlin went after Tina Brown and her magazine "Talk." When New York Mayor (and Senator-wannabe) Rudolph Giuliani found out that the first issue would feature a picture of Hillary Clinton on the cover, he lied about putting the kibosh on Brown's gala -- instead of taking credit for trashing the party slated to be held at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Rudy now looks like a Nazi -- which he is. He should have just said, "TOUGH! Let Tina put ME on the cover."

McLaughlin said that Giuliani "picked up 500,000 votes from that move." God, what an imbecile. The truth is that nothing of consequence will come of it -- and Blankley agreed.

The predictions were asinine as usual -- but Blankley said the congress would pass a last-minute tax break before the session is out, and O'Donnell said he thinks that if he had to bet, Bill Bradley will get the Democratic nomination for President. Hey Larry, check the APJ survey! Gore wins 2-1 already!

Eat the Press
Starring "Herr" Tim Russert

For some reason, Tim Russert decided to open his show with an interview about shoot-outs occurring in Serbia between NATO troops and Serbs as well as Kosovars. Russert, who is beginning to sound more and more like geriatric sociopath Sam Donaldson, threw a series of staccato questions at General Wesley Clark -- a great guy who supports his Commander-in-Chief. Russert asked if the General knew that China "is offering asylum to Milosevic."

The entire media room erupted in laughter -- we're sure Milosevic wants to live in Shanghai, where he can eat all the moo shu crow he wants!

The General would not say that Serbs are now thinking about dumping Milo -- because they're not. But the President's message Friday -- "No money if Slobo stays" -- will finally appeal to their greedy Central European selves.

Russert asked what the average Serb is watching on state-run TV. We're sure that Russert watches it every day. The General didn't bother to answer him.

Russert said, "It was pretty crummy of the Russians to land at the airport and claim they were the liberators" -- and the General again did not fall for the idiot's bait.

Following the interview: a spot for www.ge.com -- a new push to get you to their web site -- then a commercial for Morningstar Farms, an ADM subsidiary that keeps pushing their damn soybeans down our throats claiming they're hamburgers! Hey, Tim -- real Republicans eat meat -- preferably the flesh of their fellow GOPers. Ask Rep. O.J. Watts (R-OK-kids by at least two ladies).

Next came Orrin Hatch. He is running for President. He talked about his upbringing, mentioning as he did on FNS that came out of poverty. He then said we have a future like no other country, and pushed the issues he will run on: we have to save social security. We have to save Medicare, bolster national security and counter-terrorism. And leadership -- we need leadership. He invoked Reagan twice in one sentence.

Orrin appeared very nervous as Presidential Candidate Hatch. He is usually very relaxed, but today he was talking a thousand miles an hour trying to cram all the themes of his platform into a single run-on sentence.

He said he thinks that we have too much divisiveness in this country -- and we agree.

That's why we are supporting Hatch against BushBaby on the GOP side. We'd love to see the dapper Hatch -- not only a politician but an entrepreneur who cuts his own CDs of patriotic, religious and soft-country tunes and rose from janitor to Senator (he should compare notes with Don Nickels), and lived in a chicken coop during law school. He was also a union member and is proud that he held a union card in the construction industry.

Will Hatch support 39 million Medicare recipients getting pharmaceutical coverage? No! Cool. He may alienate the voters most likely to go to the polls. But keep that quiet -- because we want him to beat George Dumbellyou.

He wants to get those prescription drug prices down, however.

Hatch said that he will be there when George Dumbellyou stumbles. Russert wants to know if Hatch, by way of his Judiciary committee chairmanship, "knew something" about Bush.

That prompted another wave of laughter throughout the APJ media room! Yeah, sure Hatch would tell Tim Russert -- who would probably faint in a sexual blush if George Dumbellyou appeared on his show.

Hatch is "pro-life," but he respects people on the other side. What does that mean? We'll soon find out. He does say that any single issue -- like abortion -- should keep a judge off the Supreme Court. He added that he is worried about raising money.

We say that if you're a Republican -- or not -- send him a check. Hatch, is far and away the most qualified candidate to throw his hat in the ring on the GOP side thus far. He wants to help the poor. He is a Mormon -- which is a good thing, if you know many Mormons.

Russert asked this stupid question, "If you could sign one bill only - would it be against abortion, or for tax cuts?" Hatch went for taxes. He called abortion "the other" -- we loved it. Hatch did not close the door on a VP slot, the AG position, or anything else. And that's what we like in a pol -- a guy who will take advantage of any opportunity to rise.

Pat "Pukeanan" was up next. What a segue!

Buchanan said he thinks that Bush is not prepared to be President. But how could Pat be? He's nothing more than an aging Nixon flunky and a television host! He is a laughingstock! If it wasn't so sad, it would be funny.

"Pukeanan" said he thinks that Bush is his "perfect foil." He claims he is an "economic patriot" -- and loathes Woodrow Wilson's policies. No matter that Wilson was one of the most brilliant men to occupy any governmental post -- and "Pukeanan" is trying to run against a long-dead historic figure.

"Could Pat Buchanan support a pro-choice candidate?" asked Russert. Pat said he thinks that if BushBaby did this it would make the Republican party hollow. "If the Republican Party walks away from life -- it walks away from me." Ha ha! Great Bumper sticker, Pat.

He went on: it is not a foregone conclusion that Bush will win. The people resent the coronation of Bush, he claims.

Well, we certainly do!

The GOP establishment is desperate for power, Pat continued, saying they are terrified over the impending loss of the House and Senate.

Well, that's right -- so why not choose Orrin Hatch?

Pat said he thinks it will be a wide-open campaign, because Bush will fall by agreeing with Clinton on everything.

Yet "Pukeanan" still said he thinks that Gore will be the next president. Sure -- that's a great way to attack Bush! He then lit into both Clinton and Gore by mischaracterizing Gore's comments about Clinton's personal life, saying "[Gore] was sounding like one of the House Managers... He was sounding like Bob Barr" -- yet another laugh-out-loud moment.

Russert asked if Bob Woodward was right when he said that Pukeanan wanted to be Ambassador to NATO. He was, claims Pukeanan. But we could just see them laughing at the State Department when he came in for his mandatory grilling. After that session with Tim, Pukeanan must have realized what a loser he really was.

Make no mistake: Pat Buchanan runs for President for one simple reason. He loves money. He loves to live it up on contributors' money. He loves to appear on television as frequently as possible -- thus driving up his speaking fees. Unlike Ross Perot, he has no real wealth, a wife who looks like a Pomeranian "kick dog," and an ego so large that his head can't fit through the door to the Supreme Court. If the GOP leadership has any brains whatsoever, they will start to trash this creep -- and fast. He is a user and an abuser who claims to love the working stiff yet vacations at five-star Palm Beach hotels.

He is, in a word, a puke.

Claire Shipman, the "Fox" of NBC, then joined Tim to answer stupid questions about whether the President "hates" Al Gore now because he had to "trash" Bill Clinton's "moral compass."

Do we really need to tell you this is total crap? We know people inside the White House, and can tell you that the only administration people who are angry are the staff members who think that Bill should be running the Gore campaign.

And while we agree that Gore is in trouble, we think the trouble lies with the people he is put in charge of his campaign. He would be wise to dump them all -- and take Clinton's strategists as his own.

Idiot Russert shows "horse race" polls in order to embarrass Gore, who is supposedly trailing behind Bush by 15-18 points. Shipman claimed that his staff is worried.

If they are, they are stupid. Today, no one knows anything about George Dumbellyou - and when they start to learn, that gap will close - and fast, perhaps in a matter of days.

Gwen Ifill -- a smart woman -- said that Gore is paying for Clinton's mistakes. Gore is trying to build space between himself and Clinton, and to showcase Tipper.

That could be a mistake. Remember Tipper? She was the one leading the charge against American's musicians claiming they were making demons of our kids less than ten years ago.

Russert said that New Yorker magazine believes that Bill Clinton will run for Senate from Arkansas in 2002. And once again we laughed. We can tell you there's not a chance. There are very good reasons why ex-Presidents don't run for office once they retire. The prime reason is money. Ex-Presidents make a helluva a lot of money. We estimate that merely gifts from supporters will net Bill Clinton more than $20 million in real estate and other interests. His trust is probably worth nearly $10 million.

Russert then turned to bashing -- Elizabeth Dole! The panel was lightweight and boring but giggly.

Russert finished by whipping out meaningless poll numbers that show Gore ahead of Bradley 67% to 17%.

We can only the other 16% were laughing too hard at Russert and this ridiculous, irrelevant and premature question to answer.

Swept Under the Rug

There was not one mention of the NATO/UN effort to restore order to Kosovo -- a major victory for both the Western alliance and Bill Clinton -- on Fox, NBC or ABC (CNN did cover the story on Lame Edition; more on this in our follow-up). You can be sure they would have if even one of our men and women in uniform were so much as wounded.

Anyone get the feeling that it only counts on Sunday of it can be used to "get" Bill Clinton?