Sunday, July 9, 2000 -- WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (AmpolNS) -- The "Veepstakes,"the upcoming Camp David summit between Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat, and President Clinton, and the failure of a key antimissile test shared top billing on the pundit shows.  The Gore-Bush slugfest was relegated to a distant back seat -- and, at that, on the issue of Medicare coverage of prescription drugs.

Funny how they ignored a certain trial coming up in Washington this week.  Hmmm... could it be that they're gonna have egg on their faces??

Here's what we saw:

Fox Schmooze Sunday
Starring "Hollywood" Fred Thompson as the Last PAC-tion Hero 

The missile defense test failure, oh-so-embarrassing to GOP champions of the program, took third place to Sen. Fred  Thompson (R-Hollywood) and race relations.

Why were Roger Ailes and Brit Hume (who joined the questioning) giving Fred Thompson  the coveted first segment on FNS?  We can only think that the celebrity-obsessed FOX network and news operation think that former character actor Thompson would make a formidable veep.  Heck, look how well his character stood up to Clint Eastwood in In the Line of Fire, or how his hearings exposed "massive felonies" and collusion with the Chinese in the Clinton Administration... er, illegal fundraisers that proved the Clinton Administration was in the back pockets of ... oops, make that an outreach event at a Buddhist temple that Republicans also turned out for, and that resulted in hearings that made the GOP look anti-Asian and that tarnished Thompson's reputation.

Yeah, a real formidable candidate -- for sidekick to Eastwood.

Tony elected to first ask Thompson about Chinese missiles -- so the Thompson could accuse China of being the biggest proliferator of weapons of mass destruction, while saying in the most weasely manner that the US is "trying to engage" China.

Of course, the only reason this was the top priority subject for FNS was to make it seem as if President Clinton is conspiring with those evil "communist Chinese" to spread socialism worldwide, or some other such hysteria.

Thompson predicted that a missile defense would be resisted by Russia and Europe, "but we should still do it."

Why, Fred?  So that the U.S. can destabilize the world?  Why no talk from anyone on FNS about this argument?

Brit brought up the possibility that a terrorist could bring in a nuke in a suitcase, and Fred mumbled something about all the antiterrorist spending going on in Washington.

Gee, Fred, how much is being spent on kids terrorizing and killing other kids with guns in school?  How much to prevent another Tim McVeigh?

Tony then brought up a string of "suspicious Asian" names ties to the Hsi Lai non-fundraiser -- a sort of "who did Gore meet and why did he meet them?"  Thompson bad-mouthed a couple of those sneaky-sounding Asians, including James Riady.  Tony said that he took a limo ride with the President, then called John Huang and said "start raising money" -- then Tony asked how the President could not be indicted!  This was just a set-up for saying that the Clinton Administration has evaded "the rule of law" and nobody trusts the justice system anymore!

Lemme ask you this -- how many times has Bush taken a limo ride with somebody, and that person made a cell phone call immediately afterward?

Then Fred hypocritically said it was not the place of Senators to "pass judgment" and there was a need to establish a "rule of law."  What a lie -- the hard-right wing of the GOP did everything in their power to undermine the Constitutional process of impeachment.  Thompson should know better than to use the words "rule of law" with viewers that will remember how the GOP abused it come November.

Brit said that Fred was on a Bush "veep list" -- would he be interested?  "I won't be able to help you...I choose not to talk about it."

Final question -- is the rule of law better than it was eight years ago?  How can Tony be so dumb as to push this spin point?  Where was the rule of law when Bush went AWOL from the National Guard?  Where was the rule of law when Tom DeLay apparently perjured himself in a civil suit?  Fred said no, naturally, then said that "all" the career attorneys were fired and Webb Hubbell was installed.

The truth is, the rule of law is the same as it ever was -- subject to manipulation by the privileged.  And, Fred, there was a reason all those "career prosecutors" got the boot  -- they had a poor track record and seemed more interested in a partisan agenda than the rule of law -- and when Clinton's team did a housecleaning, the natural knee-jerk reaction was for GOPers to squeal "partisanship."

We could run another ten paragraphs detailing each one of Thompson's "lying points," which seemed a bit too rehearsed for our own comfort -- and his credibility -- but his appearance was so over-the-top, so laughable, that we won't bother.

Fred, take a hint from us: we loved you in In the Line of Fire.   Get back to Hollywood, where you belong.

Tony's second guest was Kwesi Mfume, NAACP President.  It was a wonk segment, but a great one, because Tony, for all his conservative shilling, is eminently familiar with race issues, and turned what would normally be another boring chat about race into a fast-paced provocative discussion.

Mfume said that he had reached out to GOP candidates -- Dole and now Bush -- but they seem to be taking black voters for granted (this seemed at odds with an assertion he made a couple days ago that Bush is reaching out to blacks and minorities).  Juan Williams asked if Al Gore had contacted Mfume regarding the VP candidate slot.  Mfume said no -- but nevertheless it's time to extend candidacy to blacks and women.

Tony asked about educational choice (i.e. vouchers and home schooling) -- and Mfume said yes, BUT that it cannot mean a retreat from financing and supporting public schools and creating voucher segregation.  Mfume was also asked about welfare reform, and criticized a lack of uniform administration of welfare reform nationwide.

Tony then -- surreally  -- asked whether the estate tax should be repealed.  Mfume said that the tax system should be reformed every decade or so to adjust to a changing economy.  look, he said, at the Internet and "dot.coms".

Juan glommed onto a concept that Tony has posited in a question to Mfume about an "emerging black middle class."  Mfume praised the strides black Americans are making but implied there's a way to go.

Hey guys, that kind of talk still keeps them segregated -- they're middle class people who wish that others, particularly in the media, would stop putting them in a racial box!

Following the break: a hot-button issue -- missile defense! Tony asked guest one, Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ), if the test didn't prove that the system doesn't work.  Kyl tried to put a happy face on the humiliating failure, lying when he said the test does not prove the system doesn't work.  Ha, ha, ha -- wake yup, Kyl, and smell the wasted rocket fuel!  It's a BOONDOGGLE!  Tony's other guest for the segment, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), simply loves missile defense and wants it to go forward when it's feasible -- but that's only because he wants to keep those cash-strapped Connecticut defense contractors happy.  Joe also made a lot out of a "required" radar station allegedly needed in Alaska and the pressing deadline to start construction (he never made it clear that weather makes construction feasible only during certain periods of the year).  But he never addressed questions as to whether this radar site is needed.  Kyl almost touched on the issue when he said that some components would have to be space-based. 

Tony made much of the fact that we can't knock down incoming missiles.  Well, gosh, neither can any other nations.  Lieberman claimed that we need missile defense so that drug cartels and terrorists won't fire missiles at us!

Hey, Joe, which is cheaper -- buying, maintaining, fueling, and firing a nuke-tipped missile at a big city, or hiding a nuke in a shipping container and exploding it in port?  Joe, you're a million laughs!  By the way, there are a lot of ports in Connecticut.

Lieberman waxed pessimistic on the hopes that an agreement that Barak and Arafat will occur at Camp David -- and Kyl said that the US is putting too much pressure on Israel.  Oh, please, John.

Should McCain be on the Republican prez ticket?  Kyl said McCain already said no -- and Thompson would be great (we agree -- he'd sandbag Bush).  Tony asked Joe if he might be want to be Gore's running mate -- and Joe invoked the "Thompson vow of silence."

Panel time!  Camp David summit -- Brit Hume, predictably, said Clinton is grasping at the "brass ring" to enhance his "legacy,"  Mara and Brit agreed that Barak's coalition is "crumbling" and claimed that Clinton and Barak think this is their "last best chance" for peace, Tony detailed the defections from Barak's coalition, but Juan spoiled the "looming-disaster-fest" when he said he's optimistic because Arafat has a chance to become the dominant leader in the region.  Hume said Arafat has "done brilliantly" by doing nothing.  Tony said that Barak may be playing chicken, ready to go back to Israel and say "Here's the deal, vote on it, if it loses the peace process collapses."  Juan predicted that Arafat will be a man of peace, emerge with a bold initiative and sell it to Palestinians.

"Missile fizzle!"  Mara played down the catastrophic failure of the test (nobody mentioned that not one but at least three malfunctions occurred), calling it a mere setback.  Hume was right when he said critics wanted to see the test fail -- but wrong when he said it was a non-event.  Juan said that it hurts the Clinton Administration's ability to use it as a bargaining chip with Russia -- and that's true.  Mara said the Administration wanted to get started on Start III -- and may have to forego this "milestone."

Tony brought up "Gore pounding pharma."  Juan was wrong when he said that Gore is still contending with "who he is."  Juan, baby, he's rolling out a position in a timely manner!  Tony mangled the name of the fake grassroots organization the pharma industry has invented (it's Citizens for Better Medicare, Tony, a front for pharma lobbyists out to gouge the elderly and reap federal subsidies), and this gave the panel a chance to pile on Gore advisor Carter Eskew.  They don't like him -- and the truth is neither do we.  He was a hired gun for big tobacco, and we know Democratic high-ups who call him "Cancer Boy" behind his back.  Hume went into a high dudgeon about Gore's attacks on big pharma sounding très "old democrat" -- and Juan asked what was wrong with that!

Talk turned to the notorious neo-white-trash Mayberry family (no relation to that "family values" no-blacks-allowed Andy Griffith Show), who are leaving a property owned by Al Gore.  This gave Hume a chance to reiterate Fox's one-sided coverage which seeks to embarrass the Veep.  Juan jokingly said that the Mayberrys are "moving to a Republican estate!"  We were rolling on the floor! Will they seek asylum?  And speaking of slums and slumlords, Brit, why no outrage about Dubya's Texas colonias, those disgusting segregated slums near the Mexican border?  At least the Mayberrys had twentieth century amenities, like a toilet, running water and electricity.

Tony surprised us with his final word: praise for the Harry Potter books!  He praised them as imaginative -- and something that drags kids away from the television!  It's also worth noting that Tony broke with the conservative-evangelo-luddite party line that the books promote witchcraft and the like.

The McLaugh-In Group
Pre-empted in our broadcast area -- by a sporting event

Issue one: why were we being subjected to sports?

Our local NBC affiliate elected to run some silly tennis game instead of The Mc-Laugh-In Group.  We were crestfallen -- a weekend without John McLaughlin acting as a public relations blowhard for the political views of Jack Welch and General Electric just does not seem complete.

But it would not have made a huge difference: since John tapes on Friday, he and his sputtering encounter group would not have dealt with the failure of a crucial missile defense test late that day.  We were still left to wonder how many missile components were made by GE, who "bring good things" to weapons of mass destruction.

We did learn that John made the Mexican elections his actual issue one, hailing the shift from the establishment PRI party to the opposition as "momentous."   Larry O'Donnell hailed Mexico as a "mature" democracy, but one that would have to prove its mettle by rooting out entrenched and institutional corruption.

We also learned that McLaughlin waxed eloquent over Senator Chuck Hagel as a potential Bush Veep-wannabe.  No surprise there -- Hagel is one with the GE agenda.

We also got the panel's predictions on an issue that affects dozens of Americans: the dreaded estate tax!  The House voted to repeal it. Will the Senate do the same?

Mike Barone: Yes
Eleanor Clift: Yes -- then Clinton will veto it!
Larry Kudlow: Yes, with a gas tax cut.
Larry O'Donnell: No -- it will be filibustered.
John :  "The answer is yes."

Face the Nation

Bob Schieffer led with the failed antimissile test -- and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger.  Schieffer explained the issue better than any other pundit: the need to build radars and missiles that work together.  Berger went one step further -- explaining that the system would be intended to combat the threat of terrorists and rogue nations.  He called the failure "important in assessing how far along this system is technologically ."  Is it less likely that Clinton will give the go-ahead on a system?  Berger said that the White House is awaiting data from the Pentagon and others.  Gloria Borger mentioned that Congress set a deadline of 2005 for deployment -- should it be pushed back?  Berger replied with a little fact the press doesn't mention: it is not a statutory deadline.

Bob turned to the upcoming Camp David summit.  Why now -- is this a bet on a possibility, or is there real reason for hope?  Berger said that real progress has been made on many points, but now that "they've hit a wall," they need help on the "final status" issues.  Clinton determined that it was important to bring the leaders here and get them to talk.  Bob mentioned that Barak's coalition is falling apart -- and Berger deflected, saying that Barak and Arafat are dedicated to peace.  Borger said Arafat will declare unilateral Palestinian statehood -- would America recognize the state?  Berger warned against unilateral moves -- sounds to us like a combination big "no" and suggestion to Arafat that he make a bold initiative.

Bob then turned to Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) -- should a "lame duck" be making the momentous decision on missile defense? Bob was hoping to get Hagel to say Clinton's a lame duck -- and Hagel said that the decision should be deferred. He also admitted that our allies "have to be brought on board."  He then lied by saying that Congress would never hold America's security hostage.

Well, if that's the case, why is Dan Burton permitted to lie with impunity, slander Bill Clinton and Al Gore, hire known dirty tricksters as investigators, foment sedition, and hobble the operations of the White House over a defect in a computer system?  Isn't that holding America's security hostage?  We suggest to Hagel that he see his own house is in order before making hyperbolic claims.

Joe Biden (D-DE) said that the purpose of the missile defense was supposedly to deter rogue states -- but it's unrealistic to assume North Korea would attack the West, and that they are changing.  Biden does not see the threat, and said that there is very little underpinning in reality for such a defense.

Gloria asked Hagel if the missile defense wouldn't set off another arms race, and Hagel tried his own "the world has changed" song-and-dance, saying that America has to be ready for all weapons of mass destruction.  Hagel had to admit there's no more Soviet Union (it looked like it actually hurt to admit that they've gone the way of the dodo).  Bob underlined the cost -- billions -- and the greater threat of someone bringing in a nuclear weapon in a pickup truck.  Biden said that America is far more vulnerable to Bob's scenario than a missile attack.  His question: China has 18 ICBMs.  What happens if the US breaks the ABM treaty with this missile boondoggle?  China goes from 18 to 250 overnight, Japan deploys, and both North and South Korea are "nuclearized."  Sadly there was no time left for Hagel to moronically counterspin.

Following a break, Gore strategist Bob Shrum was the guest.  Schieffer asked Shrum about the Gore-Bradley summit this week, and Shrum expects multiple joint appearances by the two.  Gloria brought up the abortion issues and running mates, and Shrum said Gore will not rule anyone out because they may disagree on one issue.  Shrum was mum on who Gore may want as a running mate.  Schieffer brought up polls -- and said Gore is running behind Bush, and Hotline has Bush willing on electoral votes.

Shrum then did the "unthinkable" -- and said that it was not uncommon for the press to leak GOP poll numbers!  Well, Ampol readers already know that, but we're glad that someone dared to say it on pundit TV.  We can tell you that the Hotline poll is notoriously inaccurate.

And we hope that Dems were taking notes -- it is time for them to go after these misleading wildly inaccurate, and sometimes outright fraudulent polls.

Schieffer suggested that Bush is trying to distance himself from congressional Republicans -- which prompted Shrum to detail Bush's seeming agreement with Congressional GOPers on many issues, including the insurance-pharma-friendly version of drug "benefits" for seniors.

When Schieffer asked Shrum about whether Hillary would have a prominent role at the conventions, Shrum (who gave an emphatic yes) lighted into the networks (read: CBS) for devoting more time to Big Brother and Survivor than "America's town meetings," the big party conventions.  Shrum also had fun deriding the GOP for their claim that they would "refrain from Gore-bashing" during their upcoming convention.

Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields

Co-hosts Bob "Novakula" Novak and Mark Shields had their hands full this week with DNC chair Ed Rendell, who deftly unspun every one of their GOP spin questions.

Novakula started with a claim that Al Gore was "aping the words of" (i.e. plagiarizing) Michael Dukakis's failed run for president against Bush -- and Rendell said that Dukakis and Gore are both correct when they said that the Bushes were and are candidates of the privileged and powerful.  In fact, the words of the Dukakis speech were thrown up on the screen -- they proved prophetic then, and they ring true now.  It was not a very swift move on the part of Rendell was asked about gun control -- and after going through a litany of common-sense reason for limiting gun sales, challenged Novakula himself to admit that a one-gun-per-month limit would be good.

Rendell said that Bradley would be a vigorous supporter of Gore and responded to Shields's comment about Bradley criticizing Gore's mistakes by saying that every campaign makes mistakes.  He should have taken the opportunity to point out a few mistakes made by the Bush campaign.

Of course, 'tis the season to jack up speculation about running mates, so following the break that's just what Novakula and Shields did.  The question from Novak had to do with a veep selection as a strategy for swinging a key state -- and mentioned Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL).  Other names that came up were Robert Rubin (former treasury Secretary) and George Mitchell (retired Senator).  Rendell said that in his view experience in elected (as opposed to appointed) office should not be a prerequisite.  Shields had a question about "partial birth abortion" as a supposed litmus test for a veep choice, and Rendell said it was not so much an issue for the Dems as it was for the GOP.  Shields then laughably said there was not one "right voice" on the Democratic platform committee -- and tried to imply that the Dems were a "closed tent" on choice v. life.

Novakula then brought up the concept of a four-way presidential debate -- Rendell said he would not be opposed to a four-way but two-way is preferable.  Rendell then slammed Bush for turning down an offer of a million dollar charity donation if he'd debate education with Gore.  Rendell wants more one-hour-per-topic debates, as CNN has proposed on foreign policy.  Why, asked Rendell emphatically, is Bush turning down these debates?

Well, maybe because Dubya's a wimp and a dummy, Ed.  His daddy may have been a Yalie, a preppie and a sissy, but at least he could debate.

Novak brought up the meaningless "fact" that key labor organizations have not yet endorsed Gore.  Rendell urged them to look at the bigger picture and Gore's position, including the right to work and environmental issues -- essentially saying that votes for Nader are wasted (and that's a fact).

During the final segment, Rendell (who had been waaay too easy on Bush) did make light of the fact that John McCain would be appearing at an "alternative convention" in Philly to be held simultaneously with the GOP convention to speak on the subject of campaign finance reform.

We're gonna check that out in person!

Reliable Sources

We skipped the first segment of Reliable Sources that touched on news shows hyping Survivor and the more touchy issue of a CBS news anchor hosting "reality" series Big Brother.  Steve Friedman, executive producer of the CBS Morning News, chastised Howard Kurtz for CNN's failure to honor his request to appear in RS to talk politics and the press - -and letting him plug Survivor on CNN!  Howard asked Friedman if the line between news and entertainment had been crossed, and Friedman made Kurtz look naive when he replied, "That line was crossed a looong, looong tiiiime ago!"

How true.

But the best segment dealt with a new local newscast in Chicago, hosted by Carol Marine, the Chicago newscaster who quit the local NBC affiliate when they hired Jerry Springer as a commentator.  She is now the anchor for Chicago's CBS affiliate at 10 PM.  It's not your typical local news show -- no flashy graphics.  No studly anchor.  No grandiose "coming up next" teases.  Not a lot of sports.  No happy talk. No water-skiing squirrels.  Carol Marine gave a solid interview explaining and defending her hard-news approach.  Bernie Kalb said the show is not doing well in the aggregate ratings, and Carol said that the audience is still coming.  We would wager that the audience may be small, but we'd bet they're richer and more intelligent -- and wants to know about headlines and deeper analysis.  We say the station should jack up their ad rates for the show and pursue Fortune 500s.  And we doubt we'll see this kind of quality news in our New York office, outside of the local cable news channel NY1 -- which still runs too many water-skiing squirrel stories for our taste.

Bernie had the final word -- on the possibility that diplomats would leak to reporters covering the Camp David summit.  he mentioned the eagerness of reporters to acquiesce for a headline -- an unspecified allusion to the Lewinsky flap, perhaps?

Eat the Press
Fat Tim Cops Out!

Grossly overweight Tim Russert -- who has grown so obese that a friend of Ampol at NBC tells us he is jokingly referred to by staffers as "The Rotunda" -- wasted an entire hour of airtime on major league baseball.

That's right -- major league baseball.

No talk of the controversy over a failed antimissile test.  No back-and-forth about the latest Middle East summit.  No cheap shots at the expense of Bill Clinton.  The news division of NBC saw fit to cross over into entertainment and big-money professional sports, no doubt in an effort to satisfy the jock crowd who would be seeing MTP earlier or later than usual as a bookend to the boring Wimbledon tennis championship.

Now, we know Russert's a baseball fan, but that's no excuse.  If he wants to hang with the jocks, he should audition for NBC Sports, where he could put what little talent he has to better use.

Who knows -- it might just be for the better of Meet the Press -- that is, unless the powers-that-be make Mrs. Andrea Mitchell Greenspan host.

Even Russert's an improvement over that walking conflict of interest!

This Weak
Featuring Peggy Noonan

Well, we have to hand it to Scam and Cocky this week -- at least they thought there was enough worth covering as opposed to Fat Tim Russert's attempt to focus on nothing more than baseball this morning.

Cocky's first guest was Madeleine Albright, who was of course talking about the Arab-Israeli summit going on this week in Washington and in Maryland at Camp David. Things don't look too good, as one of the main parties (a bloc from Israel) has dropped out. But don't count on anything coming out of this round. Israelis and Palestinians will wait until the last minute -- some time in September. The Palestinians have declared this the date they will declare their independence, which will start a nice little war which no one save the most radical hawks at the Pentagon wants.

Madeleine moved on to talk about the non-working Star Wars test last night. She gave the same old line that there are still many tests to go over the years.

Then Cocky jumped on her about Rwanda and a Canadian official's comment that the U.S. was guilty of genocide by not intervening there. Unusually, Madeleine -- who has recently been to the dermatologist for some secret treatments (our source) -- said she was "only taking orders," but then defended the Commander-in-Chief, saying the Canadian's comments were absurd and that the U.S. wouldn't have intervened had the UN been able to aid us, or some such. She also pointed out that Cocky looked a little pale.

The next topic was the PRI defeat in Mexico -- a party that ruled for 80 years. The new President, Vincente Fox, is a vegetable farmer and seems, at least, very cool. Scam, as stupid as ever, asked the President-elect about being a "sex symbol." Fox attempted to ignore him -- but Scam went on about sex, sex, sex.-- again disgracing our nation and ABC Television.

Fox is a member of the PAN party. He wants to increase the economic growth of Mexico by 7% a year -- which, is of course, impossible. How will Fox fight corruption in government? "This will be the mother of all battles." Fox wants more American visas granted. And he is right. As Europeans migrated all over in the last decades they came to more advanced nations, they learned, and they brought that knowledge and new salary demands home.

When Scam quoted Pat Pukeanan about building a wall across the US-Mexican border, Fox said, "Is he still alive?!" The entire Ampol media center exploded with laughter! We think that moment would make a great anti-Pukeanan commercial. In fact, Fox said he wants an open border with the U.S. within ten years. We think this is a great idea. Why not? We could absorb the wonderful cultures and foods of Mexico, help them with education and health, and then incorporate Mexico into the United States of North America -- just after we take Canada! Fox knows that several attempts will be made on his life within the next few months before he takes office from the crook Zedillo (PRI).

Scam points out a STUPID moment -- when Fox sent emissaries to the US to meet with Gore and Bush. Neither would meet with him for fear they would anger Zedillo. That was a cowardly thing for both to have done. Everyone in Washington was rooting for Fox -- including these two, President Clinton, and the entire cabinet. Now all three are courting Fox to come to America and meet with them. He could act petty and snub them, but perhaps he should at least tell them he will remember their lack of help to cure the terrible ills of severe corruption that infect the entire nation of Mexico at every level of society. As a matter of fact, we are thinking about asking President Fox to come to Mexico City and helping him with his battle.

The real question to have been asked was of Fox and Albright -- will the US move into Mexico with troops if Zedillo refuses to seat Fox -- or worse?

The answer is yes, we pray.

Governor Tom Ridge (R-PA) and Governor Gray Davis (D-CA) were the next guests. Ridge said that Bush won't litmus test him on abortion. Gray said that whether or not Evan Bayh is not good enough or pure enough for the women is not the issue. Bayh is pro-choice with reservations on late-term abortion.

Davis, who has lately groomed his ridiculous pompadour from 4 inches to only 2 inches high, looked vice-presidential himself. And Ridge is not a Republican at all. He is a liberal, and that is the only way he could have been elected Governor in the majority-Democratic state of Pennsylvania. Ridge will not comment directly on the issue of pharmaceuticals for seniors -- but what about the poor and the uninsured?

Cocky said, "What about Clinton offering your tax cut for his prescription plan?" Ridge -- who really has nothing to say about this -- said nothing.

Davis pointed out that the Vice President's plan covers twice as many people as does the Bush-GOP plan. Well, of course! Have you ever heard of the GOP doing anything for the elderly, except saving money on THEIR backs?

Ridge and Davis both defended the death penalty.

Governor Davis responded to President Fox's idea to open the borders. Davis said that he is trying to establish a positive rapport with Mexico. But Cocky interrupted him and asked again. Davis chickened out and said, "Well, that isn't the policy of the United States."

Cocky announced that Peggy Noonan, conservative arch-harpy, would join the round table today. Gee... wonder how many times she will slam Hillary and Bill Clinton this morning?

We guess "the Staph" (George Staphylococcus) was angry that George Will was getting his own one-on-one segments. So today Little Brutus got to interview Kwesi Mfume, the newish head of the NAACP.

Drug company commercials followed in an attempt to highlight their "good work" on preventing disease -- instead of the fact that few Americans can afford them!

The NAACP convention will be held tomorrow and Bush will actually come. Hopefully, they will boo him off the stage. Bush, while maybe not a racist, acts like one, making certain that the hundreds of blacks on death row are killed as quickly as possible. Bush did like his black drug suppliers -- as long as they didn't touch him. And he sold his luxurious home in Texas last year complete with the unconstitutional "No Niggers" clause in the deed -- when he could have made certain those words could have been stricken from the deed.

We can't wait to hear Bush's speech to the NAACP.

Mfume has been critical of the network's Sunday morning political talk shows for being segregated with respect who they invite on. And despite the fact that most legislators are rich white guys, we do agree.

Peggy "Nooner" -- as she is known as on Capitol Hill -- urged Scam to talk about a speech she wrote for Reagan. She pretended to be "surprised" and then gushed that she was "just going over that speech and thinking fondly of how WE worked together."

What a laugh! No one mentioned her latest fraud -- her unsourced dream-sequence book on Hillary Clinton, which made the New York Times bestseller list ONLY because it was bought up in bulk by Richard Moron Scaife and the GOP. The book, full of hate for Hillary and Bill Clinton, and hurting Chelsea Clinton badly, is a joke. We have already seen copies turn up, by the way, on remainder tables at two book superstores -- with the price cut to a fraction of its list price.

Meanwhile, Nooner sits on the This Weak panel and pretends to be charming and wonderful -- when in fact she is a snake.

Nooner gets to talking about Hillary, and whether she will be allowed to speak at the Democratic Convention. Well, of course she will -- she is running for Senate in the state of New York. She will speak the FIRST night. She will support Gore in that speech -- but she will also remind America about a hateful bloc within the GOP that has decimated the party. Scam asked whether the Palestinian Summit should have been held at all -- parroting the GOP. Staph says yes, but Arafat will not get East Jerusalem.

Noonan said yes -- to our surprise!

The panel agreed that this is a no-lose situation for Clinton.

Then Scam -- the ninny -- brings up the stupid children's book Harry Potter, which will outsell every other book sold this year. Staph panned the book because of its obscene marketing campaign -- but added that if it gets kids reading, it's good enough.

What's all this about reading? You know, you can just as easily listen to a book, or see it on film. Sure, we all say that movie wasn't as good as the book -- but many times the film is better (especially if it is produced by Merchant-Ivory). We think it's time to look at books in a different way.

CNN Late Edition

We caught the first segment of LE.  The topic: the Camp David summit.  The guests: 

Following an update (on the apparent collapse of Barak's government) by Kelly Wallace, Wolf Blitzer welcomed Ephraim Sneh, Israel's Defense Minister, who said that Barak has popular support but a slim majority in the Knesset.  If Barak returns with a comprehensive deal, the people will support it -- and force approval.  Wolf asked Saed Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator, if Arafat would make concessions -- and he said that that was not a key issue, and that he was optimistic over Clinton's "bold" initiative to bring all parties together, but that the Palestinians want promises and specifics to be kept (he rattled off a list of issues so quickly not even we could follow them).  Wolf played naysayer, claiming that both sides were in fact preparing for war -- and Sneh called it unthinkable, urging Palestinian negotiators to come to an agreement.  Wolf kept invoking "worst case scenario," and Erekat, while mentioning two more Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers, said he wants a halt to all violence.  If there is no progress, will Arafat declare a Palestinian state unilaterally?  Erekat said that a number of deadlines had been passed, and Palestinians want a win-win situation despite the fragility of the negotiations and Barak's political woes.  A little later, he stated that Arafat hopes he can declare a Palestinian state with Barak, Clinton and other regional leaders with him to celebrate -- and then indirectly castigated the press by saying nobody should cast the talks as ending in only success or failure.

After the break, Middle East envoy Dennis Ross was asked by Wolf about Barak's "collapsing" government coalition.  A key Israeli politician won't come because he doesn't "trust" Barak, said Wolf.  we laughed -- it sounds like idiots like Trent Lott and Tom DeLay saying they can't "trust" Clinton because he's humiliated them so badly!  Ross brushed the issue off -- and emphasized the fact that Clinton both sees huge potential and knows the risk of doing nothing.  is this the end of the process, asked Wolf sticking to script despite Erekat's admonition).  Ross dismissed that notion also.  But Ross also made no promises -- emphasizing that this is an opportunity for real progress.  Wolf kept going with the "success or failure" litany.  Ross fired back with the "Historic opportunity for a real resolution."

One thing was certain -- Wolf almost seemed to be champing at the bit for another Middle East War -- a situation that would be both good for CNN ratings and good for future Clinton-bashing.

Dead Silence

The pundits entirely ignored the impending trial of Charles Bakaly, who stands charged with leaking grand jury materials from Ken Starr's Office of Independent Counsel to the press.  Bakaly requested a jury trial -- and the press has gone silent on this story.

Well, isn't that interesting!  Perhaps none of the DC-based talk shows mentioned this story because some of their key players may find themselves dragged into not only the trial but the possible fallout.

We'll be shocked if the press gives the trial any high-profile coverage.