Wanted: a qualified tie-straightener …

Today’s Buzz ...


So who wants to apply for the position of “official tie straightener” on the AC360° staff?? Not all at once, now ... ;-)

I’m KIDDING (sort of) ... to lighten up a broadcast that – out of necessity – covered some very serious and complex stories last night.

Waterboarding as torture: Cut the semantics. Cut the parsing. Cut the lies. Waterboarding is torture. Pure and simple. And it is used as an interrogation tool by the United States government. Pure and simple. Regardless of what the Bush Administration does – or doesn’t – say about it.

Whether or not it’s ever justified is an entirely different discussion.

And in the current related story – about the CIA’s destruction of tapes documenting our use of this procedure and the resulting potential for obstruction of justice charges – may well result in the Bush ‘pardon pen’ needing to be used again. As it was with Scooter Libby. Oh – BTW – if the name “Dick Cheney” ends up being uncovered at any point during the course of the Congressional investigation – I will take absolutely no delight in saying “told you so”.

The waterboarding demonstration shown that journalist Kaj Larsen was subjected to was utterly terrifying. I have no idea how he endured it for 24 minutes. I’d seen a similar demonstration a few years ago, but the amount of water used was greater, and the individual involved had the demonstration stopped in a significantly reduced amount of time. No kidding??!!



Colorado Church Shootings: An interview with forensic psychologist Kris Mohandie gave additional insight into the online ‘mainfesto’ left by shooter Matthew Murray. It’s also been brought to light that Murray specifically held the former pastor of the New Life Church, Ted Haggard, in especially low esteem. Yes, that Ted Haggard – the one who left the church in disgrace after admitting to ‘sexual immorality’, deceit and lying. How sad that an obviously disturbed young man became so fixated on exacting revenge through violence against a group of innocent strangers.



Anderson does a fairly good job of keeping his opinions to himself, but occasionally he can’t hide it all that well – and we get a tiny glimpse of a reaction - note the panel below – it’s his immediate expressions as the Haggard segment ended:



Immigration as political fodder: Mitt Romney is steamed. He’s spent several millions of dollars to secure his front-runner status in Iowa, and Mike Huckabee has stolen it right out from under him – for a lot less money, too. What’s a former Massachusetts Governor to do? ATTACK, of course! But not on an issue where there’s a chasm of difference – no – let’s split hairs on something convoluted and volatile like, say, immigration.

To demonstrate how important this issue is to Iowa caucus participants, we saw a repeat of Gary Tuchman’s report from Marshalltown (Iowa) – where approximately 20% of residents are from Mexico. Gary interviewed unskilled laborers, trying to make a living while also trying to gain citizenship. The large Swift Meat Processing Plant located there is – I’m certain – a significant draw for many immigrants. In spite of the crackdowns on illegal immigrants during the past year.



This is a divisive and complex issue, as Gary’s report highlighted – and as you can read here – the answers and solutions won’t be easily decided upon – or acted upon.

And as for Anderson’s discussion with Lou Dobbs – well, Lou is becoming a ‘lightning rod’ of controversy, especially on this issue, and it’s difficult for many to listen long enough or carefully enough to be able to weed out whatever he says that makes even the least amount of common sense. Humorist Andy Borowitz wrote an amusing HuffPo column today entitled “Lou Dobbs’ Head Explodes” – I especially enjoyed the last line (which had nothing to do with Lou or immigration): “Elsewhere, in response to the controversy over the CIA's waterboarding videotapes, President Bush reaffirmed his administration's opposition to videotaping.”



Raw Politics: Tom Foreman’s segment incorporates my “daily stat fix” (see below), as last night’s ‘theme’ was the economy – and I suspect that it will remain the (overall) most important concern going into November 2008 – barring any overriding security ‘breach’, of course!



Anderson and Gary share some laughs – Part 2:

Anderson destroys any shred of modesty that Gary thought he had left about winning one of the 2004 "Power Players" Jeopardy matches ...

Anderson and Gary concur that they weren't "making fun of" Dana Perino's lack of 'Cuban Missile Crisis' knowledge - after all, she was merely exaggerating her ignorance ...

Anderson and Gary "groove" on the Led Zeppelin reunion ...


Anderson "busts" Gary about his prior existence as a head banger ...

Since Anderson is both a "Jeopardy" AND a "To Tell The Truth" champion (see above), he's 'challenging' Dana Perino (or "the White House spokesperson", as he kept calling her) to a history quiz ...

And in news of the ironic today, former AG Alberto Gonzales has been named "Lawyer of the Year" by the American Bar Association. WHAT??? Before you throw something at the screen, let them explain - it's given to the lawyer that has made the most news during the year - and for that criteria, the former AG with the initials AG wins, hands down!!

And I wasn't going to mention this, but since it's been brought up in yesterday's comments - I like the new "Morning Buzz" feature on the AC360° blog - it matches up well in the feed that's set up at the top of the page here - and I disavow any thought that there was any microscopic particle of 'inspiration' whatsoever drawn from this little endeavor called "AC360° Buzz" ... unless I'm told otherwise, of course ... :-)

Thanks so very much for visiting - have a wonderful evening!!