Going into (temporary) hibernation …

Today’s Buzz ...

from last night’s Anderson Cooper 360°:
Prince Harry in Afghanistan: Congratulations to Matt Drudge for endangering not only the life of Prince Harry by disclosing his Afghan deployment, but all who were serving with him. Good judgment there, Matty!



But sarcasm aside, Nic Robertson (in London) and Michael Ware (in Baghdad) provided additional information (based on first-hand experience) about the dangerous area of Afghanistan where Prince Harry was stationed. Nic also shared a pool video showing him carrying out his combat duties – no “royal” comforts to be found anywhere near there! Michael added a bit of his own “Drudge sarcasm” by referring to those like him as “galahs” and “drongos”, which turns out is Australian slang for “idiots”.




Crucial Tuesday: A spin-off of Super Tuesday, to be sure. Candy Crowley reported from Columbus, Ohio about the continuing battle for the Democratic Presidential nomination. She summed up the current political landscape very succinctly and better than any poll ever could: “Tuesday, Barack Obama has as much to lose as Hillary Clinton has to gain.”



Veepstakes: Joe Johns took a look at conventional wisdom when it comes to VP choices – and applied it to the remaining three viable candidates. Bottom line: Pick someone who complements a weakness (such as foreign policy experience) and don’t pick anyone that will ‘drag you down’. There have been more than enough of those examples - Dan Quayle comes to mind (although Bush 41 did win one term).



Raw Politics: Last night’s panel (David Gergen, Roland Martin, Leslie Sanchez) once again covered a ‘potpourri’ of topics, from Bush’s criticism of Obama, to the very tight race in Texas, to political reaction towards skyrocketing gas prices.



Friday preview: There was a brief segment shown of Randi Kaye’s report for tonight’s AC360° special: Debate on the Border. Randi investigated the consequences of enforcement of a new Arizona law which cracks down on employers hiring illegal immigrants.




Voice of 360°: Last night’s audition was with KISS band member Gene Simmons – yes, the one with unbelievable tongue dexterity. It was pretty good, but now that we know it’s all a joke – is it still as funny as it was in the beginning? BTW – I don’t know if CNN allows for ‘cross-pollination’ of talent, but I’d suggest none other than Richard Quest!



Wrapping it up: As I first announced yesterday, this will be my last blog entry, at least for the time being. I’m very glad that I took this step and gave ‘blogging’ a try for myself – partly because I never would have believed how time-intensive this kind of venture would be! I have a new appreciation for those who write daily ‘on the side’ – and not as part of their ‘regular’ job. It’s been suggested to me that perhaps cutting back to blogging on ‘weekends only’ may help, and I’ll certainly give it serious consideration, once I’m settled in the new job.

I also wanted to assure those who asked – that I will remain as the AC 360° / GunmetalGrey Yahoo group owner and moderator – so if you’d like to join us there, please click on the sidebar link to request membership.

It’s truly been a privilege for me to be able to work on this little endeavor, and especially to be able to conduct extensive interviews with two tremendously professional, intelligent, insightful and caring CNN correspondents – Soledad O’Brien and Gary Tuchman. I will always value the opportunity to ‘dig deeper’ into their thoughts on so many topics and I sincerely appreciate their candor and humor!

Once again, thank you very, very much to all who participated – and hopefully the adventure will begin again soon!

Race and Politics …

Today's Buzz (Hour 2) ...
Soledad O’Brien joined Anderson Cooper last night after the post Democratic Debate analysis for an hour long AC 360° special entitled “Race and Politics”. It looked at the current campaign from several different aspects, highlighting subjects such as “Race & Gender” (report from Randi Kaye), “Black, Christian & Republican” (report from Soledad O’Brien), and “The Other Racial Divide” (report from Gary Tuchman).



The in-studio panel discussing these subjects were Roland Martin, Amy Holmes, Leslie Sanchez (GOP strategist) and Professor Matt Barreto.



Randi’s report focused on choices faced by Black women voters in South Carolina and what, if any, ‘loyalty’ they may follow in the upcoming Democratic Primary. Would they vote for Obama based on a race loyalty, or Clinton based on a gender loyalty? Well, in a perfect world, they’d vote for whomever is the candidate of their choosing (maybe even John Edwards) based on issues. I understand that the feedback on Randi’s essay on this topic at the CNN Election Center site has been heated, but it is a topic that should be looked at if only because there are women that won’t give enough consideration to issues and will cast votes based either solely or largely on race or gender. I’ve been asked many times, by both men and women, why I don’t support Hillary Clinton – I mean, aren’t I a member of the ‘sisterhood’? And my answer is ‘nooooooooo ...’ – my vote will be based on issues and other related factors (such as trustworthiness and integrity) as best as I can determine them. Not based on artificial or media-hyped factors. OK – sermon over (for now) ...



Soledad’s report on the current status of GOP inroads with Black voters was enlightening, but certainly not surprising. Among others, she interviewed Rev. Floyd Flake of the Allen AME Cathedral in NYC – and although some hope remains that Republicans can revitalize the ties that were established in 2004, there’s also the other side of the story and can be summed up through this exchange:

REV. FLOYD FLAKE, ALLEN AME CATHEDRAL: I think what they want to hear from the GOP is that we understand the depth of the problems of these communities.

O'BRIEN: Are you hearing any of that from the GOP now?

FLAKE: I have not heard that from the GOP at all.

O'BRIEN: What do you hear?

FLAKE: I hear nothing of any significance that would move an African-American to fill the need to vote for a Republican.

O'BRIEN: What was the biggest mistake you think the GOP made in its outreach to black churches?

FLAKE: I think the biggest mistake was making promises and not delivering.



Gary’s report centered on how immigration is factoring into this political season, and a prime location to get opinions is in Los Angeles. It’s fascinating to see how the immigration issue has become such a hot-button topic. I always wonder what would have happened if employers had followed the law as written in 1986 and not hired those who were not legally eligible to work in this country? Now, our economy is dependent to a great degree on the 12-20 million illegal workers residing here. Reaching any kind of consensus about what path to follow in dealing with border security, amnesty, ‘guest’ workers, expedited citizenship, deportation, etc. will be extremely difficult. There are no easy answers and the process will take courage, patience and leadership.



Gary (the LIVE version in NYC) also had 360° Bulletin duty last night:



Other news & notes from today:

Tim Masters is a free man: The conviction sending Tim Masters to jail in 1999 for a murder he didn’t commit has been thrown out and Masters has been freed from prison. This was the story covered on 360° this past Friday. Justice at last!

Fred Thompson bows out: Fred Thompson has called it quits for his Presidential bid – not a surprising announcement at all. No report yet on any endorsement, but John McCain seems to be the logical choice, if any. As a side note, Duncan Hunter also officially dropped out last week.

Thanks for visiting - updates posted as needed - have a terrific Tuesday!

And they’re off and running …

Today's Buzz ...


Not a lot of surprises (per se) from last night – at least for me. The only occurrence that did surprise me was how quickly the Republican race was called – Mike Huckabee was projected to be the winner by the end of the first hour. And Barack Obama was projected to the winner by the end of the second hour. Was I surprised that Hillary placed third (albeit by one percent)? No, not at all. I think I’ve railed against her enough already to signal that this isn’t even close to being the “cakewalk” that she anticipated.




So do these results have significance? Perhaps. While it’s true that three of the most recent four presidents didn’t win the Iowa Caucus, this is a new day. And really what’s striking to me is that in both parties, those who won have been successful not only in being the ‘nice guys’, but in successfully portraying themselves as the ‘change agents’ that many Americans are so desperately searching for. The NH winners may be totally different, but if Obama and Huckabee end up making strong enough second place showings before moving into South Carolina – it’s difficult to place a roadblock in front of the “big mo” (a sports reference for the non-sports fans) at that point. Especially in the Democratic race, since Obama does have the money and organization to hold strong going into the ridiculously-scheduled clash dubbed “Super Tuesday” on February 5th.

Remaining Caucus comments:

I was so pleased to see both Jack Cafferty and Soledad O’Brien last night. Jack is always so forthright about the injustices and the inequality and the stupidity and the callousness that surrounds so many of the decisions that our governmental representatives make. And not just the elected ones, either. Even though Jack’s appearances are ‘dedicated’ to TSR, I’d really like to see a short AC/JC segment each night on 360 – even a pre-taped one would be terrific! They were a wonderful pairing on AM, and I miss the informative (yet humorous) banter. “Loveable curmudgeon” that Jack is!!



And Soledad’s pairing with Bill Schneider was also very informative – presenting relevant statistical overviews with context and without putting viewers to sleep is always a welcome change!



Not sure the “portable pizza pie chart” worked all that well last night. Maybe Anderson needs to ‘practice’ a bit with it? It didn’t last very long during the evening!



I’m still miffed at Bill Bennett. At least he didn’t have any new ‘e-mail revelations’ to ‘share’ on live TV – I suppose we should be thankful for that!

Ron Paul ended up with 10% of the Iowa vote – if nothing else, a roundabout concurrence with the other results which demonstrated that caucus goers were focused on change. But he did (significantly) better than Rudy Giuliani. I wonder if Rudy’s “proportional campaign” strategy will end up being his eventual downfall?

I apologize for being petty, but was it really necessary to have Chuck Norris standing right behind Huckabee as he delivered his ‘victory’ speech? Maybe we’ve all been underestimating the “Chuck Factor” in this race??



And I don’t know who Obama’s speechwriter is, but he (or she) is a master wordsmith. Even if he didn’t mean a single word of it, it was THE best delivery of a political speech that I’ve heard in a very long time.



My one disappointment of the night – a large one but not unexpected – both Joe Biden and Chris Dodd have dropped out of the race. I hope that, whoever wins, will look to these two extensively experienced public servants for advisement and counsel – it’s going to be needed!

Best line of the night:

Jack Cafferty (to Bill Bennett): "I’ll bet you wouldn’t want to be Bill (Clinton) tonight.”

Bill Bennett: “I would never want to be Bill (Clinton) on any night.”

Donna Brazile (in the background): “But you are Bill (meaning Bennett).”


One last thought:

Change [cheynj]: – verb (used with object)

1. to make the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone.

Could the underlying message have been communicated any more solidly last night?

Thanks for visiting - updates posted as needed - have a terrific day!

A Conversation with Soledad O’Brien – Part Two

Another very special Buzz edition ...
The following is "Part Two" - and the conclusion - of my recent telephone interview with Soledad O'Brien:

Since February 2007, Soledad has been involved with seven “Special Investigations Unit” features, including “Martin Luther King: Words That Changed A Nation”, “Massacre At Virginia Tech”, “Criminal Insanity”, “Road To Ruin”, “Growing Up Diana”, “Children of the Storm”, and “The Minds of the DC Snipers”.

Regarding Dr. King, I asked Soledad if her research gave any indication of what his leadership focus might be during the 1970’s and 1980’s, had he not been assassinated? She replied that there was a theme of “economic empowerment” for people of all colors throughout his work. “The financial picture for the poor in America has got to change. Granting non-economic ‘rights’ to a segment of society – such as voting rights, or getting served in a restaurant, or sitting anywhere on a bus – doesn’t cost money and isn’t providing a solid foundation for long term improvement. The current education system isn’t working for poor people and they’re being left behind.” In spite of the “No Child Left Behind” program, I commented – and she concurred.



From the “Growing Up Diana” special, my question was about whether there was any surprising or unusual aspect of Diana’s youth that was especially interesting – and hadn’t already been microscopically scrutinized? Soledad stated that “Although it was very clear that Diana was not ‘book smart’ and was actually a mediocre academic student, she was very savvy about figuring out how to ‘navigate’ her way through various ‘systems’ or situations she faced – whether it was getting through school, surviving her parents’ divorce, or figuring out the rituals, protocols and expectations of being a royal family member. And all the while – still remaining to be her own person and not lose her identity.”




Of all the SIU reports that Soledad has completed so far, she is proudest of the “Children of the Storm” special. The concept was born out of the creative challenge of marking Katrina’s second anniversary with something different than once again standing in front of collapsed buildings and collapsed levees – again. The challenge was telling a story that would capture viewers’ interest and give them a realistic sense of what recovery progress is (or isn’t) being accomplished.

Soledad partnered once again with filmmaker Spike Lee for this project – she had already appeared in his HBO special, “When The Levees Broke”. From an original group of thirty students chosen, eleven were given cameras to document their lives, and four (Deshawn Dabney, Brandon Franklin, Amanda Hill and Shantia Reneau) were highlighted in the SIU special. About Spike Lee’s contribution, Soledad commented that “He really challenged them to do a good job. He told them to ‘shoot everything’ and motivated them by giving perspective to the importance of their stories.”

Soledad had written on the “Children of the Storm” web page at CNN.com that “these kids have taught us all a powerful, infinitely valuable lesson that will stay with me forever.” When I asked if she could elaborate further, she relied “What I’ll carry with me is the amazing level of hopefulness they all had. They were going to take control of their destiny and do whatever it took to accomplish their goals. No matter what obstacles they faced, they were all completely confident that everything will work out.”




And for Soledad’s involvement in future SIU reports, there are a number that are in the planning stages (and beyond) - the topics include: an examination of the US prison system, a 2-hour retrospective to mark the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination, an accompanying special tentatively titled “What Does It Mean To Be Black In America?” and a Katrina 3rd anniversary special. There was also one that particularly caught my attention – a special that looks at the challenges faced by homeless teens in the New York City area. Far too many are unable to find shelter in the usual sanctuaries due to their sexual orientation. Even after a week – I’m still incredulous at the absolute absurdity of anyone being turned away from basic shelter for that reason. Soledad explained that there is one NYC shelter that will accept these LGBT teens, but the space is extremely limited. I do hope that this particular special gets completed and that this discrimination is exposed and a solution is identified – sooner rather than later.

My next question moved the conversation into the political arena. On June 4th, Soledad moderated the Sojourners Presidential Forum, an hour-long in-depth discussion of religion, faith and politics with three Democratic Presidential candidates – John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. It was held at George Washington University and broadcast in front of a live audience. My question was whether there were any observations she made about the candidates that may not have been readily apparent to the TV audience?

Soledad’s reply: “It seemed that John Edwards was the most comfortable of the three when talking about his personal faith and values. He really talked about religion and the role it plays in his life in a very personal way. I was a little disappointed with the way that Barack Obama seemed to answer questions – he talked more in terms of ‘policy’ than about what faith means to him on a personal level. I found Hillary Clinton to be personable and genuinely trying to more fully embrace talking about religion to any significant extent. She was actually very relaxed and funny; when I asked ‘What do you pray for?’ and she said ‘To lose 10 pounds’ – that got a rousing round of applause.”

I then asked Soledad what she thought some of the most important issues within the upcoming Presidential Campaign would be, and to no surprise (on my part), she said that both immigration and health care would end up high on the public’s ‘priority list’ as the race moves into full swing next year.

As my time allotment starts to run out (I’ll explain why soon), I ask Soledad if there are any specific subjects that she has a particular interest in covering – and she answers ‘no’ – because she ‘likes telling stories’ – about subjects that are interesting, important, informative – there isn’t any specific preference she has.

I then ask who is still on her “wish list” to interview – and her answer may be surprising – but this is the point where keeping in mind Soledad’s Latina (specifically Cuban) heritage is helpful. The first person she named as being a potentially interesting interviewee would be Hugo Chavez. There are a number of journalists who would consider him to be a “get” – but from a non-journalist perspective (such as mine) – perhaps this falls into the category of being advantageous to “know thy enemy”? Soledad also indicated that she would like an opportunity to interview Fidel Castro before he passes away. Interesting choices!!

So with all of the unique, diverse, exciting, unforgettable journalistic experiences that are now part of a distinguished multi-award winning career, will Soledad be writing a memoir soon? She humbly claims “I have a lot more to experience. And while my children are still so young (all four are under age 8), I want to devote my spare time to them. But I’ll give it consideration someday.”



Normally that kind of question would end an interview. And it actually was my last question, but I’m writing about a different one last – because I think the answer illustrates an important aspect of Soledad’s own ‘life priorities’.

David Bloom was Soledad’s co-anchor on ‘Today Weekend’ at NBC, and a good friend. He died on April 6, 2003 from an embolism suffered while being embedded with US troops during the start of the Iraq War. When I asked Soledad about her favorite memory of David, she replied “There isn’t any one specific memory, but what I will always remember is how very much he loved his wife and daughters, and how important they were to him, and how proud he was of them, and how much he always talked about them. All the time. And how happy he was whenever he was talking about them. I want to make sure that Melanie and the girls (Christine, Nicole and Ava) always remember that.”



It’s now 7:30 PM EST, and Soledad’s generous donation of 45 minutes of her time is over. She has promised to call home and read a book with her 7-year-old daughter, Sofia. And it’s time for me to say once again how very appreciative I am of the opportunity to interview such an accomplished professional journalist. Soledad still loves her career as much as she did when she walked into the WBZ-TV studios in Boston, and it’s obvious in whatever projects she works on and whoever she works with – and she’s especially enjoying working with the AC 360° staff!



My objective was to ask questions that were unique in order to share similarly unique insights from Soledad that wouldn’t be found elsewhere. I hope that this recap comes close to achieving that goal. And of course – that it was an enjoyable read!! Thank you for visiting!!

A moment of nostalgia - the screen cap below is from "American Morning" on December 4, 2003 - and if you remember why everyone is laughing so hard - without looking up the transcript - then you get an "A+" for trivia retention!!

A Conversation with Soledad O'Brien - Part One

A very special "Buzz" edition ...

Last Monday afternoon (11/19/07), I had the privilege of being able to conduct a telephone interview with Soledad O’Brien! As I mentioned the following day, I am especially appreciative that she could spare some time on what was obviously a busy travel day for her!

Admittedly, Soledad has granted a number of interviews during her prestigious career, so there is already much information available in the ‘public domain’. Some background information may sound routine, but there’ll be a number of new insights along the way, so starting at the beginning:

Maria de la Soledad Teresa O’Brien was born on September 19, 1966 to a mother (Estella) of Afro-Cuban heritage and an Irish-Australian father (Edward). Both of her parents were immigrants and met at John Hopkins University in Maryland, circa 1958. They married one year later in Washington, DC – as inter-racial marriage was still illegal in Maryland at that time. Soledad grew up in Smithtown, a small North Shore community on Long Island, NY – and graduated from Smithtown High School East.

Soledad is the fifth of six children – all of whom are Harvard graduates. Although there isn’t an ‘O’Brien Library’ on campus, she’s joked in the past that after six tuitions, there should be! Her three older sisters include a law professor, a corporate attorney and an eye surgeon; her older brother heads up a documents company and her younger brother is an anesthesiologist.

Our first conversation topic was about how and why she moved into journalism, when she started out attending Harvard with thoughts of becoming a doctor. Soledad explained that while taking a chemistry class, she finally realized that she just didn’t have a ‘passion’ for science and probably wouldn’t be a very good doctor. Note: the word ‘passion’ will probably be one of the most frequently used words in this recap, because there weren’t many subjects that Soledad wasn’t passionate about!

In her quest to discover a career that she could fully embrace, and also encompass her love of literature and writing, Soledad accepted an internship at WBZ-TV in Boston. As she explained to me: “I loved it immediately and knew this is where I wanted to be and what I wanted to pursue. It didn’t matter what I did – run errands, get coffee – I would do anything no matter what (or how little) it paid.”

Soledad’s willingness to always work hard and continue learning from many different mentors along the way helped propel her career forward at an accelerated pace, resulting in her working for NBC News in New York City in 1991. In 1993, she moved to San Francisco and joined KRON, while also co-hosting “The Know Zone” for the Discovery Channel.

When MSNBC was launched in 1996, Soledad used her experience from "The Know Zone" to convince her bosses at the new network to allow her to host an hour-long broadcast called “The Site”, focusing on technology and the ‘newly’ popular Internet. (My, my, my – how time flies!) This was the show that brought Soledad national recognition and fame, and became the catalyst for all of the continued success and increased visibility that followed. During her remaining years at NBC, Soledad anchored “Morning Blend” on MSNBC and “Weekend Today” on NBC, while also reporting for Nightly News and Dateline. Some major stories that she reported on included on-location coverage of Pope John Paul’s historic visit to Cuba in 1998, the accidental death of John F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1999, and the 9/11 attacks from Ground Zero.





In July 2003, Soledad accepted an offer from CNN to co-anchor “American Morning”, along with Bill Hemmer. During her almost four years in that position, Soledad has covered even more of the major news stories that have occurred – the Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the London terrorism attacks. She is currently a special correspondent for CNN: Special Investigations Unit and serves as a substitute anchor for Anderson Cooper 360°, as well as continuing to provide in-depth reports on major news stories. When I asked Soledad if she preferred anchoring over reporting, she replied that while anchoring provides a certain amount of stability to help keep a routine intact for her children, she still loves to travel and meet new people – and reporting allows for more of that. But she added that at CNN, she can still easily do both, and enjoys that flexibility.





In the beginning, I mentioned the word “passion” and the frequency of its use. No where during our conversation was that more apparent than when I asked Soledad about New Orleans. Her voice becomes more forceful (though still friendly) and her words quicken. Her best friend (and her oldest daughter’s godmother) lives in NOLA, so she still visits the city – even more frequently since Katrina. Soledad’s first story about the actual ‘on-the-ground’ conditions still found there starts with her friend’s stolen bathtub. Which is funny, from one perspective, and seriously exasperating from another perspective. “Who steals a bathtub”, I ask? Her reply is that kind of theft is all-too-common – because of the continuing lack of police personnel to provide the level of enforcement needed.

Soledad also shared a recent conversation that she had with a sheriff from St Bernard Parish; there had been a bad car accident in an intersection and a baby sustained serious head injuries. But the closest (OPEN) hospital is 45 minutes away. (Remember all of the 360° reports about the lack of hospitals that have re-opened since Katrina??) The baby didn’t survive the trip.

Soledad’s ‘passion’ for fairness and justice heightens when she talks about the fact that even middle class NOLA residents who are making valiant efforts to return can’t find housing, can’t rebuild because they aren’t being offered insurance settlements that come close to their home’s market value, and to make matters worse - are having to wait far too long for this devastating news. And for the most part, these are individuals who have the knowledge and resources to attempt to ‘navigate’ through governmental red tape. Soledad worries “What about the poor residents who don’t already have this advantage? Who is helping them?” She’s frustrated that ‘financial fixes’ are funneling in to the area much too slowly and many times are much too meager to qualify as ‘fair and equitable’.

So when I asked Soledad what she believes are the most urgent challenges facing New Orleans, it’s no surprise that she cites “health care” as first on the list. She specifically mentions mental health care, and we briefly discuss the dramatic and tragic rise in suicide rates. She makes a point of emphasizing that people are angry – in part because there remains a feeling that no one who would ‘normally’ be responsible for large-scale, long-term solutions, seems to care. Soledad also emphasizes that the rebuilding and recovery progress made to date has been due in large part to individuals banding together with charities, churches and students to forge ahead, in spite of the continuing lack of pro-active governmental support.





Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed Part One of “A Conversation with Soledad O’Brien”. Tomorrow, we’ll find out more about Soledad’s Special Investigation Unit reports, Presidential Politics, the role of religion and faith, her interview “wish list”, her best memories of David Bloom and whether or not she’ll be writing a memoir! Thanks for visiting and stay tuned!!

a typical Friday (in review) ...

• from Friday’s program:

Was it just me, or did it seem like a typical “slow” Friday night – news-wise? Not to detract from the seriousness of Hurricane Noel (which hadn't come ashore in the US yet) or the Mexico flooding (which had been going on for a couple of days). No offense to any of the 360 staff – or Soledad – but I think I could have identified Friday as a “Friday” without any hints!

With regard to the Mexico flooding, I do hope that the NGO's provide all the assistance available. Why am I singling out NGO's? Do you really think that I'd ever suggest that FEMA provide assistance during a flood?? I wouldn't do that to an enemy country, let alone an ally ...

And since we haven't had an OJ update recently - what IS new with our favorite (alleged) armed robber?? I was actually a little surprised to hear the latest OJ “news” – that the FBI knew about the plan that OJ had to take his possessions back from the memorabilia dealers he believed had stolen them. Three weeks ahead of time, no less. Perhaps the fact that the information was divulged by someone with a lack of credibility, namely Thomas Riccio, contributed to their lack of interest. Soledad spoke with Jeff Toobin and AP reporter Linda Deutsch about the latest developments. Jeff stated that this disclosure might be good for OJ because if the FBI didn’t think it was important enough to investigate, then perhaps it doesn’t warrant prosecution. Besides – do you tell the FBI that you’re about to commit a robbery and that you want it televised – if it’s something that you don’t want witnesses to see? Yet, the key issue boils down to whether or not OJ knew that guns would be used, or even worse, instructed his ‘colleagues’ to bring guns to use during the confrontation. Be prepared for more wall-to-wall coverage this week – on Thursday – when the preliminary hearing takes place.


I enjoyed the Ron Paul interview. Not because I would consider supporting him, but because he’s such a contrarian when it comes to the values and policies of the current Administration and current version of the Republican Party. And he is making an impact – as is evidenced by the continuing momentum in his fundraising and support at appearances. It’s odd that he’s identified as a “flake” – maybe that’s influenced by “covert” Republican Party officials? I also enjoyed that Rep. Paul took Rudy Giuliani to “task” for his beliefs about the underlying causes of the 9/11 attacks. Just because you were physically located in NYC on that day doesn’t automatically make you an expert on the myriad of angles about the attack. More about Rudy (and his knowledge base) in a moment ...


I did enjoy the Planet in Peril V-mail question that was shown – and I’m going to spell her name phonetically – “Avewa” from Japan – her question was about what impact individuals can have if they become “eco-friendly”, as she stated. She also has excellent literary taste ... ;-)


Back to Rudy Guiliani for just a moment ... you know, the more I hear his statements, the more I fear that his grasp of fundamental facts is on a par with George W. Bush – meaning that it’s pathetically poor. He stated in a radio interview this past week that Senator Joe Biden lacks foreign policy experience. WHAT?? Apparently, ex-Mayor Guiliani needs some Cliff Notes about his fellow candidates. Senator Biden is the CHAIRMAN of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...


I just wanted to make a brief comment - I know that some people don't particularly care for Soledad filling in, but I was struck this week in particular about how gracious she was with in-studio guests (Michael Ware, Gary Tuchman, Randi Kaye, Jeff Toobin, etc.) and how they all responded so warmly to her. And her "banter" with Erica is like watching two "pals" taking special delight in laughing at the same things. I also noticed that she handled the "AM" previews (even with Kiran) without the slightest hesitation. So all that to say ... I know it's tough for a bunch of people to "stay tuned" during an "Ander-absence", but you could end up being surprised! :-)



Enough from me for one posting – so as pleasant a week as it could be with a substitute anchor, here’s hoping for an AC “return” on Monday evening. And that he was able to salvage a few days of “vacation” for some authentic R&R!!!

Can we sanction South Carolina? Or at least SC Democrats??

Today’s Buzz ...

• from last night’s program:

Bush as a "bully": Another unsuccessful presidential venture ... I hope that whatever remains of Bush’s base enjoys these irrelevant and annoying attempts to attack those that – heaven forbid – dare to question whatever it is that he may happen to want. As Tom Foreman very methodically reviewed, Bush’s “talking points” in his speech at The Heritage Foundation yesterday lacked, well, foundation ...

Congress has the right, duty and obligation to question a nominee for Attorney General about his interpretations of what is constitutional and what isn’t – including an activity like waterboarding. Suzanne Malveaux reported that the Administration is attempting the same strategy as in the past – framing the debate about Michael Mukasey’s nomination and specifically, his views on torture, as a debate over national security. David Gergen added that the argument lacks merit and the issue boils down to how much unfettered power a President has in a time of war. As so many other similar policy debates have ...

Personally, I didn’t vote for a king or a dictator in 2000 or 2004, but the self-anointed monarch currently living in the White House isn’t making the road any easier for a like-party candidate to follow him into occupancy of that section of DC real estate, at the very least.


Embryo battle: There’s a very fundamental question here that I’m not sure I understand, nor was it answered amidst the significant amount of time spent on this topic. Why – oh why – would Augusta Roman WANT to bear a child by an ex-spouse that she no longer has anything other than a completely antagonistic relationship with?? If she’s concerned about her biological clock, for all the time she’s spent pursuing this ‘case’, couldn’t she have had more eggs harvested and impregnated by anonymous donor sperm at this point?


Jonathan Turley (Constitutional attorney) opined that Ms. Roman has very little chance of convincing the US Supreme Court to hear this case, as the Texas Supreme Court has ruled against her. He cited both the right-to-life/right-to-choose questions this case raises, as well as the contractual issues, namely that both parties (Randy & Augusta Roman) signed one agreeing that any embryos would not be used unless both parties agreed. That’s fairly clear cut to me ...


Chicago Police torture allegations: How outrageous is it that Anthony Holmes and Darrell Cannon spent decades in jail for crimes they didn’t commit, but confessed to after being severely tortured at the hands of former commander John Burge. If you watched “24” this past season, you probably saw what a torture victim looks like when a plastic bag is placed over his head – the ability to breathe is somewhat hampered!! And playing Russian Roulette with a loaded gun is automatically far beyond the torture (or terror) scale. And even though Burge has been found guilty of torture in a civil suit and fired by the Chicago Police Dept., the City must continue to defend him and pay out any judgments in five additional pending civil suits, because he was a City employee at the time of these incidents. Your tax dollars (once again) hard at work ...



Identity Theft: I’m going to admit this upfront – although I feel very bad for the family of Lisa Henson – especially with having to re-live the trauma of her disappearance because Esther Reed stole her identity (among other offenses) – I didn’t really pay all that close attention to this segment. This kind of story just isn’t that compelling (to me). But I wanted to mention it because (and here’s where my guilt kicks in) it gives me the opportunity to post this wonderful picture of Gary Tuchman with beautiful Montana mountains in the background!!!!


Raw Politics: Oh my – well, it’s official – and highly disappointing – but there will be no “Stephen Colbert” on the South Carolina Democratic Primary ballot. What’s interesting, though, is how much “buzz” this little grassroots venture has garnered in such a short time – the story was picked up yesterday on major news services (MSNBC, CNN, CBS, Yahoo, etc.) mere moments after the news broke. And it was the lead item this morning at AOL.com. Not bad for a “failed actor”, as Mr. Colbert has been described by Jon Friedman at MarketWatch. I did enjoy when Tom Foreman made sure to note that Mike Gravel was still on the Primary ballot – certainly a ‘shot’ at the SC Democratic Executive Committee!!


I’m looking forward to Soledad’s interview with Ron Paul tonight. He’s not your typical Republican, by any means. And it’s no fluke that he’s raised over $8 million dollars. Yes, a paltry sum in comparison to “chionophobic” Mitt Romney – much of which has come from his own coffers. What’s “chionophobia”, you ask? Fear of snow. ;-)



tonight on Anderson Cooper 360°:

Thanks for visiting – updates posted as needed – have a terrific day!