I chose to stay up all night on Monday, but had I gone to sleep, I'm certain that I would've been happy to wake up Tuesday morning to the sights of Dick Cheney being wheeled out of the White House, Barack Hussein Obama being inaugurated as the 44th President, and, finally, George W. Bush leaving Washington for good.
There's a lot more to enjoy below the fold — including the lineup, videos... even fisting.
Morning lineup:
Meet The Press: Director of the National Economic Council Lawrence Summers; House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH); Roundtable with: Thomas Friedman (The New York Times), Stephen Hayes (The Weekly Standard), and Michele Norris (NPR).
Face The Nation: Vice President Joe Biden.
This Week: Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Roundtable with: Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard Carly Fiorina, George Will (ABC News), Sam Donaldson (ABC News), Cokie Roberts (ABC News), and Paul Krugman (The New York Times).
Fox News Sunday: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ); Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY); Roundtable with: Brit Hume (Fox News), Mara Liasson (NPR), Bill Kristol (The Weekly Standard), and Juan Williams (NPR).
State of the Union: NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I); Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN).
Note: "Reliable Sources", hosted by Howard Kurtz, is now a segment of "State of the Union". The guests will be: Jeff Zeleny (The New York Times); Chip Reid (CBS News); Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell.
The Chris Matthews Show: Bob Woodward (The Washington Post); Kelly O'Donnell (NBC News); Anne Kornblut (The Washington Post); Howard Fineman (Newsweek).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Former Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani; Barnett Rubin (Center on International Cooperation); Steve Coll (New American Foundation); Rory Stewart (Author, "The Places In Between"); Michael O'Hanlon (Brookings Institution); David Kilcullen (Author, "The Accidental Guerilla").
Primetime viewing:
60 Minutes will feature discussion of a two-state solution to the I/P imbroglio with former Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Meron Benveniste and former candidate for Palestinian President Dr. Mustafa Barghouti.
The National Geographic channel will take us On Board Air Force One.
Barack Obama has only been President for a few days, but, as Jon Stewart demonstrated, that was long enough for Fox News and Rush Limbaugh to completely lose their shit:
The Daily Show
Monday: Former President Jimmy Carter.
Tuesday: Journalist Gwen Ifill (NPR).
Wednesday: Author Neil DeGrasse Tyson ("The Pluto Files").
Thursday: Author P.W. Singer ("Wired for War").
Meanwhile, Stephen Colbert examined international reaction to President Obama's inauguration:
The Colbert Report
Monday: Author Chris Mooney ("The Republican War on Science").
Tuesday: High-Wire Artist Phillip Petit (Star/Subject of the Academy Award-nominated documentary film "Man on Wire", which I very highly recommend).
Wednesday: Author Dennis Dutton ("The Art Instinct").
Thursday: President Obama's Transition Chief John Podesta.
Although Stewart and Colbert don't appear to be having any problems, Chris Rock isn't quite sure how to make jokes about President Obama.
“It’s like ‘Ooh, you’re young and virile and you’ve got a beautiful wife and kids. You’re the first African-American president.’ You know, what do you say?” he said.
“He’s just one of those guys, you know, like Will Smith,” he said. “(There are) no Will Smith jokes. (There are) no Brad Pitt jokes. ‘Ooh, you used to have sex with Jennifer Anniston. Now you have sex with Angelina Jolie. You’re such a loser.’ What do you say? ‘Ooh, your movies are big. You make $20 million.’ There’s nothing to say about Brad Pitt.”
And, speaking of jokes, Dick Morris donned his Nostradamus cap and made a prediction.
Obama’s name will be mud by 2012 and probably by 2010 as well. And the Republican Party will make big gains and regain much of its lost power.
Cheers.
- Trix
Note: If you're here for the fisting, bring it on.