Sunday Talk - The Best and the Brightest

While there's much room for debate about the top things of the decade, the funniest political videos, biggest media fuck-ups and most moranic protest signs of the year, and whether or not Rahm Emanuel deserves to be drowned in a bathtub, I think there's one thing we can all agree upon:

America has the greatest health care system the world has ever known.

Morning lineup:

Meet the Press: Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan; Former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff; Former CIA Director Michael Hayden; Roundtable: Tom Brokaw (NBC News), David Brooks (New York Times); E.J. Dionne (Washington Post) and Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Face the Nation: Roundtable: Nancy Cordes, Jan Crawford, David Martin, Bob Orr and Chip Reid (all of CBS News).

This Week: Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan; Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI); Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT); Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME); Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA); Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Ron Brownstein (National Journal), David Sanger (New York Times) and Cynthia Tucker (Atlanta Journal Constitution).

Fox News Sunday: Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan; Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO); Roundtable: Brit Hume (Fox News); Nina Easton, Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard) and Juan Williams (Fox News).

State of the Union: Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan; 9/11 Commission Chair Thomas Keen; Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC); Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO); Ex-Bush Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend; Jeanna Meserve (CNN); 9/11 Commission Member Richard Ben-Veniste; Ryan Lizza(New Yorker); Chris Cillizza (Washington Post); GOP Strategist Rich Galen; Reliable Sources: Laura Ashburn (Ashburn Media); Radio Host Bill Press; Chris Stirewait (Washington Examiner); Jessica Yellin (CNN); David Bianculli (NPR).

The Chris Matthews Show: Katty Kay (BBC); Dan Rather (HDNet); John Harris (Politico); Helen Cooper (New York Times).

Fareed Zakaria GPS: Author Tom Ricks; Asia Expert Kishore Mahbubahni.

Afternoon delight:

Amanpour: TBD.

Primetime viewing:

60 Minutes will feature: a report on changes to Switzerland's banking secrecy practices resulting from tips provided by whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld (preview); a report on the increased numbers of veteran's benefit claims resulting from America's involvement in two wars, and the bureaucracy slowing them down (preview); and, a report on the elephant dictionary researchers have been putting together based on listening to elephant sounds and observing their behavior (preview).

First Lady Michelle Obama will appear on the Food Network's Iron Chef America with White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford – who will compete alongside Bobby Flay against Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse (previews).

...

Jon Stewart ended another year in the Daily Show anchor chair with a review of the decade, year by year. Here's 2009:

The Daily Show

Monday: Author Michael Pollan ("Food Rules")

Tuesday: Screenwriter/Director/Producer George Lucas

Wednesday: TBD

Thursday: Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Crazy Heart")

And Stephen Colbert paid tribute to the media, and the bang-up job they did this year.

The Colbert Report

Monday: Blogger Erick Erickson (RedState.com)

Tuesday: MIT Physicist Riley Crane

Wednesday: Captain Charles Moore (Algalita Marine Research Foundation)

Thursday: Author James Fowler ("Obesity is Catching")

...

While Bernie Madoff is undoubtedly the "Ponzi Schemer of the Decade," Sir Allen Stanford is not without his many fans — most notably, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX).

In the email, sent on the morning of February 17, Sessions promised to stand by his controversial ally. "I love you and believe in you,'' he wrote. "If you want my ear/voice -- e-mail." He signed the missive, "Pete." Just three days later, Bloomberg would report the denial from Sessions's office that the two men knew each other.

...

All that man-on-man love clearly contributed to the demise of Karl Rove's second traditional marriage.

Karl Rove, the architect behind using gay marriage as a wedge issue to drive the Christian right to the polls, has just gotten a divorce in Texas, ending his 24-year marriage.

No one should really be surprised by the hypocrisy, especially because Rove himself is apparently not devoutly Christian, he simply specialized in playing to those who were. Nor is it surprising that for all of gay marriage opponents’ talk of how it will destroy "traditional" marriage, Rove didn’t seem to have much respect for families to begin with.

...

Meanwhile, divorcee-from-reality Sarah Palin made some hard news with real reporter Bill O'Reilly.

O'REILLY: Do you believe that you are smart enough, incisive enough, intellectual enough to handle the most powerful job in the world?  

PALIN: I believe that I am because I have common sense. And I have, I believe, the values that are reflective of so many other American values. And I believe that what Americans are seeking is not the elitism, the kind of a spinelessness that perhaps is made up for that with some kind of elite Ivy League education and a fact resume that's based on anything but hard work and private sector, free enterprise principles. Americans could be seeking something like that in positive change in their leadership. I'm not saying that has to be me.

You've got to admire that level of self-delusion. You betcha. Also.

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Happy New Year!

- Trix

p.s. My apologies for not posting Sunday Talk the past 2 weeks. I was out of the country on vacation, and had planned to post from my undisclosed location. Unfortunately, I was unable to reliably connect to the internet from there. Thanks to everyone who contacted me out of concern and whatnot. Sorry again.