Faced with the prospect of having his Congressional majorities teabagged this fall, President Obama took a page from the work of Mario Puzo.
Under strict instructions from Obama's consigliere, Rahm Emanuel, former President Clinton was dispatched to make Rep. Joe Sestak an offer he couldn't refuse.
But refuse it, he did.
This never would've happened to Ronald Reagan.
Meet the Press: White House Energy & Climate Adviser Carol Browner; Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL); Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ); Roundtable: David Brooks (New York Times) and E.J. Dionne (Washington Post).
Face the Nation: White House Energy & Climate Adviser Carol Browner; Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA); BP Managing Director Bob Dudley; Environmental Scientist Edward Overton, PhD.
This Week: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R); Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Republican Strategist Matthew Dowd, Clarence Page (Chicago Tribune) and Joan Walsh (Salon.com).
Fox News Sunday: BP Managing Director Bob Dudley; Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D); Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA); Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen; Roundtable: Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard), Ceci Connolly (Washington Post), Psychopath Liz Cheney and Juan Williams (NPR/FNC).
State of the Union: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen; Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA); Sen. David Vitter (R-LA); Reliable Sources: Fred Francis (Formerly of NBC News); American University Professor Jane Hall; Rome Hartman (BBC America); Toby Harnden (Daily Telegraph).
The Chris Matthews Show: Joe Klein (TIME); Katty Kay (BBC); Trish Regan (CNBC); John Harris (Politico).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates; President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haas; Martin Wolf (Financial Times); Cynthia Freeland (Reuters).
Primetime viewing:
Airing at 8pm (ET), 60 Minutes will feature: a piece following a bomb-hunting at work in Afghanistan for two days (preview); a report on scientists' belief that they may be able to sustain endangered species and potentially resurrect extinct species using DNA technology (preview); and, a behind-the-scenes look at the life and times of Vogue's all-powerful editor, Anna Wintour (preview).
The Daily Show and The Colbert Report were in reruns this week, so there are no new clips to share.
Instead, here's Lewis Black's take on Glenn Beck's infatuation with Nazism.
The Daily Show
Monday: Rerun
Tuesday: President of the American Enterprise Institute Arthur Brooks
Wednesday: Actor/Host Morgan Freeman (Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman")
Thursday: Actor Jonah Hill ("Get Him to the Greek")
And Stephen Colbert's examination of Beck's crusade against the poor.
The Colbert Report
Monday: Rerun
Tuesday: Author Aayan Hirsi Ali ("Nomad")
Wednesday: Author Lisa Miller ("Heaven")
Thursday: Band Vampire Weekend ("Contra")
As if to prove their points, Beck made the following claim this week:
"Once you get into the common good, it's over. And this is the perversion that every minister, pastor, priest, bishop – every single person in America, every rabbi should be at the pulpit saying the same thing – get away from anyone who talks about the common good. Because the common good – if you put that first, and you reject individual – you are headed for the death camps."
Needless to say, the Jews are calling him meshuggeneh.
Meanwhile, the man who held the title of "Most Insane Host" prior to Beck's arrival at Fox News crossed a few lines of his own while speaking to African-American Columbia University professor Marc Lamont Hill.
OREILLY: I don’t need IEDs. If I have 10,000 guard down there, that’s an intimidating force. That intimidates. Say you are a cocaine dealer, and you kinda look like one a little bit.
HILL: As do you, you, in fact, look like a cocaine user. So we’re even.
OREILLY: I know, I’m too thin. I’m twitchy. [...]
And, finally...
Comparatively-sane Fox News host Greta Van Susteren received the following viewer e-mail this week:
Greta,
You got that right, you have a mind like a seive. Your brain is empty.
Matter of fact, it is so empty, if you put a pea in your skull it would rattle around like a BB in a boxcar. You said it, gal, not me, but I sure do agree with you. A true blonde.
Brian ***
Tahlequah, OK
PS How do you get that cush job, anyway?
After reporting on the missive, Greta let her viewers decide who was dumber — her or Brian.
Some questions answer themselves.
- Trix
p.s. I'm sorry there was no Sunday Talk last week. My internet connection was down.