With a showdown set to begin at 1 pm in the House, President Obama and Democratic leaders have been considering using every trick up their sleeves to ensure that they have enough votes to pass the HCR bill.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, Republican leaders and their teabagging allies have been scraping the bottom of the barrel in an all-out effort to prevent the bill's passage.
As tensions continue to rise, some Confederates are openly wondering whether we're on the verge of a second Civil War.
Maybe... or it could all just be an illusion.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH); House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD); RNC Chairman Michael Steele; DNC Chairman Tim Kaine; Roundtable: Former White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, Former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie, Tavis Smiley (PBS) and Chuck Todd (NBC News).
Face the Nation: House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC); DCCC Chair/Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell; Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).
This Week: Rep. John Larson (D-CT); House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA); Obama '08 Campaign Manager/Presidential Adviser David Plouffe; Republican Strategist Karl Rove; Roundtable: Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS), George Will (Washington Post) and Sam Donaldsen (ABC News).
Note: Christianne Amanpour will take over as host of "This Week" in August. Until then, Jake Tapper will be hosting.
Fox News Sunday: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI); Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL); Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX); Roundtable: Brit Hume (Fox News), Mara Liasson (NPR/FNC), Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard) and Juan Williams (NPR/FNC).
State of the Union: Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN); Rep. John Larson (D-CT); Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT); Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile; Conservative Pundit Bill Bennett; Reliable Sources: Chip Reid (CBS News); Analyst Amy Holmes; Ryan Lizza (New Yorker); Jim Gray (Westwood One); Christine Brennan (USA Today).
The Chris Matthews Show: Howard Fineman (Newsweek); Kelly O'Donnell (NBC News); Michele Norris (NPR); Michael Duffy (TIME).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Mort Zuckerman (US News & World Report); Former US Ambassador to Israel Maryin Indyk; Author Michael Lewsi ("The Big Short").
Afternoon delight:
Amanpour: Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei; Pat Mitchell (Paley Center for Media); Rwandan President Paul Kagame; Filmmaker Louis Vance; Marie Wilson (Whitehouse Project).
Primetime viewing:
60 Minutes will feature: a profile of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (preview); a report on the many dangers faced by the children who are victims of Haiti's earthquake (preview); and, a profile of Bob and Mike Bryan, identical twins who dominate the world of professional doubles tennis (preview).
On Comedy Central...
Following an introductory warning to his audience, Jon Stewart put on his crazy glasses and performed an epic parody of Glenn Beck's schtick.
And Stephen Colbert found himself agreeing with Beck's interpretation of the Bible as it pertains to "social justice."
Speaking of The Devil:
KING: They intend to vote on the Sabbath, during Lent, to take away the liberty that we have right from God. [...]
BECK: You couldn’t have said it better. Here is a group of people that have so perverted our faith and our hope and our charity, that is a — this is an affront to God. And I honestly, I don’t think anybody is like, "yes, and now what we’ll do is we’ll vote on the Sabbath." But I think it’s absolutely appropriate that these people are trying to put the nail in the coffin on our country on a Sunday — something our founders would have never, ever, ever done. Out of respect for God.
Meanwhile...
More than 200 companies have joined a boycott of Beck’s program, making it difficult for Fox to sell ads. The time has instead been sold to smaller firms offering such products as Kaopectate, Carbonite, 1-800-PetMeds and Goldline International. A handful of advertisers, such as Apple, have abandoned Fox altogether. Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers.
Despite costing Fox News Channel ad revenue, Beck's descent into full-blown lunacy does have one redeeming value for the network — it manages to make Bill O'Reilly appear sane by comparison.
The top-rated cable talk-show host has always been a contrarian, a self-described culture warrior who touts traditionalism while also favoring gay adoption and some gun-control measures. But in recent months, as the country's political discourse has curdled, O'Reilly's independent streak has become even more pronounced -- particularly in contrast to Fox News' newest star, Glenn Beck, who has rallied both passionate fans and detractors with his apocalyptic rhetoric about the Obama administration. [...]
Beck joked that he couldn't figure out why O'Reilly was being so nice to him -- until "I realized I'm just a human meat shield for the guy. He's all of a sudden the senior statesman." Turning serious, he said he appreciated that the longtime host "has been so gracious."
Everything is relative.
- Trix
