Friday night, which means, shudder, the Sunday Chat & Chews are just around the corner. And goodness will they be chewing Sunday -- Cokie Roberts makes her return (it's understood that there will be pearls and that, yes, Cokie will clutch them).
Over at Gasbag Central, er, ABC's This Week the unholy trinity of the depraved discourse "Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, ABC News' Cokie Roberts, and George Will"
returns. George Will must be like Lucifer in that there's no need to identify him. No slug line of "syndicated columnist" or anything. Then again, perhaps like Zza Zza (whom he resembles more and more with each passing year) maybe it's just that he's been around for so long and done so little that no one really has a firm grasp on why he's there?
Joining them are:
Eileen Collins, commander, Space Shuttle Discovery
James Kelly, pilot, Space Shuttle Discovery
Charles Camarda, mission specialist, Space Shuttle Discovery
Former Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, former astronaut
Buzz Aldrin, former astronaut
Don Nelson, retired NASA aerospace engineer
Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.
Don't get excited, Santorum's not going into outer space (though his mind's lived there for years).
I have a Lee Iacocca joke but I'll bite my tongue due to the fact that he'll be appearing to speak of diabetes (and his late wife).
Instead we'll note that the administration is really pushing the NASA angle hard. (Wouldn't you if you wanted to move attention from the outing of Valerie Plame and John Roberts' memory issues?) How can you tell? Check out NBC's Meet the Press:
MICHAEL GRIFFIN
NASA Administrator
EILEEN COLLINS
Discovery Shuttle Commander
JAMES KELLY
Discovery Shuttle Pilot
CHARLES CAMARDA
Discovery Shuttle Mission Specialist
Let's also note the roundtable:
DAVID BRODER
Washington Post
JOHN HARWOOD
Wall Street Journal
KATE O'BEIRNE
National Review
EUGENE ROBINSON
Washington Post
You got the right and the center. ("Left leaning" Robison perhaps. That's how the Wash Post promotes him and his syndicated column.) Meet the press, or at least this limited faction.
Now let's note Face the Nation (CBS):
Host:
CBS Evening News Anchor Bob Schieffer
Topics:
The Fight Over Stem Cell Research; Space Shuttle Discovery
Guests:
Sen. Arlen Specter
Republican - Pennsylvania
Sen. Sam Brownback
Republican - Kansas
Bill Harwood
CBS Space Analyst
Elisabeth Bumiller
The New York Times
Carin Pratt is the Executive Producer of Face the Nation.
We note Pratt this week. If I were watching one of the shows, it would be Face the Nation. Not because, as Jordan wondered, of my friend at CBS. I don't even personally care for Blinky (Bob Schieffer). But while This Week and Meet the Press seem to ape one another week after week, Face the Nation seems to mix it up a bit more. Not enough. But compared to the siamese twins of MTP and TW, Face the Nation tries to provide something a little less obvious. (Some times.)
Shieffer also seems to take the news a bit more seriously than the Georges and Russert.
(Which doesn't mean he doesn't clown. Check The Daily Howler archives.)
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