Sunday, June 05, 2005

Ken Mehlman on Meet The Press

Watching Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman on Meet The Press this morning was akin to watching a 6-year-old deny playing ball in the house and breaking the lamp. Wide-eyed, repetitive and evasive, Mehlman has become quite masterful at talking a whole lot and saying nothing. And, host Tim Russert has become quite good at letting these partisan hacks waste our time and insult our intelligence. According to Mr. Chairman, everything is just honky-dory. The economy, the war in Iraq, the Bush presidency....it's all terrific. Everything is wonderful in MehlmanWorld, where there is no bad news, no mistakes and no regrets. And apparently, no straight answers either. Ask him to comment on the the president's 45% approval rating and he'll boast what a great job Bush is doing and that most Americans are firmly behind him. Ask him about Bush's stalled Central America Trade Pact, Energy bill, Bolton nomination, Social Security privatization plan and Stem-cell and judicial nominee losses and he'll spiritedly declare that the president is getting done everything he wants. And what does Russert do during this charade? Simply asks the next question. No follow-up, no challenges, no..."hey Mehlman, what are you smokin?" (which is what we'd all like to ask). What is the point of Meet The Press, to merely give a soapbox to every shameless promoter and partisan quack? Russert 's a very bright guy and an excellent student of politics. But he desperately needs to brush up on his interviewing skills. Perhaps take a page out of the Chris Matthews book and start playing hardball. Matthews has no problem interrupting these spin monkeys mid-sentence, taking back the mike if all he gets is talking points. Russert, however, was utterly useless today. It was painful to watch. Andy

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