TV Chatting

Moms went mom to mom with mom Hillary Clinton yesterday in North Carolina.

This is actually something useful. I’m an Obama supporter and hope that momlogic.com does something similar with him.

More from My Gal Jennifer:

MOMLOGIC.COM HOSTS TOWN HALL EVENT WITH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON TODAY IN NORTH CAROLINA

Log On to MomLogic.com to Watch Our Exclusive Town Hall Event

(Los Angeles – Saturday, May 3, 2008) – Momlogic.com hosted a town hall event in Cary, North Carolina today where area Moms went mom-to-mom with the presidential hopeful to delve into what concerns moms and their families most during this all-important election.

A panel of momlogic.com experts hosted the event, including family therapist Shannon Fox, Rabbi Sherre Z. Hirsch, lifestyle expert Mary Alice Haney and news anchor and author, Rene Syler.

Senator Clinton answered a variety of questions submitted online by Momlogic.com moms and audience members also asked Senator Clinton questions about issues affecting them and their families in this all-important election year.

When asked to give advice to women who want a career and family, Senator Clinton responded, “You just have to make decisions. One of them I made was to spend as much time as I could with my daughter. We didn’t have much of a social life.�

Clinton says the family found creative ways to spend time together. “One time Chelsea said she heard about coconuts and had never seen one, so we went to the store and bought a coconut we took it home. And Bill and I, you know, between us we’ve had 50 years of education, could not get the coconut open. I mean we were throwing it on the driveway, beating it with a hammer, it was so embarrassing.â€?

About raising strong children, Senator Clinton said, “What’s really important and what you have to work on is to be present with your children. It so easy to be looking at your Blackberry, to be on your cell phone… Somehow you have to create the space and time where your children really know they have your undivided attention.�

On her experience parenting a teenager, Clinton mused, “You really cannot extrapolate from my experience, because Chelsea was a teenager in the white house which meant that the secret service went on her dates. A lot of her girlfriends’ mothers loved it when they double dated because, you know, there was the guy with the gun in the front seat.â€?

On the subject of rising gas prices, Senator Clinton stated, “I want to provide immediate relief as well as a long term plan on how we’re going to end our addition to foreign oil … We have got to have a sensible energy policy. We haven’t had it and we’ve paid a big price for it.�

On Moms not always seeing eye-to-eye with their daughters, Senator Clinton recalls, “My idea of what was proper dressing when my daughter was a teenager was just totally absurd in her mind. There’s a picture - it was Bill’s second inauguration, and we were leaving the White House to drive to the Capitol for him to be sworn in. The plan was that we were going to drive a little bit and the secret service had an area that the secret service said it was ok for us to get out of the car and walk a little bit. So Chelsea came down–she was dressed and had a coat on … she opened it … the skirt was so short. And I’m sitting there looking at this short skirt, and there’s no time to change, and I thought ok you just have to take a deep breath. Here we go. There are so many things that are worth engaging your kids on and so many things that are not important, and trying to figure out how to draw the line.â€?

To view the first of MomLogic.com’s multi-part series with and Senator Hillary Clinton, click on the link below.

Web Link: http://www.momlogic.com/2008/05/hillary_on_multitasking.php
Technorati Tags: moms, mothers, Hillary Clinton, momlogic, momlogi.com, 2008 election

Why are people, particularly those in the media, so stupid about race?

The Huffington Post reports that a Republican flack Kellyanne Conway on MSNBC said the following today:

“The person who has criticized them is Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton has been criticizing Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright. and I think that’s the real issue, I think that’s why Barack Obama had to push back. She is the chief white woman in this country, calling into question Jeremiah Wright’s bonafides and she has made that issue on the campaign trail. Republicans aren’t saying much about it at all, including John McCain. He had one thing to say about it early on.”

Read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/29/kellyanne-conway-msnbc-gu_n_99299.html

As Rodney King said, “Why can’t we all just get along?”

The Wall Street Journal reports that CBS news “anchor” Katie Couric could be bye-bye from the Eye as early as President Barack Obama’s inauguration in January 2009.

CBS News executives and people close to Katie Couric say that the “CBS Evening News” anchor is likely to leave the network well before her contract expires in 2011 — possibly soon after the presidential inauguration early next year. Ms. Couric isn’t even halfway through her five-year contract with CBS, which began in June 2006 and pays an annual salary of around $15 million.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120778369100203247.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

I knew this would happen the day they hired her. She lacked and lacks the skills and abilities to be a convincing journalist, let alone what once was the nightly TV news program of record.

Her fluffy approach on the Today show and cutesy-pie perkiness worked at 7 a.m. but not at 6 p.m. on an actual news program.

God only know what her next gig might be. Perhaps she can host a kids show or be a host selling cosmetics on the Home Shopping Network. You know, something more to her ability level.

If I were a CBS suit, I’d pull the plug on her now, bring back Bob Schieffer, and start looking to poach someone decent from MSNBC or CNN who has actually reported on real news prior to being plunked down as a news reader in Uncle Walter’s hallowed seat.

Photo: Come January 2009, news personality Katie Couric may have a lot more time to work on her bowling game. Katie Couric, Katie Couric & Friends Bowl to “Strike Out Colon Cancer� for EIF’s NCCRA, May 9, 2007.

Technorati Tags: Katie Couric, CBS, news, media, flops

This has unmitigated disaster written all over it.

CBS’s untalented and ill-prepared main “anchor,” Katie Couric, is scheduled to moderate a debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Hillary Clinton agrees to April 27 debate
Hillary Clinton has agreed to a Sunday, April 27, primetime debate in North Carolina, which would be “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric’s first turn to moderate a presidential debate.

Couric struggles to report and read the news when it is plopped in front of her on a teleprompter. Then you ask her to control Hillary the Harridan in a debate?

This has freakin’ train wreck written all over it.

I’ll watch just because I won’t be able to avert my eyes from the disaster.

CBS, please bring back Bob Schieffer!

Photo: Television news personality Katie Couric attends the project ALS Tomorrow Is Tonight 10th anniversary celebration at the Waldorf Astoria on October 16, 2007 in New York City.

Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton, harridans, Katie Couric, CBS, debates, 2008 election, Barack Obama

Obviously The Late Show with David Letterman is the place to go if you are a major Presidential candidate looking to come across as a real mensch who can take a joke and make a joke.

As big a goofball as David Letterman is, he often asks extremely tough questions. If you can pass “The Dave Test,” you’ll also probably do ok with the voters.

But enough with all the Hillary Clinton appearances already! There’s not enough Dave to make her seem like a real human.

However, I digress.

Some photos from recent history.

Above: Sen. John McCain gives a thumbs up before going into the Ed Sullivan Theatre for his appearance on the Late Show, April 1, 2008.

Middle: Sen. Barack Obama getting out of his car prior to going on The Late Show, April 9, 2007.

Bottom: Sen. Hillary Clinton tries to remember not to act like a harridan when she visits David Letterman, February 4, 2008.

Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama, David Letterman, Late Show with David Letterman, CBS, Presidential Election, 2008 election

I think Sen. Barack Obama is dreamy. I have a major man crush.

Seconding my verdict are the women of ABC’s The View.

Sen. Man Crush is on the show Friday, March 28, 2008.

Here’s more from My Gal Natalia at ABC has more details. The clips and photos are courtesy of ABC News.

ABC News: Exclusive sneak peak at ABC’s “The View” interview with Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.). He will make his second guest appearance on ABC’s talk and entertainment program “The Viewâ€? on FRIDAY, MARCH 28 (11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, ET). The interview was taped on Thursday, March 27. “The Viewâ€? features Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd.

VIDEO EXCLUSIVES:
‘The ladies compliment the senator and ask about his distant relative, Brad Pitt
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4538669
Sen. Barack Obama discusses his comfort level with Rev. Wright.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4538696
The ladies ask Sen. Obama if he will be able to withstand the “attack machine.”
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4538825

This just in from the Late Show with David Letterman: Dave welcomes America’s most famous pantsuit wearer, Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, on the eve of Super Tuesday.

Photo: Presidential Candidate Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton departs a taping of “The Late Show with David Letterman” at The Ed Sullivan Theater on August 30, 2007 in New York City.

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Wednesday’s episode of Law & Order on NBC featured a slimy businessman/ex-con who was “bundling” large political contributions for New York politicians.

One of the candidates he was bundling major donations for was a female U.S. Senator from New York who bore a striking resemblance to Sen. Hillary Clinton.  (Of course the show disclaims any depiction is of a real person or event, though the stories are “ripped from the headlines.”)

Anyway, the Senator is brought in for questioning about the guy.  One of the detectives or prosecutors notes after the meeting, “I just love a woman in a pantsuit.”  (I can’t find a full episode description to be more specific.)

Hence, the photo above.

Photo: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton Speaks at a fundraiser at the Orpheum Theater on February 1, 2008 in San Francisco, California.  An Evening with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Technorati Tags: Political Animal, Law & Order, Hillary Clinton, bundling, political fundraising, NBC, San Francisco, California, New York, pantsuits

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My man-crushee, Sen. Barack Obama, continues to be dreamy–and on my favorite talk show host’s program, Late Night with David Letterman.

He’s cute, he’s smart, and he’s funny.

That’s why he’ll be our next President!

Technorati Tags: Sen. Barack Obama, Barack Obama, David Letterman, Top Ten List, Late Night, CBS, 2008 Presidential election

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Plunked down on the couch tonight watching the New Hampshire Presidential Primary results like it was Super Bowl—with remote and pizza at the ready.

I was watching my favorite news channel—MSNBC—but decided I must be from another planet. All the MSNBC pundits—to a man and woman, hated Republican John McCain’s victory speech. In fact, they were laughing about how bad it was.

Photo courtesy John McCain 2008 - www.JohnMcCain.com

Granted, McCain reads note cards like the grumpy 71 year old that he is. But I was LISTENING to what he said and I liked what I heard. He talked about actual sacrifice in time of war. Of Americans not really being all that different from each other. Of working together. Of admiring all the men and women—Republicans and Democrats—in the primary and their service to a cause.

I came away thinking that if John McCain were elected, this bleeding heart liberal would be ok with it. I felt like a good and decent man—an actual adult as compared to the adolescent smirking frat boy we have in the White House—would be in charge of the USA. But what do I know?

• My grade? Delivery: C-; Content: B+

About an hour or two later (time has no meaning when you’re zoned out on pizza and politics), Barack Obama gave his concession speech. Here, the MSNBC pundits and I agreed. It was a magnificent speech about hope and the inexorable arc of history toward liberty and justice. He evoked touches of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King. The refrain of “Yes we can!� echoed of the old spiritual, “We Shall Overcome.�

This is a speech school kids will study if my new man-crush gets elected.

• My grade? Delivery: A; Content A

Then another hour later or so, Democratic winner Hillary Clinton spoke. Obviously the past week has been a meat grinder. She lost Iowa, got piled on in the debate, nearly cried, and was left for dead. Her victory is one of the great upsets in modern American politics, where nothing is seemingly a surprise anymore.

I detected a slightly softer Hillary Clinton, but her rhetoric was still very “I� and “me� oriented, particularly compared to the “we’re all in this together� speeches of McCain and Obama. I also thought she was just a touch above McCain in the reading-my-speech department.

She did have one exceedingly good line, however, “I came to New Hamphsire to listen to you and found my own voice.� Not bad.

• My grade? Delivery: B-; Content C, with a special commendation for the above line.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, New Hampshire Primary, 2008 Presidential election

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Talk to the hand, Mike not home.

“If I am elected President and Iran gives us any guff, I will slap them down with my gi-normous hands!”

Photos: Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee greets supporters and signs autographs prior to his appearence on “Late Show with David Letterman” on January 7, 2008 at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City.

Technorati Tags: Mike Huckabee, Gov. Mike Huckabee, big hands, 2008 Presidential election, Late Show, David Letterman, CBS

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KDLT-TV in Sioux Falls, SD interviewed me today about law enforcement using postings on Facebook and MySpace to help make their cases of underaged drinking and so forth.

• Read: Police Using Social Networking Sites to Prosecute Criminals

I can boil down what I said in one sentence. If you commit a crime and if you really want to get caught, make sure you post photos and descriptions of your crime on your social networking site.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, MySpace, KDLT-TV, social networking, crime, cybercrime, underaged drinking, stupidity, privacy

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Though I watched the return of NBC’s Law and Order Wednesday (January 2, 2008), this just struck me. I think producer Dick Wolf took a big swipe at former cast member and current Republican Presidential candidate Fred Thompson.

Thompson portrayed New York District Attorney Arthur Branch. Now that Thompson is off campaigning, federal equal time candidate rules prevent him from being on the air without also providing the other candidates with airtime. Plus, you’d think Fred’s a little busy right now, running for President and all.

Anyway, in the premiere of season 18 last week, Executive ADA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) has been appointed DA upon Branch’s departure. While McCoy is moving books into Branch’s office–now his office–new Executive ADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) comes into the room. This is my recollection of their exchange:

Cutter: “Branch used to have knick-knacks on those shelves.

“McCoy: “This is going to be a working office now.”

Back when Thompson was portraying the DA, about all he did was sit around and second guess McCoy.

Further, Thompson has a reputation of being lazy.

So, this TV reviewer and political junkie took it as a shot at not just Thompson’s character, but Thompson’s character as well.

Photo: In the September 10, 2007 issue of Newsweek (on newsstand Monday, September3): “Lazy Like a Fox.” Newsweek profiles Fred Thompson, looking atwhether he’s got the fire to do what it takes to win a presidentialcampaign. (PRNewsFoto/NEWSWEEK)

Technorati Tags: Sen. Fred Thompson, Fred Thompson, Law and Order, Law & Order, Arthur Branch, Dick Wolf, NBC, 2008 Presidential election, 2008 election, Jack McCoy, Sam Waterston, Michael Cutter, Linus Roache

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Presidential hopefulMike Huckabee visits with Jay Leno during the “The Tonight Show With
Jay Leno” at NBC Studios on January 2, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.  Huckabee crossed the WGA picket line outside the show, which, to those of us who are pro-union, is called being a “scab.”

But apparently Iowan Republicans like Mike and Jay, based on yesterday’s caucus results.

Technorati Tags: Mike Huckabee, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Jay Leno, Iowa Caucuses, The Tonight Show, NBC, 2008 Presidential election, 2008 election

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Towards the end of last night’s 49ers v. Bengals game on the NFL Network, PBP man Bryant Gumbel noted, “Al Gore can’t get off the field!”

My son Matt and I both laughed, as did Gumbel’s booth mates Deion Sanders and Marshall Faulk.

“Uh, that’s Frank Gore not Al Gore,” Gumbel corrected himself among guffaws from Sanders and Faulk, both former NFL stars.

Perhaps Bryant would have been more correct had he said “Al Gore won’t get into the field (of Presidential candidates.)”

Let ’s see. Al Gore, slightly pudgy, middle-aged white guy who should be President of the United States.

Frank Gore, buff young black guy who is a top running back in the NFL.

Yup, easy to get them confused.

Actually, as a former broadcaster, it is easy to make these goofy mistakes. I remember early in my TV career I was hosting a public affairs program on nursing homes–i.e., “adult care homes,” which I continued to call on the program “adult hair combs.” Try as I might, I kept screwing it up. At first I was mortified then I was almost laughing at how stupid I was.

So, it happens.

Though it would be kind of fun to see V.P. Al Gore play a few downs as an NFL running back and hear RB Frank Gore answer some questions on global warming.

(Cross-posted to SD Watch and TV Chatting.)

Very Top: Al Gore pictured at the Leaders in London International Leadership Summit on Wednesday November 28, 2007 in London.The event, now in its forth year, hosted a stellar line up of international speakers discussing aspects of business leadership to an audience of the UK an Europe’s leading businessmen. Speakers include Kofi Annan, The Hon Al Gore, David Cameron, Sir Martin Sorrell and Karren Brady amongst others.

Top: San Francisco 49er running back Frank Gore in game against the Indianapolis Colts during the 2006 season. Photo by studmufffin from Flickr.

Technorati Tags: Al Gore, Frank Gore, NFL, Bryant Gumbel, NFL Network, Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk, 2008 Presidential election

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