Ben Platt - Waving Through A Window from "Dear Evan Hansen"
Happy New Year's Eve!
Every week I look the list of guests and I feel like we're waving through the proverbial window, wondering if they even hear us. Apparently, we never make a sound either.
This week, Michael Schmidt of The New York Times published an interview with Donald Trump that made clear that not only is the guy with the nuclear codes clearly sundowning, but that The New York Times hadn't learned any lessons from their Judy Miller/Iraq War debacle. In fact, several Beltway reporters spent the next 48 hours being defensive and testy to anyone who suggested that perhaps actual journalism could involve a follow up question or contextualization. It appears they think stenography is journalism.
And then we have my friend, Joan Walsh of The Nation, who has luckily landed on her feet at CNN (but will be making her last appearance on MSNBC today on Rev. Al's early morning show), but was told by MSNBC suits they'd be happy to keep having her on, just not paying her. They needed that money to sign Jennifer Rubin, donchaknow?
Seriously, what's it going to take for them to care about at least appearing to be fact-based to those of us who value it rather than kowtowing to those who will dismiss them as "fake news"?
It's like we never make a sound.
ABC's "This Week" - Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly; former FBI agent Brad Garrett. Panel:Matthew Dowd; Joshua Johnson, host of NPR/WAMU’s “1A”; Mary Jordan of The Washington Post; and Susan Page of USA Today.
NBC's "Meet the Press" -Year end review with Charlie Cook, editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report; BBC anchor Katty Kay; National Review editor Rich Lowry; and Kristen Welker of NBC News.
CBS' "Face the Nation" - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Author J.D, Vance. Congressional panel: Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.; Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y.; Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich.; and Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas. Political panel: Rachael Bade of Politico, David Nakamura and Ed O’Keefe of The Washington Post and Julie Pace of The Associated Press.
CNN's "State of the Union" - Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director. Bob Woodward of The Washington Post; Carl Bernstein, CNN senior commentator. Panel: William Kristol; Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution; Bakari Sellers, former S.C. state representative; and Michael Caputo, former senior Trump adviser.
CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" - Zanny Minton Beddoes of The Economist; Walter Russell Meade of the Council on Foreign Relations; and Gideon Rose of Foreign Affairs. Journalist Harold Evans, and author Simon Sebag Montefiore.
CNN's "Reliable Sources" - Sally Buzbee, executive editor, The Associated Press; Joanne Lipman, chief content officer, Gannett; and John Avlon, editor in chief, The Daily Beast. Jeffrey Toobin of CNN and The New Yorker, Rebecca Traister of New York Magazine and Sarah Lacy, founder and editor in chief, Pando.
"Fox News Sunday" - Year End review with Michael Needham, CEO Heritage Action for America; Marie Harf, former State Department deputy spokeswoman; Bruce Mehlman, founder of Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas; and Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee.
So before we tip a hat to auld lang syne, what's catching your eye today?
