Sunday Talk Review-This Week and ABC plea for ………..

………. a parallel reality. The show began with a surprise guest, John Miller of the FBI/DOJ arrived to talk about yesterday’s victory over some home grown terrorists, Stephanopoulos began the show by asking a series of questions designed to minimize the threat posed by terrorism in the United States, including citing some dispute in the intelligence about the number of Al Qaeda sleeper cells in the United States so as to imply that the threat was exaggerated. Even if true George, how do you think that happened. There sure seemed to be a lot of them on September 11, 2001.

The interview with the President of Iraq was more of the same. Stephanopoulos repeated several versions of a single question-the war is unpopular in America and what are you, the Iraqis, going to do when we leave? To what end? Why weren’t questions asked about what was actually happening on the ground, the growth of the Iraqi armed forces and the development of more political infrastructure and reconciliation? President Talabani did make it clear that the Iraqi Parliament will not recess this summer-which really would be a slap in the face of the American public.

Stephanopoulos lifted the enthusiasm level when master appeaser Jack Murtha’s well tanned visage appeared on the wall monitor. Murtha, who might be the most vile American politician since Jefferson Davis (then Secretary of War) and Vice President John Breckinridge worked to appease southern slavery and then southern secession fwhen appeasement failed during the late 1850s and early 1860s. Murtha doesn’t really acknowledge the existence of questions; he just repeats lines like an actor. When asked why troop reduction to around 100,000 was insufficient he replied “you’ve got to supply the troops”. When asked why the “Korean model” wouldn’t work, the answer “you’ve still got to supply the troops.” The best insight into the psyche of this worst of all possible Americans (ok, Adam Gadahn is worse, but only marginally) came when he boasted about his power to control 4000 earmarks in the appropriations process in response to having been asked if threatening a Republican member’s funding projects if that member didn’t support Murtha’s defeat at any price agenda. John Murtha makes John Kerry sound patriotic.

There was a highlight. Sam Donaldson, whose vicious attacks on President Reagan’s intelligence and competence were the high (or low) lights of the pre cable news era of television news, said that Presidents like President Reagan don’t come along very often. Sam, you have no idea how right you are and we’ll accept your apology in whatever form you chose to make it.