I'm going to skip more than a few segments of Wednesday's AC360 that just seemed a bit too Nancy Grace-ish to me. New salacious details in the Craig's List murder, dredging up the Scott Peterson case, Sarah Palin's almost SIL talking to Larry King and rehashing Melissa Huckaby's stability did not capture my attention for one minute.
What did catch my attention was the inclusion of some International news as Hillary Clinton spoke before a Congressional committee about the Taliban's immediate threat to Pakistan. Any Taliban incursion into a country is serious, but into a country with nuclear capabilities ...that should get the world's attention. To have Taliban leaders issuing edicts in Pakistan and having a handful of clerics backing them is really scary stuff. The Pakistani government making concessions to appease the Taliban adds strength to their organization and weakens an already crippled government. 
Peter Bergen did make me feel a little better by saying that he doesn't feel the situation is as dire as some are reporting. But Bergen also said the Pakistani government doesn't really have a strategy to deal with this latest Taliban threat, which makes it doubly hard for us to formulate an effective strategy in the situation. And that it will probably get worse before it gets better.
The other most interesting story of the night was the controversy in the Miss USA contest this past weekend. I admire Ms. California for stating her opinion on same sex marriage, even though I don't agree with it. She must have know what a polarizing issue it was and could have skirted the issue with a 'I just want world peace' type of answer. Instead she stuck to her convictions and it probably cost her the contest.
Roland Martin and Michelangelo Signorile discussed the issue with AC. Signorile felt Ms. California lost because she was inarticulate in speaking of 'opposite marriage' (what is that?) and that people have a choice (not in most States they don't). Roland's opinion was that her answer wasn't that different from other much admired Americans, IE POTUS and HRC, so how could it have cost her the contest. I think Roland was wrong because of an interview that Perez Hilton (he was the judge that asked the question) gave earlier on Wednesday. Hilton put the blame for her loss on her stance against same sex marriage, saying it did not sit well with several of the judges.
After watching yet another mention of Susan Boyle on 360 I got to wondering if it's some sick and twisted joke the staff has as to how many nights they can mention her name, post her picture and make her the subject of 'The Shot'. Maybe they are taking bets and working overtime on how to keep her relevant? If it wasn't so boring it would almost be amusing.
My DH sent me this clip a few weeks ago that I think would have made a much more interesting, entertaining and enjoyable Shot. It's entitled 'Why Dad's Buy a WII'. I swear I could watch babies laughing all day long. Enjoy!
It's Webcam Wednesday. I had some technical difficulties with the clips so there is only one to post tonight. Thanks to Sherry for recording and uploading.
Erica gives a shout out to crew members Kevin and Tony and then talks about the pirates. This was recorded on April 8th (So sue me....I'm a bit behind.)
Happy St. George Day to our reader's who celebrate the occasion. ~Phebe
All Things Anderson is a blog dedicated to CNN's AC360 and its host Anderson Cooper.
29 comments:
Phebe: You need to teach preschool if you could hear babies laugh all day long.
I'd like to think Ms. California lost because she was inarticulate and not because of her stance. Her "stance" has made her more popular than the actual winner who was....?
Here’s what ticks me off. Really, really ticks me off. Here we are, the US Economy in the tank, Unemployment at it’s highest in decades, Home Foreclosures on the rise, families in total disarray and struggling to make ends meet, living a day at a time, yet this Country and our European allies continue to pour resources in blood and treasure in to a Country like Pakistan, who by all intents and purposes couldn’t give a dam that their Country is falling in to the hands of the Taliban and it’s band of cohorts, yet expect us to continue to fight on their behalf an keep pouring our resources despite what it’s costing us in the interim. These folks need to step up to the plate here and take charge of their Country and their people, one way or other. This is absolutely ridiculous. How long are our Coalition Forces going to have to take the brunt of this War, in blood and treasure as well mortgage our children and grandchildren’s future with this ongoing War?
Peter Bergen was so right when he said to Anderson last night – “Game Plan – there really isn’t one, and it starts with the lack of leadership in that Country!” They really need to get their act together if they want to survive as a Country! Ugh!
The Palin/Johnson story just makes me shake my head.
Why do people enjoy airing their dirty laundry to the media and the public? Why can’t a family affair just remain a family affair, for Pete’s sake? We really don’t give a crap about their “dirty laundry” and these folks are just kids, unfortunately they are kids now with a kid. This is not something that should be exploited with continued media events and exposure. Don’t people have any morals any more? This American culture and obsession for all this tabloid stuff just makes me sick!
Thanks for the "laughing baby clip", I agree with you that would've been a lot better than Susan Boyle. Why don't you send it to 360? I'm sure Erica and AC would love it.
I also hope you were able to record the webcast with the snakes and eventually post it here. AC was reminiscing about his pet snake Sam or as he calls it "Tham". He said something about buying 4 more garter snakes and I wasn't able to finish it because the webcast in my computer just froze. So I just wanted to know what else he said after that. Thanks!
360 needs to lay off this craigslist killer story. I'm over it and it belongs on Nancy Grace. And I certainly don't think it should have been the lead story either.
I liked the discussion with Peter Bergen. Nice to see some international news on the program.
I think its stupid that everyone is all over Ms.California. She was asked an opinion question and she gave her opinion. I don't agree with her opinion, but at least she gave an honest answer, one she believes in.
I loved that Anderson was standing at the beginning of the program. I like when he does that.
@Aries Moon, I am still jealous of the snake crawling all over Anderson, but now I think I am jealous of the BlackBerry too. He always has his hands all over it...LOL!!!
Phebe - you read my mind yet again - I totally agree with everything you said about last night's 360 -
I,of course, secretly love anything that trashes Palin but enough already of these two trailor trash families - first Palin made Levi the poster child for her pathetic campaign and when he was no longer needed threw him away - this needs to be settled in the courts and off the airways
Roland Martin really pissed me off last night not anything new but I wanted to scream at the TV - after listening again to the answer Miss California gave I noted she said in my country when she attempted to answer the question - which country was she referring to - get over it people like Roland - if you are gay it is not a choice, you don't wake up one morning and say today I will be gay - we are all born the way we are - Roland it is time to get off your soapbox of prejudice and learn to accept all people for who they are - if a gay couple is married or simply offered all the same rights that I have as a heterosexual, why are you so threatened Roland
Thanks for the laughing baby
@ pebbles .. I didn't get the snake webcast sorry. I had technical problems w/ my computer and had just rebooted it but everything wasn't up and running in time.
My fav part of the program was, of course, Peter Bergen. Any time we get international news from Peter, Nic, or Michael Ware, I am always interested. Maybe I just have a thing for those wonderful accents...or maybe they are just interesting guys!
IMHO the incident with Ms. California has been blown all out of proportion. It is my understanding that they ask these question to get a feeling for how poised the contestant will be under pressure. Bottom line, she was inarticulate and it should have been left at that. As for the video sent in by the fan in support of Ms. California, I would have been more impressed if she hadn’t been so blatantly wearing her politics’ on her sleeve…er I mean wall. Congrats to Miss North Carolina, you were my sentimental favorite going in!
@Phebe thank you for the clip. I've always said nothing is better for beating the blues than watching a child laugh or seeing their joy in the simplest of things.
Last summer, I was hosting a huge family BBQ for my mother's birthday. While others were enjoying, I was running around, totally stressed, trying to please everyone. Unexpectedly, a huge yellow beach ball with a smiley face blew into my yard...no idea where it came from. The party was immediately transformed as the younger children delighted in the sight of that ball and it's sudden appearance. I still smile when I think of the look of pure wonder on my 5-year-old nephews face. That look was priceless. It never ceases to amaze me when I see the same look on the faces of children when Anderson is reporting from places as desperate as Iraq, Afghanistan and Niger. What a different world it would be if adults were so easily enchanted!
The new AC360 standard: grungy trainers, tight jeans and a suit jacket and tie that doesn’t fool anyone. I personally believe that the frequency with which we have been treated to this departure from what used to be a nearly Puritan ethos, foretells changes coming in the future. Into the Lion’s Den tonight, mano a’ mano with Jay Leno, his new 10:00 pm competition. I’m not saying that Anderson is going to descend into stand-up comedy, but if recent shows are any indication, someone has managed to convince a certain other someone to lighten up! It won’t be red 360, but it may be similar.
Talking about descent – using the Larry King Clip to “cover” the spectacularly inarticulate Levi Johnson is just sick. Why on earth would we need more of that pathetic backwoods lothario, or any news about that entire clan of idiots? At least Anderson got in a snarky remark at the end, but it was still a total waste of time. The producer who thought that one up should take a break.
ACAnderFan and Aires Moon – get a room! (and a snake of your own.) You two have used up ALL of your fangurl credits for this semester. Report to the office for a time out in the naughty chair (as soon as I get out of it!) Yum! Yum! Yum! Yum!
@pebbles : On the webcast he said Sam died, so he bought three more snakes from the pet store to replace him. He forgot the bag full of snakes in the cab when he got out and a little old lady got in after him. He said he wondered what happened when the lady found out what was in that bag.
I'm so sorry to hear that wasn't clipped, it was one of the better webcasts.
Peter Bergen's right. Pakistan has two forms of law: civil law (the government) and religious law which is what the Taliban subscribes to. What you have to remember is that not all Taliban are violent extremists. Some of them are just your local Jerry Falwells who are conservative administrators of local judicial matters. I doubt Pakistan is on the verge of anarchy. These people have lived this way for centuries, their system probably won't collapse anytime soon.
Is it the War Machine's agenda to make this a crisis when it might not be? War generates big bucks for defense contractors (who will be losing their Cash Cow when we move out of Iraq).
The beauty contest thing was a set up. Perez Hilton is a vile gay gossip columnist (read what he says about Anderson on his blog). Miss California has a belief system and convictions that are shaped by her religious upbringing. She is an upstanding person who desires to become a special education teacher and who volunteers her free time to work with disabled children. One of her detractors was a former porn centerfold. The proof is in the pudding. People shouldn't be crucified in the media because they stand up for their beliefs. To many people, having sex with a member of your gender is nearly as bad as having sex with a dog or a child. If you believe it's wrong, you should be able to state your belief without being attacked.
Or did we lose free speech in America?
Is Friday night's 360 supposed to be a taped special? or a live person? like Anderson or a sub?
Phebe, ITA w/everything about 360 last night.
I don't see the big deal with the Miss CA thing. She said what she felt and that's what she was supposed to do. I gotta give her credit for being honest though I don't agree with her answer.
If 360 shows Susan Boyle one more time, I'm gonna throw something at my TV. When I first saw the video, it made me cry....now seeing her makes me cry for other reasons. Get over it show!!!
Great discussion with Peter Bergen. I was actually born in Pakistan and makes me sad to see the country like this. I still have family there and can't go visit them because because it's not safe for Americans (or anyone else for that matter). I really wish the country would get it together and get rid of Taliban.
Here you all on the free speech issue and agree. Do have to wonder if people would be so adamant in beating the free speech drum had she given the opposite response.
That laughing baby is hysterical. I have no idea why he thinks the Wii is so funny, but it's definitely contagious.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who is bored with this Craigslist killer story...I feel bad about it because I really do feel for the woman's family, but this is just automatically filing itself under "missing blonde of the week" in my head and I'm tuning out.
I'm actually very excited about the political coverage, but that's because I'm a politics junkie so I'm usually cheering when everyone else is groaning when it comes to this stuff. It's a good idea for ratings, too.
There was a nice young teenage boy who used to bag groceries at my local grocery store. He was active in the Boy Scouts and went on camping trips with the group.
A man volunteered to chaperone those trips. He coerced the boy into sexual acts. The boy was too ashamed to tell his parents because he was at that age when you are just beginning to learn who you are sexually and he felt like he'd done something wrong.
The man kept after the boy. One day the boy refused. The man was angry so he killed him and left his body under a bridge.
For this reason I will never condone homosexual activity.
I had to drive over that bridge every day and every day I thought of that boy and the predator who took an innocent life for sexual gratification.
How could a parent ever forgive that?
I bet if you asked a hundred gay men, you'd find that at least 80% had been indoctrinated into homosexuality while they were still boys by an older gay adult.
How could a lifestyle that encourages that be anything other than WRONG?
ACAnderFan, hand me that crowbar so I can pry M in Oregon out of the naughty chair because used up fangurl credits notwithstanding, I gotta say this - seeing AC at the beginning of the show with his jeans and sneakers on beneath that suit jacket was (let me try to tone it down a bit) VERY attractive and I loved how he wasn't exactly trying to conceal it this time.
Levi Johnson, Susan Boyle (oh no not again!), the Craigslist guy made for a very peculiar 360, but I think they're trying to make some adjustments to the format - not to mention that on my tv Anderson's face looked HUGE - I think think they rather enjoyed those extreme close-ups the other night.
I was a little dismayed when AC said the people in the 360 newsroom were listening intently to Levi's interview and I certainly hope it was because they think he's a loser and brain-dead and not because they find him remotely fascinating.
@5:17 Once again the truly ignorant confuse homosexuality with pedophilia...statistics have shown time and time again that your children are in much graver risk from "heterosexual" family members and friends.
@Aries Moon, I too love seeing AC in jeans and sneakers under the suit jacket was very attractive. I find that look to be very sexy on him. I think I'm just going to glue myself to the naughty chair. I seem to be there constantly anyway.
@AriesMoon...I don't think it's possible for anyone to find Levi interesting haha. Articulate he is definitely not. That's one part of the 360 job that I don't envy.
AC kept "teasing" us about Susan Boyle's new look. She had NO NEW look. She was wearing a black leather jacket and her gray curly hair was still messy...and not in a good way, messy. A "new look" is a complete transformation.
Ms California is a brain surgeon in comparison to Levi Johnson and his clan. Did you say inarticulate, well this guy didn't even know he had a lawyer. When LK asked him if he finished high school, he actually had to think. No, Larry, he's a linguistics major at Penn State.
anonymous 5:17, I understand how tramatic it is to know of someone, especially a child, who was brutalized. But using your thought process if a man raped and eventually killing a young girl you would never condon hetrosexual relationships either?
You also said 'I bet if you asked a hundred gay men, you'd find that at least 80% had been indoctrinated into homosexuality while they were still boys by an older gay adult.'
I had heard others say this so I posed a question on the blog a few years ago asking gays if they felt that anything in their childhood had led them to their current lifestyles. A very kind and wise reader turned the tables on me by posing this question:'if a child is molested by an adult member of the opposite sex does that then guarantee the child will be heterosexual'? Of course it doesn't and neither does a child being molested by a member of the same sex mean that child will grow up to be homosexual.
I guess I'm just trying to point out that gay is not a choice, it is the fiber of your being from the beginning.
AC beat LKL in totals. I guess even Levi's relatives were bored.
Saw the Miss Cali clip for the first time, don't get the fuss...ok, she sounded really stoopid and I don't agree with what she said, but she wasn't being disrespectfull, just stoopid!
@anon 5:17: I really don't understand how people can think like you, blows my mind!
Phebe, that laughing baby is such fun to watch, I love it!
Well there will be some nights when I can not
watch 360.Apparently, Jon Klein decided to
hire Mary Matlin and she will be appearing on
360. Honestly, I do not know what is in the
kool aid at CNN. Why not Megan McCain ?
She is not an ideologue who says the same
dumb stuff over and over again.I am convinced
that Jon Klein has convinced himself that this
will work and the ratings are just an anomaly.
I can not believe that somebody at the network
does not get it is time to get rid of the panels.
Anon 5:44 is correct--statistically, most sexual predators of both boys and girls are heterosexual males.
@ Anon 5:17 "I bet if you asked a hundred gay men, you'd find that at least 80% had been indoctrinated into homosexuality while they were still boys by an older gay adult."
Your judgment is being clouded by the emotions you are feeling as a result of what happened to that poor boy you knew. There is absolutely no true scientific or statistical evidence to back up that claim.
You pulled that 80% figure out of nowhere, and you know you did.
Phebe, everything you said was perfect. ITA.
@ Anon 6:49 I agree that Susan Boyle didn't have a "makeover" just because she bought a new dress. That's silly.
I don't think it's possible for anyone to find Levi interesting haha.Coop1223, isn't it sad that we can't convince Larry King Live or AC360 of that most important fact?!
Jon Klein must believe that cramming a ton of Republican pundits onto CNN will somehow make them more competitive with Fox News - Mary Matlin must be replacing Bay Buchanan or something because I haven't seen her around much on CNN, not that I want to. I know it's CNN's mission to present both sides of the political spectrum, but it is extremely difficult to listen to Republicans and their talking points, especially since a large portion of the country don't care for them OR their "ideas" anymore after 8 horrific years of experiencing them - I honestly don't give a darn WHAT Republicans think now.
Anon 12:15 Thanks for relating what happened during the webcast. Too bad no one was able to get the clip. Sherry - thanks for replying too.
So Charles Barkley, the NBA star, didn't want a 360 shirt to go with the shot. Well that ought to send some kind of message to Jon Klein. I didn't particularly care for the rap music before the take off flight, but that could just be me.
When oh when will 360 decide what it wants to become? Before or after I lose total interest. And yes, AC did call Erica "honey," but he said he was referring to the segment on honey. So be it.
I'm tired of the torture discussions. It has become repetitive and torture to listen to, but I do like the health segments. It is fascinating that these people can survive to a ripe old age. Honey has proven to be beneficial, but only if you buy the pure kind sold at health stores and it does cost more.
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