Sunday Spin Cycle
CBS Sunday Mourning could have done my little heart good with an exposé on the many problems with the FDA approval process. Unfortunately, they highlighted the wrong problems. Instead of focusing in on the sluggish approval processes that keep life changing and saving devices from patients in need of them, they zeroed in on 0.2% of people who receive a faulty FDA-approved implant.
The voice of reason in the segment cautioned that a zero-risk system would lead to no medical progress, a far worse proposition. But CBS gave the final word to the brother of a man whose defibrillator implant failed—a man who, of course, thinks one failure is too many. Sadly, the final call was for a decidedly faulty government agency to do more. Bah!
On the flipside of progress, CBS did do a fair examination of a potential new source of electrical energy: laser fusion. This is the first I heard of it, but they made it sound very promising, even against environmentalist concerns about radioactive materials involved. In fact, they made the environmentalist they interviewed sound like the anti-progress troglodyte she probably is. They pointed out that a single facility could potentially power the entire US on a relatively miniscule amount of fuel. And the answer to the environmentalists’ charge that they keep missing deadlines: yes, they have, because they are playing it safe.
CBS’s Deface the Nation fawned all over Joe Biden as he repeated the trope that Mitt Romney is “out of touch” with common people. He immediately went on to explain how people who are current on their mortgages are being foreclosed on. What? Joe should worry about being in touch with reality before he gets too concerned about which parts of it anyone is in touch with.
But the thrust of the Biden interview centered around his expertise on the Republican Party. Joe thinks that Republicans’ biggest downfall will be their honesty. Hmm. He also can’t recall a time in his life when Republicans were this stubborn. That’s funny, I’m much younger than Joe and that’s what I remember Democrats saying about Republicans my whole life. Of course, Joe and I could both be right, and he’s just now realizing how good he used to have it.
NBC’s Meet the Depressed – Sorry, I could hardly watch this show today. Santorum was on the first half, so I skipped it knowing he would be on Fox saying probably the same things. Thomas Friedman was in on the roundtable (shoot my face, please!) so I don’t remember who else was there. It was basically a Romney bash-fest, complete with playback of all his out-of-context quotes, still out-of-context. They spent a good chunk of time puzzling over how someone so wealthy could possibly connect with the “common man.” They decided that he should be more like JFK.
ABC’s This is Weak (with George Snuffleupagus) picked up a story the other shows ignored, Obama’s candid open-mic with Dmitri Medvedev, saying he will have more “flexibility” and “space” after the election. To kick off the roundtable discussion, ABC framed-up the “gaffe” with clips of Reagan’s famous quip declaring Russia “illegal” a few choice Romney non-gaffes, and Joe Biden’s “big f---ing deal” remark. Even with all this silt tossed in before the discussion, George Will admitted that this plays into the perception that Obama is slippery and deceptive. Ann Coulter pointed out that, if his policies were on the up-and-up, Obama wouldn’t need more “flexibility.” But, of course, this perception is all wrong, according to Matt Bai, who says there is nothing shocking in the statement, adding that they certainly wouldn’t be surprised in the Kremlin. Is that a good point to make?
And Faux News Sunday had Ricky Santorum to remind us that “It’s not over, yet.” The likes of Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio (those RINOs) can’t persuade him to get out of the race. He’s Kansas in the second half of last night’s semi-final. To be sure, I think his interview with Chris Wallace might be the unveiling of a new Rick. In defending his Etch-a-Sketch remarks, Rick promises to be an entirely different politician as president than he was when he represented Pennsylvania. Shaken clean, so to speak. Ricky’s a contract politician now. Just like, uh--oh, never mind. On a side note, I think Ricky’s voice was dubbed today. Either that or he lost a screaming match last night. It was probably over his sweater vests, because he wasn’t wearing one.
"He immediately went on to explain how people who are current on their mortgages are being foreclosed on. "
ReplyDeleteTyranmax
This is actually quite un derstandable. When you give the federal agencies the massive amount of power of TARP it is very easy to foreclose on someone who is current on their mortgage.
Sure it ain't in the constituion and it violates the precepts of english common law but those are outdated concepts made by old white men like aq hundred years ago.....
Forgive me, I can't tell if you are be facetious. Is that really happening under TARP? Either way, it's a terrible argument for Biden to make since Romney proposes to undo the damage of his predecessors. And yes, I know TARP was Bush, but heartily endorsed by 0bama and executed under his watch.
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