What's Happening to Me?

I caught The Situation, Tucker Carlson's new show on MSNBC, the other night, and I have to say that it is probably the best show of its ilk on any cable news channel. It works almost like ESPN's Around the Horn or Pardon the Interruption: A set amount of time is allotted for each topic, and the commentators have to stay on subject. Sure, The Situation is no McLaughlin Group, but it nonetheless outclasses the other punditry shows on MSNBC, CNN, and FOX News.

Secondly, I have to take issue with an NPR story on Voice of America (VOA) broadcasting that is critical of Bush Administration appointee Kenneth Tomlinson, who oversees VOA. The piece insinuates that Tomlinson and those he has hired are manipulating news reports to make them favorable to administration policies. You'll have to listen to the segment and draw your own conclusions, but I felt the examples given were weak. For example, I think that getting the postal service up and running in Iraq is newsworthy, even if the New York Times and Washington Post didn't cover it; and I VOA's 2004 coverage of the Iraqi Postal Service was not exactly a pat-Bush-and-Rummy-on-the-back type of report. If anything, the success of the postal system was portrayed as one bright spot amid the darkness of chaos. Given NPR's current problems with Tomlinson, who Bush apppointed as the Board Chair for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), I get the feeling that NPR is grasping for straws to make Tomlinson look like the bad guy. Tomlinson might not be the right guy to chair the CPB, but not because of any issues raised by the VOA story.

Of course, the Bushies are not above manipulating news for their own purposes (read: Maggie Gallagher, Armstrong Williams, and James Guckert). Still, NPR's report on Tomlinson lacks substance.

So in one post, I'm praising Tucker Carlson and defending the Bush Administration. What's happening to me?

Well, in other news, there are still plenty of reasons to be critical of the President and his administration, as these sinking approval ratings suggest.

And, even though I like what Carlson has done with the new show, this clip of his spat with Jon Stewart is still good for a laugh.