Putting aside the violence in Gaza; Roland Burris' surprise appointment to President-Elect Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat; the completion of the recount in the Minnesota Senate race; and, the fact that a new year began — this was a pretty uneventful week.
I doubt the talking heads will have much to say tomorrow morning, but for those of you interested in watching anyway, you'll find the lineup below the fold (along with some other stuff).
For your viewing pleasure:
Meet The Press: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV); Rountable with: Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic), Katty Kay (BBC World News America), Hisham Melhem (Al-Arabiya), Andrea Mitchell (NBC News), and David Sanger (The New York Times).
Face The Nation: Vice President Dick Cheney.
This Week: Wannabe-Senator Roland Burris (D-IL); Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL); Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Roundtable with: Jonathan Karl (ABC News), Cokie Roberts (ABC News), Katrina vanden Heuvel (The Nation), and George Will (ABC News).
Fox News Sunday: House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD); Former President George H.W. Bush.
Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer: Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat; New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D); South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R); Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R).
The Chris Matthews Show: Joe Klein (Time magazine); Erin Burnett (CNBC); David Brooks (The New York Times); Norah O'Donnell (MSNBC).
Reliable Sources: Jonathan Martin (Writer, Politico); Carol Marin (Anchor, WMAQ Chicago); Michael Martin (Host, NPR); Jim Warren (Former Managing Editor, The Chicago Tribune); Phil Bronstein (Executive Editor, The San Francisco Chronicle); Len Downie (Executive Editor, The Washington Post); Jessi Klein (Writer/Comedian).
The Daily Show and The Colbert Report will both be returning to the airwaves on Monday night, with guests David Gregory (NBC News) and John King (CNN), respectively.
Just because Jon and Stephen weren't on air to cover them doesn't mean there weren't any stupid things said this week... quite the contrary. Here are some of my favorites.
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales:
During a lunch meeting two blocks from the White House, where he served under his longtime friend, President George W. Bush, Mr. Gonzales said that "for some reason, I am portrayed as the one who is evil in formulating policies that people disagree with. I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror."
Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele:
"I'm trying to avoid the use of words that start with 're,' words like renewal, rebuild, recharge, re-this and re-that," Steele wrote in a memo to RNC members. "I'm convinced we should not re-anything. Instead, we must stand proudly for the timeless principles our Party has always stood for."
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin:
"You need to know that both Levi and Bristol are working their butts off to parent and going to school and working at the same time," Palin told PEOPLE in a phone message Wednesday. "They are certainly not high school dropouts."
The former vice presidential candidate said she wanted to be clear about their continuing work toward high school degrees because any suggestion otherwise "harms Bristol's reputation and Levi's reputation and their chances for good work opportunities."
PEOPLE reported this week that Bristol, 18, who gave birth on Saturday, intends to finish her high school degree through correspondence courses. Levi, also 18, told the AP in October that he had left high school to enroll in an apprenticeship program training him as an electrician.
I'd also like to give an honorable mention to Roland Burris for his use of the royal "we".
"We are the Senator."
You know who's not the Senator?
- Trix
Update: In last week's Sunday Talk, I mentioned that I'd planned to do a "Best Of" edition, but had been prevented from doing so by illness. I was going to include a round-up of some of my favorite Sunday talk show moments from the past year in this edition, but, truth be told, I don't watch that much of the Sunday talk shows. So, instead, I'm just going to provide you with a link to TPM's Top 10 Videos of 2008. Enjoy!
Personal Note: Due to the aforementioned illness, I had to skip the NYC Meetup on Tuesday night, much to the chagrin of DemocraticLuntz (among others, I'm sure). If anyone in the region is interested, I'd be up for a Meetup sometime this week. Let me know in the comments.